Dear Friends,
We are back in St. Paul and meeting IN PERSON (!) to complete the budget. It is so great to be back on the House floor, without a mask, working with my colleagues to serve our communities.
All Minnesotans should be concerned how the budget is being negotiated. Backroom deals are being reached and, being in the minority, my House Republican colleagues and I have largely been left in the dark. Yesterday, we spent hours on the floor because we need to properly vet these budget bills. Legislators must be able to ask questions and debate these bills in our committee meetings, and we need to hear public input.
Our Minority Leader, Rep. Daudt, said it best on the House floor yesterday:
“If you don’t think that members of this chamber in this party are willing to stand here and fight for the Minnesotans that you are trying to hurt, you are dead wrong, because the battle that we fight here on this floor today is a worthy one.”
House Republicans are going into battle to fight for you! If the DFL won’t let us be a part of the conversation, then we are going to make sure they hear our concerns.
19th vote to end emergency powers
You read that right. As of Monday, I have voted 19 times to end Governor Walz’s one-man rule and restore the legislature role as a co-equal branch of government. We must end the emergency powers during special session. Where is the emergency? MDH hasn’t even held a COVID-19 media briefing for two weeks. Cleary that is because COVID no longer poses the threat it once did. The charade is over and it is time to stop the Governor’s emergency powers.
Human rights not a DFL priority
Yesterday, the House debated the Commerce, Climate, and Energy omnibus bill. The human rights abuses in the green energy industry are deeply disturbing. I am passionate about standing up for the child and Uighur slaves in the Democratic Republic of Congo and China who mine the minerals that are needed for solar panels.
As legislators, it is our duty to defend the honor and dignity of every human being. When we were debating the Commerce, Climate, and Energy omnibus bill during the regular session, I was so pleased that my amendments to protect the slave laborers in the Congo and China were added to the provisions on solar panels. I was completely blindsided to learn that those amendments were not included in the bill presented yesterday.
It is clear that defending human rights does not extend to the green energy industry. After all, green energy is really dirty energy. It is shameful that the DFL turns a blind eye to the plight of child and Uighur slaves. It is unconscionable to be advocating and funding the use of solar panels when the human costs are so high. I will offer this amendment once again when the debate resumes on the Commerce, Climate, and Energy omnibus bill.