Hello from St. Paul,
Our long state nightmare is over. The Minnesota House is finally open for business.
After not showing up to do their jobs for 23 days, House Democrats finally returned to work Thursday after reaching an agreement with House Republicans on how the 2025 and 2026 sessions will operate. Currently Republicans hold a 67-66 advantage in the chamber. A special election for one open Metro Area House seat will be held in mid-March, which could lead to either a two seat Republican advantage or a tie.
Under the approved agreement, Republican Lisa Demuth will serve as Speaker of the House for both the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions. Republicans will also hold a minimum of a one seat advantage on all House committees, at least until the results of the House District 40B seat in Roseville are certified. This will allow Republican bills and priorities to move forward without roadblocks in the Minnesota House for at least six weeks.
A new House committee that’s designed to shine a light on years of fraud within state government is also now in place. The Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee will begin holding hearings Monday morning into the massive fraud issues that have run rampant during Governor Walz’s tenure. It’s clear we need to get a handle on the abuse of government programs that is taking place and start holding criminals accountable, as more than
$1 billion – that we know about – has been stolen from taxpayers to date through fraud.
PROHIBITING BOYS FROM PLAYING IN GIRLS SPORTS
In an effort to maintain fairness and safety in girls’ athletics, I am chief-authoring legislation that would prohibit boys from playing in girls’ sports in Minnesota.
It’s actually troubling to me that something so common sense actually needs to be debated. By allowing biological males to compete in biological girls’ competitions, all we’ve fought for through Title IX and women’s athletics is meaningless.
My bill specially states that only students of the female sex may participate in an elementary or secondary school athletic team or sport that an educational institution has restricted on the basis of sex to women or girls. If there is a dispute, a student must present a signed physician’s statement indicating the student’s sex is based solely on the student’s internal and external anatomy, natural occurring level of testosterone, and an analysis of the student’s chromosomes.
Minnesota State High School League record books find significant differences between top scores in the boys and girls divisions. For example, the boys record holder for long jump is roughly five feet more than the girls record holder; there’s a seven second difference in the 400-meter dash; more than an 11-foot difference in the shot put, and a 32 second difference in the swimming 500-yard freestyle.
A simple internet search shows all sorts of articles that prove girls are being physically injured while participating with biological males in female athletics – from concussions to having teeth knocked out. In addition, a study conducted by the United Nations found that female athletes have lost nearly 900 medals worldwide to transgender men that are competing in their events.
Studies show a vast majority of people agree that biological sex should determine participation in sports, and that those born male at birth should be excluded from women’s sports.
There’s a reason we don’t allow 98-pound wrestlers to compete in the heavyweight division. There are fairness issues and there are safety issues involving girls’ sports teams. When it comes to boys and girls athletics, how you identify shouldn’t matter; how you were born should.
Have a good weekend,
Peggy