Dear Neighbors,
It’s been a busy week in St. Paul with first committee deadlines today. The first deadline is for committees to act favorably on bills in the house of origin. For example, if a piece of legislation has not received at least one hearing in either the House or Senate by Friday night, the bill is effectively “dead” for this year’s legislative session.
Because of this deadline, committees have been meeting into the evening all week to get bills their first hearings.
This week marked the halfway point of the 2021 legislative session. To date, little has been passed off the House floor and the Democrat majority has been mostly hearing controversial bills in committee that have little to no chance of ever becoming law. I hope that they pick up the pace soon, otherwise we could be looking at another mad dash to the finish line in May.
One Year of Emergency Powers
Saturday marks the first anniversary of the Governor declaring a peacetime emergency to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Governor continues to insist that his emergency powers are needed, but as COVID-19 cases across the nation and state continue to fall and vaccinations ramp up, it’s becoming more difficult for the Governor to justify having complete control of Minnesota government. Remember, Minnesota was asked to shut down for 15 days to flatten the curve to ensure bed space at our hospitals.
I’ve voted over a dozen times to end the emergency powers and return to regular legislative order. Sadly, each of these votes has failed due to Democrats insistence on handing over their authority to the Governor.
States, red and blue alike, across the nation have started the process of reopening. We should be able to do the same here in Minnesota. Our number of ICU beds being used for COVID-19 are lower now than when the crises started over a year ago.
Business owners have spent significant sums of their own money to comply with the Governor’s onerous executive orders. I talked to one business owner that has had to use more than two hundred thousand dollars of his 401K just to keep his doors open. It’s time to let these folks reopen and let Minnesotans make decisions for themselves to protect their friends, family, and neighbors.
The “emergency” is over. We must now move into the management and recovery phase. To effectively do that, the voice of the people must be at the table. The legislature needs to be on equal footing with the Governor and the powers must end.
Staying in Touch
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to share any thoughts or concerns you may have about state government or the job I'm doing as your representative. It would be great to talk with you. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-8237 or via email at rep.brian.daniels@house.mn.
Have a great weekend,
Brian