Dear Neighbors, I am happy to write that since my last newsletter, the house has officially organized and Democrats have returned to the Capitol. Last week, House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman announced a bipartisan power-sharing agreement that allowed the Minnesota House to begin lawfully conducting business. I am proud to share that we fought to protect the will of the voters, and we succeeded. Democrats secured the power-sharing agreement we sought, and assurances that Representative Brad Tabke will be seated and will serve the term to which he was elected. Under the agreement, Republicans will control House Committees while they have a 67-66 advantage. They will both chair the committees and have a one-seat voting advantage. If the House returns to a 67-67 tie after a special election in Roseville in mid-March, committees will be co-chaired by Democrats and Republicans, and there will be an equal number of Democrats and Republicans on each committee. At that point, a bipartisan vote will be required to advance a bill out of committee. As per the Minnesota Constitution, passing any bill, including the budget, will take at least 68 votes. Full details of the agreement are available here. Had Democrats previously gone to the Capitol without a power sharing agreement in place, Republicans would have kicked out Rep. Tabke, usurping the election in Shakopee. They would also have seized control of the chamber for two years, even when we returned to a tie. Minnesotans delivered a tied House on Election Night, and this power sharing agreement allows us to govern in a way that reflects that outcome. This year, I will be serving on the Children and Families Finance and Policy, Education Finance, and Transportation Finance and Policy Committees. I’m excited to work together to deliver on the top issues facing Minnesotans like affordable housing, education, healthcare, and more. Click here if you would like to track the bills I am authoring this session.  Meet my Legislative Assistant- Declan McGuire This year, Declan McGuire will be returning as my Legislative Assistant. He can be reached at declan.mcguire@house.mn.gov. Declan has done fantastic work with our office and our district, and we are happy to have him back for a second term. A message from Declan: “Hello! I am Declan McGuire. I serve as State Representative Samantha Sencer-Mura’s Legislative Assistant. I support Representative Sencer-Mura’s office with scheduling, constituent services, bill tracking, and some casework. I grew up and lived in the Standish Ericsson neighborhood for 22 years. When I’m not working you can find me enjoying the Twin Cities natural outdoor spaces, playing pickleball, and grieving Minnesota’s professional Sports teams.” POCI Caucus Town HallLast week, the Minnesota People of Color and Indigenous Caucus held our town hall in the Rondo neighborhood. We discussed topics of gender violence, after-school programs, and funding for educators. I am thankful to all the community members who came out to lend their voices to the issues. As the first Japanese American elected to the Minnesota legislature, I am proud to be a member of the POCI caucus advancing issues of racial equity in Minnesota.  Outfront Minnesota Round TableRecently I joined my House Education committee colleagues and Outfront Minnesota, where we discussed how best to support Minnesota’s LGBTQIA students. I remain committed to ensuring all students can show up at our schools as their whole selves, that students can continue to see schools as safe and brave spaces, and that our teachers are protected when they teach diverse, honest, and accurate curriculum.  Concerns with Federal Government ActionsOver the past few weeks I have heard from many constituents with real and justified concerns and fear regarding what is happening with the federal government. In particular, I heard from many of you with concerns about Elon Musk’s role in the new administration, and his access to confidential citizen information. Please be assured that I understand the gravity of the situation and share your frustration with this unprecedented invasion of American privacy. As you all know, I am a state legislator, and the actions I can take are essentially limited to Minnesota’s statutes and agencies. Since this intrusion is happening in federal programs, I met last week with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to learn about how her office and the Democrats in Washington are responding to this issue. She shared with me that the Democrats have introduced legislation to stop unlawful access to the sensitive information of millions of Americans– The Taxpayer Data Protection Act. She also shared with me a litigation tracker that tracks legal challenges across the country to Trump administration actions: https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/. Minnesota has also recently joined 13 other states in a federal lawsuit requesting a temporary restraining order declaring that all of Musk’s governmental action to date shall have no legal effect, and barring Musk and his “DOGE” group from ordering changes to federal funding, canceling government contracts, terminating regulations, making personnel decisions, dismantling agencies, accessing sensitive data and altering data systems. Please continue to reach out to me with concerns about the federal government so I can elevate them to our Congressional partners, our Attorney General, and other relevant decision makers. OLA report on MPCA and Smith FoundryLast year I worked with many residents in South Minneapolis to address concerns related to environmental impacts from the Smith Foundry. The Foundry has since closed down, but concerns remain about oversight of these types of facilities, and how we can ensure our state government is listening to community concerns around disparate health impacts from pollution. Namely, the EPA had different findings from the MPCA around Smith Foundry pollution control and violations with the EPA confirming what residents had been saying for years about the Foundry. Yesterday, the Office of the Legislative Auditor released this report about the MPCA’s oversight of Smith Foundry. The report finds that “while MPCA initially disputed findings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) May 2023 inspection of Smith Foundry, it later collected the data necessary to reproduce EPA’s findings. MPCA deferred to EPA’s enforcement of emissions and pollution control equipment violations at the foundry, but it reports that it has taken steps to strengthen its air quality monitoring.” Stay in TouchPlease continue to reach out anytime if you need assistance or have questions at rep.samantha.sencer-mura@house.mn.gov or 651-297-7087. You can also follow my Facebook page. In community, Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura Minnesota House of Representatives |