Dear Neighbors,
We are entering the final days of the 2024 legislative session, and are expecting to work late into the night on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as House Democrats rush to get their priority bills off the House Floor.
Despite the long hours and late nights, I am as committed as ever to standing strong for you, your family, and our communities. Thank you for your support and encouragement in these final days of the session.
ERA Bill
House Democrats are ready to approve legislation that will ask voters at the 2026 general election if the state Constitution should be amended to codify several conditions, including everything from race, sex, and gender identity to abortion.
If approved by voters, the amendment would enshrine into Minnesota’s Constitution the most extreme abortion policy in the nation, strip away protections for religious institutions, and significantly impact girls’ sports as we know it.
This change to our Constitution would prevent future lawmakers from enacting even commonsense abortion policies. The proposal also excludes language safeguarding conscience and religious rights, removing protection for “creed” that was included in a previous version.
It has been cleverly disguised as an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by House Democrats. However, this is nothing like the ERA movement you may have read about from the 1970s. Put simply, this is not your grandma’s ERA.
I am a strong “NO” on this version of the bill and am hopeful that it can be stopped in the Senate, where Democrats have a slim 1-seat majority.
Ignoring the Voices of the Minority
Late Wednesday night, House Speaker Melissa Hortman cut off debate and forced a vote on a bill that will raise taxes on employees and job creators by $735 million more than anticipated to fund a one-size-fits-all paid leave mandate. To be clear, the House majority has had two years to act on their priority bills. It is not the fault of House Republicans that they have been unable to effectively manage their time.
Over the last two years, we have seen debate severely limited during the committee process, with sometimes less than 10 minutes spent discussing legislation that will have a generational impact on Minnesota. If they will not allow us to properly vet these bills during committee, then we are going to vet them on the House Floor. Minnesotans deserve to know what’s in these bills and how they will impact them and their families.
It is our responsibility to make sure the voices of our constituents are represented and a huge part of that is speaking on the House Floor. Altogether, the 64 members of the House Republican Caucus represent roughly 2.7 million Minnesotans. By silencing us, they are effectively silencing the voices of those 2.7 million individuals. You deserve better.
You can watch the chaos from Wednesday night here.
Government Overreach
It has been brought to my attention that the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) recently sent a letter to a business that is harvesting timber in Becker County near Strawberry Lake requesting a pause and an archaeological survey to take place.
To my knowledge, I am not aware of any other timber harvest that has been interrupted and required to do an archaeological survey by the SHPO.
Together with a handful of other local legislators, we are planning to send a letter to the SHPO, Governor Walz, and the commissioner of the DNR for further explanation of the basis for this letter.
Stay tuned.
That’s all for this week. I expect more for you next week after the dust has settled on the 2024 legislative session. Until then, have a good weekend and please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Matt