Dear Neighbor,
The theme of this week (as it is most other weeks) is keep a tight grip on your wallet and your guns with one-party rule imposing its will on our state. Here we go:
State economic forecast
State officials issued a new economic forecast for Minnesota Thursday, with a looming $1.5 billion shortfall through 2027 overshadowing a $3.715 billion surplus for the current biennium.
The fact revenue continues to surpass previous projections should not surprise anyone given the price increases we’ve experienced in this Biden/Walz economy. Everything costs more so, guess what? The state is collecting more sales taxes.
But there is still a projected shortfall in the next biennium because Democrats spent the $17.5 billion surplus to fuel a 40-percent increase in state spending. The spending path they put us on is unsustainable and that fact should not be forgotten. Neither should the fact they promised to fully eliminate the state tax on Social Security and provide $2,000 rebates – only to break their promise and instead spend that money catering to activists and pet projects in general.
The good news is our state is fully funded for the current two-year cycle, meaning no additional state spending is necessary this session. The bad news is our one-party rule very well could just ignore the projected shortfall, spend the current overcollection of revenue and let someone else clean up the mess later.
We need more balance in St. Paul like a fish needs water.
Gun-control bills
The House committee on public safety on Thursday conducted hearings for a pair of anti-Second Amendment bills authored by Democrats.
The bills are H.F. 601 – Her, arbitrary deadline for reporting for lost and stolen firearms; and H.F. 4300 – Becker-Finn, regarding firearm storage. Both proposals are geared more toward criminalizing good-faith, law-abiding gun owners than to crack down on the repeat criminals and other true bad actors our courts and metro prosecutors continue putting back on the street.
Rep. Her’s bill puts the onus on the victim of a crime to file a report to law enforcement within the government’s definition of reasonable time – 48 hours. If you are the victim of a firearm theft, and the perpetrator of that crime commits another crime with your stolen weapon, the bill stipulates that you may be held responsible.
Rep. Becker-Finn’s bill requires a person to either store a firearm not in the person’s direct control in a safe or unloaded with a locking device. On the same day the DFL introduced this bill that makes it a crime if a law-abiding firearm owner does not unload a firearm and secure it with a locking device in the person’s home, the DFL also introduced a bill (HF4277) that repeals mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes involving the possession or use of a firearm.
Interestingly, the increased penalties these bills propose come at a time where perpetrators of actual violent crimes are increasingly released back out onto the street under laws passed by Democrats in 2023.
Meanwhile, you’ve got Biden trying to ban ARs, illegal aliens are flooding into our country, extremists have decimated our police departments, prosecutors are going soft, our courts are acting like a revolving door and violent crime remains too high. And, yet, instead of taking harder stance against real criminals, the House Democrats want to come after well-meaning gun owners who seek to honor our laws and act in good faith.
Meanwhile, I am co-authoring legislation to increase penalties for so-called “straw purchases” where someone who is eligible to purchase a firearm purchases one for someone whose criminal status prohibits them from doing so. This is the type of situation appears to have played a role in the recent killing of two police officers and a firefighter medic in Burnsville. The bill we propose is part of the real solution for cracking down on gun runners and does not infringe on law-abiding citizens.
I will continue opposing anti-Second Amendment bills and appreciate the people who showed up at the hearing to support our gun rights. Stay tuned. I will be back with more from the House soon.
Sincerely,
Shane