Dear Neighbor,
Congratulations to everyone involved in successfully landing a $3.6 million local grant to help deliver broadband to parts of Pine and Aitkin counties that currently lack fast, reliable internet service. Click here for more information on this subject.
In other news from the House this week:
Full-time Legislature?
House Democrats are now pushing legislation that would make Minnesota the 11th state to have a full-time Legislature. Maybe that explains why they spent $730 million of taxpayer money on constructing their palace for politicians. The hole just keeps getting deeper.
I disagree with a full-time Minnesota Legislature because the part-time model we currently have allows members to spend more time back in our home districts, in tune with the people we represent at the Capitol.
Our Legislature has people with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, from farmers to teachers, business owners, trade workers … and, yes, real estate agents. That’s what makes our style of government so special. We work at the Capitol and then come back to our local communities, spending valuable time hearing directly from the people we roll up our sleeves and work for when we return to St. Paul. It helps keep us firmly in touch with what people are thinking locally.
Also, we can only wonder what legislators would do for a full year and a half after the state budget is set in the first five months of each biennium. That seems like way too much time for pet projects that Minnesotans may not even want … and we see too much of that already with around 5,000 bills having been introduced the first 14 months of this two-year cycle alone.
More anti-Second Amendment bills
In previous newsletters, I have touched on anti-Second Amendment bills H.F. 601 (theft) and H.F. 4300 (storage). Now, two more anti-Second Amendment bills received committee hearings in the House this week. They include:
H.F. 2828, allows local governments to prohibit or restrict a person from carrying a firearm on government-owned property.
H.F. 3672, transfers firearm regulations away from the state to local governing bodies, allowing municipalities and counties to regulate the use and possession of firearms. This would result in a patchwork of firearm laws across our state and lead to potentially unconstitutional proposals by governing bodies.
The anti-gun crowd in St. Paul realizes it can’t just knock the Second Amendment out of our Constitution in one swing. But they also realize they can reach the same goal by making it impractical and legally hazardous for people to own guns. That’s the effect their various bills are having.
As a proud Second Amendment supporter, I oppose these latest proposals. Once again, they seem to do more to make criminals out of good-faith gun owners instead of tackling the real issues such as enforcing our current laws.
Local visitors
Enjoyed spending time with the many visitors who came to St. Paul again this week, including:
A group from MSOP Moose Lake
Friends from the trapping industry
Carlton County soil and water representatives
Moose Lake residents
50 cents more for gas?
The Senate Transportation Committee recently conducted the first legislative committee hearing on S.F. 2584, the controversial proposal by House and Senate Democrats to implement a so-called Clean Transportation Standard.
This bill would authorize rulemaking to impose expensive and burdensome mandates that would raise fuel prices for Minnesotans by 40-50 cents per gallon or more in the coming years and decimate our state’s ethanol and biodiesel industries.
With this bill, the legislative majority is pushing to make gas prices more expensive for every family in Minnesota and deliver a devastating blow to our agriculture economy. A diverse coalition of labor unions, agriculture groups, businesses, and countless others have lined up to oppose this bill because it will harm job growth, hurt our farmers and agriculture economy, and raise fuel prices on families at a time when inflation is still far too high.
States that have imposed CTS mandate have among the highest gas prices in the country. We should listen to the concerns that have been raised and abandon this expensive and burdensome proposal that appears to be yet another example of the majority pushing a metro-driven agenda on our local communities and across the entire state.
Permitting reform
The House majority has introduced a bill allowing easier permitting exclusively for Minnesota’s clean energy interests. While It is nice to see my colleagues across the aisle recognize Minnesota’s burdensome permitting is an obstruction for industries, small businesses, and communities across our state, we let’s make the permitting process more efficient for everyone instead of just giving special attention to political allies.
Minnesota employees and job creators deserve a permitting process that is efficient and easy to follow not only for the clean energy sector, but also for other important industries like mining, housing, construction, manufacturing, and more.
This does not need to be an either/or proposition. Minnesota can and should maintain necessary environmental and safety standards, while also giving job creators the certainty they need to invest in our state and its people.
If these changes Democrats propose are good enough for the clean energy sector, then they should be good enough for the rest of Minnesota’s businesses.
I stand ready to work on a bipartisan solution to ensure our permitting process is no longer a barrier to job growth throughout the state.
Look for more from the House soon. Until then, please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Jeff