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Neighbors,
Eid Mubarak! Well wishes to you and your family on this holiday.
I’m writing to you from the Minnesota House of Representatives with an update on how this year’s legislative session is going.
In November, Minnesotans delivered us a tied House at the ballot box with an even split of Democrats and Republicans. However, a residency challenge in Roseville left one Democratic seat vacant for the start of session, stalling power-sharing negotiations that had been mostly completed. When Republicans refused to continue negotiating in good faith, Democrats utilized a parliamentary tool, quorum denial, to stop Republicans from seizing power that voters did not give them. For several weeks, Democrats worked in their districts instead of in Saint Paul so that Republicans could not install a Speaker and control committees for the next two years. However, Republicans staged a coup and illegally took over the gavel and proceeded to pretend to hold committees and floor sessions for weeks. Thankfully, the Minnesota Supreme Court stepped in and confirmed that this coup was illegal and unconstitutional.
Following this court ruling, Republicans finally returned to the negotiating table and agreed to work alongside Democrats. Once that occurred, Democrats returned to Saint Paul to organize the House. Part of the agreement is allowing Republican Lisa Demuth to be Speaker of the House for the next two years.
For weeks, Republicans used their temporary advantage to push awful bills to the floor. Some of these included loosening gun laws, harming immigrant communities by assisting ICE, taking away reproductive rights, taking away LGBTQ rights, and so much more. Thankfully, Democrats were able to block these bills from passing.
In March, a special election in Roseville restored the House to a 67-67 tie. Since Rep. David Gottfried was sworn in, Republicans have had no choice but to finally reach across the aisle and collaborate with Democrats rather than continuing to push their harmful agenda.
Over the next few months, the legislature is tasked with crafting a state budget that answers the needs of Minnesotans and sets us up for financial success. Minnesota Management and Budget recently released their updated budget forecast. This forecast shows the budget outlook moving in the wrong direction compared to the forecast released last November. Donald Trump’s reckless economic policies are impacting this forecast, with inflation expected to climb and tax receipts expected to fall. Tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and corporations and cuts to Medicaid are expected to bring additional negative impacts. Here in Minnesota, House Republicans are following suit with proposed tax breaks to mega data centers like Meta/Facebook. Tax breaks like this are brought under the guise of “creating jobs,” but it does so at the cost of better ones. The bigger the tax breaks, the less money there is for important projects our communities need, like Rochester’s sewer project.
Instead of bringing down prices like they promised on the campaign trail, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are on the verge of enacting a sweeping tax cut for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and they’re going to pay for it by slashing federal spending on health care for children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. This will have dire consequences for the people of Minnesota and our state budget – including major impacts on Rochester. Researchers in our community have been losing funding to continue medical advancement, agriculture subsidies have been slashed across the board, and highly skilled and educated immigrants in our community who provide medical care are at risk of losing visas.
I want to assure you that Democrats in the Minnesota House are doing everything we can to stop these bad policies from affecting the lives of Minnesotans, but its increasingly difficult now that we no longer have a serious partner in the White House that wants to help us improve lives.
I know that the future looks a bit uncertain right now, but I encourage you to reach out to my office if there is ever anything I can assist you with. I’m proud and honored to represent you in Saint Paul, and I want you to know that I am your partner in community.
All my best,
Rep. Andy Smith