Dear Neighbors,
I'm excited to announce that House DFL and Republican leadership reached an agreement to co-govern over the next two years. This follows weeks of contentious negotiations where our primary sticking point was the Republicans' unwillingness to honor the will of the voters and uphold our democratic values.Thankfully they conceded this point and we could come to a reasonable agreement. I’m proud that the DFL caucus fought for our democratic values and won!
The agreement says that Republicans will govern as a majority until we return to a 67-67 tie, which we expect following the March 11th special election in Roseville. At that point, all committees will have equal representation from both parties with co-chairs leading. In fact, the agreement is largely what we proposed four weeks ago, but it took awhile for Republicans to exhaust their various power grabbing tactics.
I want to acknowledge the community leaders, advocates, and constituents who met with me to share their priorities while the House Democrats denied quorum to uphold our values. Your input directly shapes my legislative agenda, and I will continue to advance our shared values here at the House. Thank you all for your support, I can’t wait to continue to represent you at the Capitol!
Working Outside the Capitol
During the negotiation period I was hard at work advancing our shared values in district. Here is some of what I worked on recently:
- I had a great conversation with Principal Helke along with my seatmate State Representative Jess Hanson about what we can do to improve outcomes for our students. ISD 191 Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District is pretty special!!
- I visited the Homeward Bound shelter and learned about all the people they help in a variety of ways. We need to work harder to house our neighbors.
- I visited The Lift which is an organization that removes the barrier of costly vehicle repairs for low income folks.
- I was honored to join my colleagues in conversation with tribal leaders from the Lower Sioux Nation as they shared their legislative priorities with us.
Resisting Federal Overreach
I have heard from many of you about your concerns with the radical actions being taken by the Trump administration. I want to assure you that I will use all of my power to resist every illegal, hateful, racist, xenophobic, and discriminatory action coming from the federal government. I will fight to protect the rights of our LGBTQ, Black and Brown, and immigrant communities. Our diversity is our strength and I won’t back down from that. This is one reason why it was so critical for the House DFL to maintain a fair power-sharing agreement. We are now in a much stronger position to push back against these evil actions.
Stay in Touch
If you have questions, ideas, or feedback that you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Email me at rep.kaela.berg@house.mn.gov or call (651) 296-5387. For more regular updates, you can subscribe to these regular legislative updates if you haven’t already, here, and you can also “like” and follow my official State Representative Facebook page.
Sincerely,
Kaela Berg
State Representative