Legislative UpdateFriends and Neighbors, After last week’s Blackout bill that will turn the lights off on Minnesotans as our coal, natural gas, and waste-to-energy base load production is forced to shut down by 2040 this week hasn’t started much better. On Monday the house DFL passed language to provide driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants with zero guardrails to make sure these documents are not being used for anything outside of driving and car insurance. While there is a strong argument for public safety that this bill could provide by allowing these drivers to get insurance and take some driver training courses, I believe the lack of markings or data sharing to prevent these from being used for voter registration is unacceptable.  (https://fb.watch/iwRdWJ8Ctt/) Felon Voting is another one of the Democrats’ top priorities that they have rushed through the process this week. While voting rights are already rightfully restored once someone charged with a felony has completed their entire sentence this bill, HF 28, would return a felon’s right to vote as soon as they are out of prison, while they’re still on probation. In some cases where the punishment is only felony probation, they would never lose their voting rights. Taking the teeth out of any punishment removes the consequences of committing one of these crimes. In some of these cases, the victims may never be able to vote again and yet democrats continue to remove layers of accountability for criminals. |