Both Minnesota legislative staff and Minnesota documents received recognition from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) this year.
The Library's own Betsy Haugen earned the 2021 NCSL Legislative Research Librarians Staff Achievement Award! Betsy’s unwavering commitment to the Minnesota Legislature, the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, NCSL, and the Legislative Research Librarian Staff Association is widely known and recognized among her peers. She has spent nearly 20 years with the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, where her strength as a leader and her commitment to a collegial atmosphere is evidenced in the growth of the staff she supervises and the cultivation of strong relationships with other legislative offices.
Betsy's involvement with NCSL spans many years, including service on the Legislative Research Librarians Executive Committee from 2016 to 2019 and time on the NCSL Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee. Serving in these roles has allowed her to develop and participate in a number of staff annual Professional Development Seminars and NCSL Legislative Summit meetings. She’s well-respected by those who participate in NCSL staff associations and known for her leadership and mentorship mindset. Her patience, warmth, energy, and leadership have touched many across the nation.
The NCSL Legislative Research Librarian Staff Association also recognized two documents from Minnesota among this year's Notable Document Award winners. A report from the Minnesota Department of Human Services earned recognition: We Definitely Struggle... The Worry is Always There: Improving the Health of People Living in Deep Poverty. The report is the work of a two year collaboration between the department and other state agencies that concluded in the spring of 2020. The authors interviewed 30 Minnesotans living in poverty and include real-life examples throughout the report to bring across the different types of stress that living in poverty brings with it. They offer some specific ideas for improving the effectiveness of a few income support programs.
The second Minnesota report recognized by NCSL this year was on a topic that has received growing attention in recent years: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force: A Report to the Minnesota Legislature. In 2019, the Minnesota Legislature created the task force to study the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The group found that while Indigenous people make up 1% of Minnesota's population, 9% of all murdered girls and women in Minnesota from 2010-2019 were Indigenous. The task force's final report is well-organized and well-researched, and identifies the root causes of these inequities and opportunities for public policy changes. Since the release of this report, the Legislature has created the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, "dedicated to preventing and ending the targeting of Indigenous women, children, and two-spirited people."
Join us in congratulating these Minnesota honorees!