Dear Neighbors,
On Wednesday, I attended the public memorial service honoring the lives of Burnsville Police Officer Paul Elmstrand, Officer Matthew Ruge, and Firefighter-Paramedic Adam Finseth. My prayers continue to be with them, their families, and the entire Burnsville community as they grieve from this tremendous loss. May they rest in peace.
February Budget Forecast
This week, state economists released the annual February budget forecast. The report shows that Minnesota is facing a looming budget deficit beginning in 2025.
It is remarkable that in less than a year, Democrats and Governor Walz took a historic $17.5 billion budget surplus and turned it into a looming deficit.
This news is the result of their irresponsible budgeting and economic policies that saw them blow through the surplus, raise taxes by $10 billion, and grow overall government spending by 40%.
Now, all of us are having to deal with the consequences of their mismanagement as prices remain high for everyday goods, taxes are as high as ever, and family budgets are being squeezed to levels we haven’t seen in years.
You deserve better from your state government, and I am committed to continuing my work to slow down the reckless spending, clean up the Democrats' mess, and set Minnesota on a more prosperous path.
School Resource Officers Update
Positive news to report as a bipartisan agreement has been reached to provide a fix to a change in the law last year that forced many districts to remove School Resource Officers (SROs) from their middle and high schools.
We have been sounding the alarm on this issue for months and it is incredibly disappointing that it took this long to come to a resolution. Nevertheless, I am grateful that we have struck a bipartisan agreement that has the support of law enforcement, to make sure SROs can return to schools where they have been removed.
I expect the bill to come to the House Floor for a vote this coming week.
Gun Control Hearing
On Thursday, the House Public Safety Committee heard two bills that would further erode the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Minnesotans.
House File 601 would put the onus on the victim of a crime to file a report to law enforcement within the government’s definition of “reasonable” time. If you are the victim of a firearm theft, and the perpetrator of that crime commits another crime with your stolen property, you may be held responsible.
We do not and should not criminalize people who are the victims of other crimes.
The proposed changes create a host of issues for home-defense scenarios and would further criminalize law-abiding gun owners.
I will continue to say that Minnesota would be a much safer place if Democrats spent a fraction of their time and energy enforcing our existing gun laws, of which there are many, stopping the anti-law enforcement rhetoric, and holding criminals responsible for their actions instead of proposals that place new burdens on law-abiding Minnesotans.
Staying in Touch
Finally, I’d like to congratulate the Elk River High School boys hockey team for advancing to the state tournament. Go Elks!!!
As always, please do not hesitate to contact 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.gov.
Have a good day,
Paul