Dear Neighbor, The House on Monday took up the Preserving Girls Sports Act (HF12), a House Republican bill that supports fairness and safety in girls sports by saying: “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.” You wouldn’t think we need a state law to say biological boys cannot play girls sports, but here we are, with legislation preventing biological male athletes from competing in girls’ sporting events. As mentioned in my last newsletter, polls confirm 80 percent of the public agrees with this position. The Preserving Girls Sports Act specifically states that only female students may participate in school sports 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. A simpler suggestion that came from the United Nations study was to produce the original birth certificate as proof of sex. A simple internet search shows produces numerous articles indicating girls are being physically injured while participating with biological males in female athletics – from skull fractures and broken legs, to having teeth knocked out. In addition, a study conducted by the United Nations found that as of March 30, 2024, 600 female athletes have lost 890 medals across 29 different sports worldwide to transgender men that are competing in their events. House Republicans tabled the bill after Democrats voted against it, saving the legislation from and keeping it available for future reconsideration. The floor action came just hours after a Preserving Girls Sports Act rally took place at the Capitol. Riley Gaines, a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and girls sports advocate, spoke at the event (pictured below).  Trains drain taxpayers Last week, the full House looked at a Republican bill (H.F. 14) that would place a moratorium on funding for light rail projects. Why? Because these projects keep running way over budget and way behind schedule – at taxpayers’ expense. Take the Southwest Light Rail from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, for example. It was supposed to cost $1.25 billion, but now it’s ballooned to $2.9 billion with construction nearly a decade behind schedule. The Blue Line Extension from Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park is even worse. Its price has tripled from $999 million to $3.2 billion, and service isn’t expected to start until at least 2030. With costs rocketing out of control, hitting pause on new spending seems like common sense. But House Democrats blocked the bill, at least for now. House Republicans tabled the proposal so it can be picked up for discussion another day. There is an interesting twist to the light rail story: On the very same day House Democrats prevented us from passing legislation that would spare taxpayers from future light rail losses, MNDOT and the Met Council acknowledged reality by announcing the Northstar rail line might be scrapped in favor of buses. The Star Tribune reports, “ridership on the line dropped by a staggering 98% during the pandemic, with only about 60 weekday riders in April 2020 – each ride costing taxpayers a whopping $116 in subsidies.” In other words, if a worker rides the train to work and back five days per week, that’s 10 trips costing $1,160. Extrapolated over the course of four weeks, that’s 20 workdays with 40 one-way trips at a taxpayer cost of $4,640 per rider. I want to reiterate this is a Met Council and MNDOT decision to wind down Northstar. They finally came to grips and realized this train that was not viable even in its early days is beyond white elephant status now that fewer people are heading to Minneapolis. Here’s hoping House Democrats soon come to the same realization on light rail so we can quit throwing taxpayer money into that pit as well. Emergency powers The House on Thursday took up a bill that puts some checks on a governor’s emergency powers. Right now, a governor can continue extending those powers indefinitely unless the legislature steps in to stop it, which seems pretty backward. That is how Gov. Walz maintained unilateral control of our state for 16 months a few years ago. To remedy this situation, House Republican have authored H.F. 21 to flip the script, requiring a supermajority in both legislative chambers to extend a governor’s emergency powers beyond 14 days. Plus, instead of allowing month-long extensions, it would limit them to just two weeks at a time. This common-sense approach allows a governor to have extra powers during a true emergency, while also protecting citizens from open-ended overreach. Unfortunately, House Democrats blocked the bill from passage. But it’s not dead yet because House Republicans tabled it, meaning it could come back for another vote later this session. Fixing a hole in state law Current state law says good-time credit toward early release for prisoners is non-revocable if the inmate engages in bad behavior while incarcerated. I have authored a bill to fix this hole in state law by saying, yes, bad behavior can result in good-time credits being rescinded. The bill codifies current policy and, in doing so, the legislature clarifies its intent instead of the administration essentially working around the law. What constitutes bad behavior is for the Department of Corrections Commissioner to determine. My bill (H.F. 963) had a great hearing in the Minnesota House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee and you can click here to view a clip of me presenting it. Fraud Committee The Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy had another meeting yesterday (Monday), highlighted by Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development officials. We walked through the Workforce Development Fund (WDF), which has earned the reputation as a legislator slush fund. It’s the seedy underbelly of politics, with legislators using WDF money to help their friends and allies. Our committee is looking at this issue so we can make some changes to protect taxpayers, so stay tuned. Higher Education I mentioned in last week’s newsletter how the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee, which I Chair, was conducting a historic three-day walkthrough of the University of Minnesota’s budget. The good news is, after two day of confusing hearings that caused bipartisan frustration, the third meeting produced more of the information I am seeking – particularly on how the U spent $193 million outside of its Operations & Maintenance (O & M) funds. Finally, on Day 3, officials from the U came in and they put their scripts aside. They actually had a slide presentation that followed what I asked them to do so we could talk about how they spent $193 million outside of their O&M budget. In short, I was not overly impressed with how they spent the $193 million and that may be reflected in the budget that I present for the next biennium. This whole experience was rather revealing because it is clear state officials who testify to our committee are not used to the level of scrutiny House Republicans are demanding in our Higher Education committee and beyond. I am not interested in parading state officials through a meeting to simply check a box and rubber stamp their funding. Taxpayers deserve greater attention to detail in our state budget and that is what I am bent on providing. |