Dear Neighbors,
Happy Independence Day!
I hope you can spend time with friends, family, and loved ones this holiday weekend as we celebrate our independence and the freedoms and liberties we enjoy as Americans. We truly live in the greatest nation on Earth, and I hope you take a moment to appreciate what makes us so great this weekend.
Early Wednesday morning the Minnesota House of Representatives, on a motion made by House Republicans, adopted an amendment to the State Government Finance Bill that ended the emergency powers. The bill was then passed by the House, and was approved by the Minnesota Senate.
Ending the emergency was long overdue and something that I have voted for over 20 times since the pandemic began. We should now turn our attention to a permanent rewrite of the Chapter 12 statute to make sure that future governors are unable to abuse their authority.
In addition to ending the peacetime emergency, the legislature approved the remaining budget bills needed to avoid a government shutdown. While I did not support many of the budget bills, I was nevertheless pleased that major tax increases and most controversial policies were eliminated from the final agreements.
Public Safety Bill
On Tuesday, the House debated and approved the Public Safety bill. While I did not vote for the final agreement, I was happy to see that many of the anti-law enforcement measures and controversial policy provisions were stripped from the final bill.
All session long, Republicans stood strong for law enforcement and were able to defeat countless anti-police policies that would have made it harder for police to do their jobs.
While the bill included several reasonable reforms along with accountability for criminals, protections for victims, and funding to help keep communities safe, there were also some provisions missing. The biggest omission was the necessary extension for mandated use of force training for officers.
At the end of the day, I still voted “no” on the bill, please understand that the legislation certainly could have been much worse if not for Republicans holding strong on preventing anti-law enforcement provisions from being included.
Staying in Touch
Please be sure to reach out to me if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas on ways to improve state government. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-4237 or via email at rep.paul.novotny@house.mn.
Stay safe and have a good day,
Paul