Dear Neighbor,
National Ag Day was this week so I would like to begin today’s newsletter with a thank you to all our farmers and other workers in the ag industry for all you do to keep our state and nation fed.
Minnesota is an agricultural powerhouse and the industry is a key component in our state and local economies. Thanks again for your hard work, and I also want to thank the people from the ag folks who visited me this week in St. Paul, including the Farm Bureau and Future Farmers of America students. Your input is much appreciated.
In other news, I am hopeful legislation we heard in a committee meeting to help mom-and-pop resorts in our state will be enacted into law this session. This bill (H.F. 4990) increases the tier thresholds for class 1c homestead resorts – from $600,000 to $1 million) which would provide property tax relief for these properties. Like other homesteads across the state, homestead resorts have felt the burden of unprecedented property tax increases. In 1995, there were 2,400 resorts in Minnesota, and now there are under 700. The committee laid the bill over for consideration to be added to an omnibus bill this later this session.
Public safety remains a focal point of discussions at the Capitol this session. House Republicans conducted a press conference this week to call for hearings 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.
Meanwhile, 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 fine print which restricts how this money can be used to the following purposes:
- 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.
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. Our citizens and law enforcement officers alike deserve no less.
Also, House Republicans 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.
The end of this week brings us to the first legislative deadline but, in a twist, both the first and second deadlines for bills come on the same day this year – today. The first deadline is for committees to act favorably on bills in the House of origin. But that’s irrelevant, since this year we are skipping right to the second deadline, which stipulates committees to act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other house.
Have a good weekend and it will be interesting to see how the weather plays out the next handful of days. We certainly need the moisture but, at the same time, I don’t think many people are excited by the potential for receiving a foot of snow in the last week of March.
Sincerely,
Paul