Dear Neighbor,
This week I heard a committee presentation for H.F. 4242, a bill the House majority has introduced that would raise the construction cost of a new home by $32,000 at a time we already have a shortage of affordable housing in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, those same Democrats are cutting off reliable, efficient sources of energy and putting our state on the brink of brown outs – closer than we’ve ever been before, according to people I’ve spoken with whose job it is to know these things.
In recap: Democrats continue pushing bills that will raise housing costs at a time we need more affordable housing, all in the name of energy “efficiency” even though their actual energy policies have caused our energy grid to flirt with failure. Once again, we need affordable access to reliable energy through an all-of-the-above approach. Our one-party control is doing the exact opposite.
Here’s more from this week:
Religious freedom
Senate Democrats this week made it clear they agree with House Democrats and Gov. Tim Walz in their belief the state’s views trump your religious freedoms.
This could very well be the biggest infringement Democrats have committed against Minnesotans in recent memory – and that’s saying a lot considering the radical, activist-driven agenda Democrats have forced on the people of our state the past 14 months.
In late February, House Democrats voted down a House Republican measure to restore a religious freedom provision that was deleted from state law last year. The issue resurfaced when the Senate amendment was voted down along party lines, just as when it was proposed in the House.
Here’s the bottom line: Senate Democrats had a chance to restore the law to our long-held consensus that religious communities in Minnesota have the autonomy to decide questions of faith. House Democrats, Senate Democrats and Gov. Walz had more than two weeks to rethink their position and do what’s right for most Minnesotans. Instead, they only highlighted their position that your religious freedoms take a back seat to the state’s rule, and the separation of church and state no longer exists in Minnesota.
Before last year, when gender identity was included (or subsumed) within the MHRA definition of sexual orientation, the still-existing religious exemption for sexual orientation covered gender identity claims as well. When a new, separate definition of gender identity was created last year, there was no corresponding religious exemption added. This issue caused alarm among Minnesota’s faith community and Niska worked with religious leaders to craft an amendment to MHRA legislation S.F. 4292. House Democrats and Senate Democrats then voted to keep that language off the overriding bill.
We’ll see what happens with this bill from here, but I will continue advocating for the religious freedom provision to be re-established. This issue is not going away anytime soon and we will continue pressing the party in full control of the Capitol.
Audible Constitution
I have authored legislation to ensure our Constitution is available to the public in audible form. This would address an accessibility issue I was surprised to learn still exists but should be resolved asap. On the other hand, this audible Constitution could be cheaper to produce if we just wait a little longer with Democrats seemingly bent on eliminating at least the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and the 10th Amendment.
Public safety
House Republicans conducted a press conference this week to call for hearings to take place as soon as possible for a series of several bills we have authored to support our law enforcement officers, hold criminals accountable and keep our communities safe. These bills have been specifically requested by our partners in law enforcement.
The state budget enacted last year did include $300 million in one-time aid for law enforcement agencies. While it is nice these dollars were provided for local law enforcement, Democrats included restricted how this money can be used to the following purposes:
- Community violence prevention and? intervention programs
- Community engagement
- Mental health crisis responses
- Victim? services
- Training programs
- First responder wellness
- Equipment related to fire, rescue, and? emergency services
- To pay other personnel or equipment costs
It’s what’s not on this list that seems to matter most if we’re going to get a handle on violent crime. Tactical vehicles, for instance, do not qualify, even though we continue seeing instances where they could save lives. Neither does something as simple as improving lighting to increase safety.
On the other hand, one of the bills House Republicans propose (H.F. 4837) does the opposite by allowing more flexibility in how public safety aid is used by local governments so they can meet their specific needs. Our citizens and law enforcement officers alike deserve no less.
House Republicans also recently moved to declare urgency and act on a bill (H.F. 548) to increase the penalty for transferring a firearm to an ineligible person, aka, “straw man” purchases. Our motion coincided with the recent news an indictment has been filed against someone who allegedly acted as a straw purchaser of the weapons used in the shooting of three first responders in Burnsville. Unfortunately, the House majority voted down our effort to take urgent action on this bill.
Until next time, have a good weekend and let me know how I can help.
Sincerely,
Shane