Friends,
The major finance bills that make up the state's budget have been passed by both the House and Senate. These omnibus budget bills all contain major differences; namely, the House Democrat budget looks to impose $12 billion in new taxes and fees on Minnesotans. This includes the 70%, 20-cent-per-gallon gas tax (indexed to inflation to automatically increase), increased vehicle registration tax, and reinstating the sick tax.
Negotiations between House Democrats, the governor, and Senate Republicans have hit a stalemate as Democrats have flatly refused to give up any of their $12 billion in tax increases. Senate Republicans need a willing negotiating partner and right now Democrats in Minnesota are refusing to budge on their demand for tax increases.
The leadership from all sides will be in Albert Lea for the Governor's Fishing Opener so hopefully, House Democrats and Governor Walz are more willing to compromise after a weekend together in a boat.
Public Safety Bill
House Democrats included gun control provisions that have been ineffective in the most gun violent states and cities and will not only do nothing to stop gun violence, it will delay really addressing the fundamental, underlying, contributing factors. It would also deny the fundamental principle of due process and infringe on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. This is why I could not support the bill and neither could any of my House Republican colleagues. We do not expect the final bill to come back with this anti-Second Amendment language as the Senate has said they will not support it.
I was, however, pleased to get two of my bills into the Public Safety Omnibus bill. One bill, HF2520, requires accountability inside of DPS to distribute funds collected from the law enforcement memorial license plates. Those funds are used to assist families of Minnesota law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. It will also require a report to make sure the funds are being spent to further this mission A slimmed down version of my HF469 that would do research on DUI levels for scheduled prescription medicine was also included.
Health and Human Services Bill
I also had an amendment go onto the HHS bill that allows, after an interview is granted, the Human Resources department to share a personal file. This will help prevent bad actors from hopping schools when an investigation starts. Both school districts are required to have the same level of privacy and personal information protection. This has been a bill I’ve worked on for years. Too often school administrators have come to me about not being able to know fully about job candidates and have made an ill-informed choice in hiring.
One Discovery Square
I recently toured One Discovery Square in Rochester, a business incubator built in conjunction with the Mayo Clinic. It is focused on cultivating medical and science-based businesses.
Contact Me
Please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts and ideas on issues important to you. You can schedule a time to meet with me in my office anytime by calling (651) 296-9236, or share your thoughts via email by emailing me at rep.duane.quam@house.mn
Have a great week!
Duane
Like and follow my Facebook Page for updates throughout the week: Facebook.com/RepDuaneQuam