Congratulations to Lisa Demuth – elected Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives!
WHAT’S NEW?
House Democrats finally showed up for work!
After nearly three weeks of shutting down the Minnesota House, Democrats finally reached an agreement to come back to St. Paul and do the people’s business. On Thursday, the Minnesota House officially organized. In all, taxpayers paid Democrats nearly $220,000 for their refusal to take part in legislative activity at the State Capitol.
LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS
Much was made about negotiations and how Democrats kept trying to work something out with Republicans in order to begin session. The reality is their offer didn’t change until this week, when I believe they were under an enormous amount of public pressure to end their shutdown.
Under the approved agreement, Republican Lisa Demuth will serve as Speaker of the House for both the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions. Republicans will also hold a minimum of a one seat advantage on all House committees, at least until the results of a special election for an open House seat near Roseville. This will allow Republican bills and priorities to move forward without roadblocks in the Minnesota House for at least six weeks.
FRAUD COMMITTEE TO BEGIN WORK
A much-needed new House committee that’s designed to shine a light on years of fraud within state government will also be put in place. Beginning Monday, the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee will begin holding hearings into the massive fraud issues that have run rampant during Governor Walz’s tenure. With more than $1 billion – that we know about – being stolen due to fraudulent activity in our state, Republicans and Democrats alike should celebrate that we are taking a significant step to root out fraud and hold criminals accountable.
With the new organizational agreements happening this week, I look forward to getting to work on Minnesota’s top legislative priorities and our committee work starting next week.
GOP RURAL CAUCUS TAKES SHAPE
Recently I was pleased to have been named as lead for the GOP Legislative Rural Caucus, which is made up of House and Senate members who prioritize the needs of Greater Minnesota. Since being elected in 2023, I have prioritized attending these once per week meetings, as it was a unique group in which the Senate and House GOP members collaborate. One of my new initiatives with co-leading this group, is to work on doing short informative videos that members can use on social media or in their newsletters to help spread our message of common sense and Minnesota priorities.
SUPERINTENDENTS MEETING
Recently I joined other Republican lawmakers at a meeting of southeastern Minnesota school superintendents.
Schools are feeling the pinch of more than 65 new mandates that were approved by Governor Walz and an all Democrat-led legislature last session, and we are trying to listen to their concerns and do what we can to assist.