Dear Neighbor,
You may have seen I recently announced my retirement from the Minnesota House of Representatives when my 11th term expires in January.
I have served my area for 22 years in the Minnesota House, longer than anyone else in history. It is time to retire and spend more time with my wife and family and pursue other interests.
This decision about whether to retire has been a difficult one and, at one point, I decided to run again this November. I have since reconsidered and, frankly, have grown tired of the politics and obstacles to doing what is right.
My decision has absolutely nothing to do with being opposed within the Republican Party; that didn’t concern me. What does bother me is that I will no longer be able to fight for the needs of my district and Greater Minnesota. I managed to do a lot, but more is needed.
My term is not up until January, and I will continue to represent the people and needs of District 16 A to the best of my ability.
In other news:
Religious freedom
Religious freedom – a cornerstone of our state in nation – has become a hot topic at the Capitol after Democrats in both the House and the Senate cast votes which effectively say the state’s views trump your beliefs.
It started on Leap Day, when House Democrats voted down a House Republican committee amendment to restore a religious freedom provision that was deleted from Minnesota Human Rights Act law last year. Then, this week, instead of righting this wrong, Senate Democrats followed suit by taking the same bad vote as the House majority, failing to restore in state law to our long-held consensus that religious communities in Minnesota have the autonomy to decide questions of faith.
The proposed amendment ensures religious organizations and faith-based schools can, among other things, hire teachers and ministers consistent with their mission and values. Already, at least one faith-based school is facing an employment complaint at the department of human rights because of the removal of the provision.
Before last year, when gender identity was included (or subsumed) within the MHRA definition of sexual orientation, the still-existing religious exemption for sexual orientation covered gender identity claims as well. When a new, separate definition of gender identity was created last year, there was no corresponding religious exemption added. This issue caused alarm among Minnesota’s faith community and House Republicans worked with religious leaders to craft an amendment to MHRA legislation S.F. 4292, which the majority ultimately voted down in each body.
Stay tuned because this is a developing issue and House Republicans will continue advocating for religious freedom.
Public safety
House Republicans conducted a press conference this week to call for on a series of several bills we have authored to support our law enforcement officers, hold criminals accountable and keep our communities safe. These bills have been specifically requested by our partners in law enforcement.
One of the bills House Republicans propose (H.F. 4837) would allow more flexibility in how public safety aid is used by local governments so they can meet their specific needs.
The state budget enacted last year did include $300 million in one-time aid for law enforcement agencies. While I am pleased these dollars were provided for local law enforcement, Democrats included tight restrictions how this money can be used, limiting it to the following:
- Community violence prevention and? intervention programs
- Community engagement
- Mental health crisis responses
- Victim? services
- Training programs
- First responder wellness
- Equipment related to fire, rescue, and? emergency services
- To pay other personnel or equipment costs
Tactical vehicles, for instance, do not qualify, even though we continue seeing instances where they could save lives. Neither does something as practical as improving lighting to increase safety.
House Republicans also recently moved to declare urgency and act on a bill (H.F. 548) to increase the penalty for transferring a firearm to an ineligible person, aka, “straw man” purchases. Our move coincided with the recent news an indictment has been filed against someone who allegedly acted as a straw purchaser of the weapons used in the shooting of three first responders in Burnsville. Unfortunately, the House majority voted down our effort to take urgent action on this bill.
Have a good weekend, please stay in touch … and let’s see how much snow falls over the next few days.
Sincerely,
Dean