Dear Neighbor, While House Republicans were spending another busy week at the Capitol unveiling legislation to help Minnesotans, House Democrats finally broke their 23-day string of staying home collecting a paycheck. Thursday marked the first day the full body was in order, with an organizational agreement reached to end the House Democrat legislative shutdown. Here are the big points in the agreement: - There will be a Republican Speaker of the House for the first time in six years. As Speaker, Lisa Demuth will be the second-most powerful elected official in Minnesota.
- Republicans will chair the new House committee we established to investigate fraud in state government programs for two years and have a 5-3 voting margin over Democrats.
- Republicans have committee chairmanships and majorities on all committees for the entire five-week period leading up to the March 11 special election in District 40B (Roseville).
- We will return to a split committee roster and co-chairs IF the Roseville seat returns to Democrats.
- Even if the House returns to an even 67-67 split, Rep. Demuth remains the sole Speaker of the House.
It’s great to see justice prevailed with Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth serving as our House Speaker through 2026; House Republicans currently are in the majority and that’s how the vote would have played out when the session began Jan. 14. It’s also good that House Republicans will have a majority controlling our new committee on fraud so that issue can receive the serious attention it warrants. In general, I’m looking forward to finally get down to official business helping the people of Minnesota by working the six priority issues House Republicans share with citizens of our state. It’s unfortunate House Democrats killed three and a half weeks of the 2025 session by staging a shutdown, but it’s good we’re up and running now. Here’s more from the House:  Minnesota Tax Dollars for Minnesotans House Republicans this week launched legislation to ensure state-funded programs and taxpayer resources are reserved for legal residents, while also strengthening immigration enforcement. Dubbed the “Minnesota Tax Dollars for Minnesotans,” initiative, the effort features a pair of bills designed to prioritize Minnesota citizens in state-aid programs and end current policies which allow immigrants who are violent offenders to remain in Minnesota. A press conference took place this week to outline our proposal. The two main features of the Minnesota Tax Dollars for Minnesotans plan include: - Ensuring state-funded benefits go to legal residents: This measure prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving state-funded financial aid, grants, subsidies, or other taxpayer-funded assistance, including programs such as the North Star Promise college tuition program and MinnesotaCare.
- Banning sanctuary cities and strengthening immigration enforcement: This legislation prevents local and state government entities from enacting policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. It also mandates reporting illegal immigrants arrested for violent crimes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ensuring that criminals who are here unlawfully are held accountable.
Recent visitors  Enjoyed meeting with American Bikers for Awareness, Training and Education members.  Had a nice talk with University of Minnesota Extension representatives.  Also enjoyed the recent Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association legislative conference. Look for more from the Capitol soon. It is nice the House Democrat shutdown ended so they finally can join House Republicans at the Capitol doing the work Minnesotans are depending on us to do. Until next time, have a great weekend. Sincerely, Chris |