 Friends and Neighbors, Recently, the House agriculture committee heard my bill that would allow commercial feed businesses to employ veterinarians. In rural Minnesota, we face a real shortage of veterinarians as aging vets are leaving the industry and smaller communities are having trouble attracting new ones. There are plenty of costs associated with establishing a veterinary practice in a community, including ownership. A growing number of vets want to focus on their craft and not be burdened with business ownership. Meanwhile the need for veterinary services, especially for large animals, is at a critical low point in Greater Minnesota. My bill would allow a commercial feed business, which in most cases are already established in the area, to simply employ a vet from their facility. It’s a win-win situation in many ways as it would allow veterinarians to practice their craft in more affordable and streamlined ways. It gives feed companies more flexibility and an opportunity to grow their business. And it helps the consumer because it will likely attract more veterinarians to rural Minnesota, leading to better access and improved animal health. Joe Doll testified in favor of my bill during the ag committee hearing, and his sons Taylor and Tyler joined him in St. Paul.  Thank you for coming to the Capitol and for your support! MORE FRAUD COMES TO LIGHT One of the unexpected benefits of having President Trump in office is that stopping fraud has become a national priority. Each week we hear more unbelievable examples. DOGE reported that over $300 million in SBA loans were sent to recipients under age 11, and an additional $300 million were sent to recipients over the age of 120 when the oldest living American is 114, In addition, Elon Musk found that Social Security payments were being sent to 20 million people who were listed as over 100 years old in its database, and benefits were also being paid to an individual listed as 9 months old. You can watch his interview by clicking here. This is what happens when Social Security numbers are stolen by fraudsters. Investigating these programs for fraud actually saves money for the taxpayers in the long run. It’s another reason why the Minnesota House fraud committee, which was established by Republicans this session, is so important. Members continue to look at abuse taking place in state agencies and protect your money that is not being spent wisely. For example, did you know that the CEO of the non-profit Second Harvest Heartland makes $721,000 a year, yet showed up to ask the Legislature for more funding? Click here to watch the committee discussion. It’s also why I question testifiers about their funding requests when they show up in committee, much like I did in the House human services committee recently. Click here for more. The House education committee also debated legislation that would strengthen controls on grants and payments to non-profits. As we saw with the Feeding Our Future “non-profit” debacle ($250 million in taxpayer funds lost to fraud – the largest fraud scam in our country’s history) taught us anything, it is that we can’t be too careful when your tax dollars are on the line. HOUSE BUDGET FRAMEWORK WILL NOT RAISE TAXES Recognizing that Democrats’ wasting an $18 billion surplus, raising taxes by $10 billion, and growing state government spending by 40% has put Minnesota on the brink of a historic budget deficit, House leaders have agreed to a framework that will begin to right-size our state’s budget. The framework reduces state spending by $3.9 billion when compared to the 2024-25 budget and is $1.159 billion below the 2026-27 budget base. For the 2028-2029 projected budget, more than $2.6 billion in spending would be eliminated. If approved, this framework would represent the largest total spending cut in state history. Also worth noting, the House position towards solving an expected $6 billion budget deficit crisis is to avoid any tax increases. The House must agree with the Democrat-led Minnesota Senate on budget spending decisions before session ends in mid-May. |