Bills Authored - Kahn Legislation Now Law and Proposed Law

Laws Relating to the Environment

• State Bicycle Law Revisions
• Nuclear Safety Preparedness Act
• Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act
• Increased funding for wildlife, park and recreation facilities
• Moratorium on the construction of certain freeways, including I-335
• Regulations on genetically engineered organisms
• Required frequent testing of mercury and other hazardous material emissions from incinerators, regulating shutdown and repair of facilities with emissions above approved permit levels
• Funding of the Great River road on the West Bank, including bicycle and pedestrian paths, from the University campus past downtown Minneapolis
• Funding to improve water quality and to separate Minneapolis and St. Paul sewer systems, keeping raw sewage from flowing into the Mississippi River
• Maintenance and expansion of community and urban forests
• Location and Construction of U of M hazardous waste facility
• Establishment of Mississippi River Urban Whitewater Trail for rafters, canoers and kayakers
• Establishment of Urban Rivers Sustainable Development guidelines
• Standards for control of outdoor light pollution for state funded projects. (An energy conservation issue - 2008)

Laws Relating to Women's Rights

• Funding for battered women's shelters and the displaced homemakers program
• Rape Victims assistance program, and laws to facilitate prosecution of sex offenders and to protect the rights of rape victims in court
• Women's equality laws including the right of a woman to keep her own name after marriage
• Gender equity in funding and treatment for athletics
• Women's Suffrage Garden

Laws Relating to Economic Security and Government Reform

• Consolidation of State Information Systems
• Computer crime and computer virus law
• Prohibition of discrimination based on age in employment and education
• Prohibition of discrimination against the disabled and handicapped
• Funding for training and education to further employment of at-risk targeted youth
• Public pension fund investment oversight
• Increased stability of funding for Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund (MERF) and Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Association (MTRA)
• Commercial validity and security of electronic signatures and messages
• Establishment of a conservation building code for renewal of older buildings
• Genetic testing prohibition as a condition for employment
• Access to DNA testing for convicted persons
• Study of privacy laws related to genetic testing
• Electronic versions of guidebook and state register available on Internet
• Legislation to allow a mother to use a state childcare grant to stay at home with a new baby for one year

Laws Relating to Quality of Life

• Increased public support for the arts, including dedicating 1% of the costs of new state buildings to purchase art
• Grant-in-aid program for historic preservation in the St. Anthony Falls historic district
• State grant for construction of visitor center at St. Anthony Falls
• Established the position of State Poet Laureate - Robert Bly was appointed as the State's first (2007); Joyce Sutphen (2011)
• Prohibition of corporal punishment in the schools