Legislative Update – May 2, 2023
Dear Neighbors,
Last week, Governor Tim Walz signed three bills into law protecting people seeking or providing abortions in Minnesota, banning the practice of conversion therapy, and protecting people seeking or providing gender-affirming health care in Minnesota. As vice chair of the Queer Caucus, I was proud to support these bills and to join Speaker Hortman as she sent the bills to the Governor’s desk! You can read the Queer Caucus’ statement on the bills here.
We will continue to do everything in our power to protect our two-spirit, non-binary, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community so they can live openly without discrimination and embrace their human rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association. In Minnesota, we want you to live without any shame or doubt that you are respected, loved, and protected. Hate has no home here, you belong here.
Public Safety and Judiciary Budget
I am proud to announce that the House passed HF 2909, the Judiciary and Public Safety budget bill. This bill prioritizes a holistic approach to gun violence prevention, funding for law enforcement and victims of crime, juvenile justice reform, and more. With significant investments in public defense and civil legal services, an increase in juror pay, expanded hate and discrimination data tracking, the creation of an Office of Appellate Counsel, and the elimination of court document fees, this bill is building a system that will more equitably serve the people of Minnesota.
The bill also included several provisions I authored, most importantly one limiting any court from issuing or approving a no-knock search warrant unless the search cannot be done while the dwelling is unoccupied, there is cause to believe the dwelling will be occupied at all times, and that the occupants will present an “immediate threat of death or injury” to officers if they announce their presence. As someone who knows what it is like to serve as an officer, I spoke in support of this provision and the larger bill.
I am glad to announce I am serving on the Public Safety and Judiciary budget bill’s “conference committee” made up of members from each chamber appointed to reconcile the differences between two versions of a bill.
Water Use Work Group Update
Recently, a worker at Water Gremlin spoke out about his concerns on health hazards and worker safety, I encourage you to check out this WCCO story on the issue.
I am committed to working with our community to address this issue, and earlier this session I introduced my bill to create a White Bear Lake Area Water Use Work Group. Our region has seen prolonged issues over water quality and water use permits. This working group is necessary to move forward and ensure that our residents have clean, safe, water—I was proud to introduce this bill with bipartisan legislators from across Washington County. In addition, the Mayors of White Bear Lake, Lake Elmo, Oakdale, and Hugo all supported the bill—which was included in the House’s Environment and Climate budget bill!
Legalizing Adult-Use Cannabis
Last Wednesday was a historic day at the House as we voted to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state of Minnesota. Our current cannabis laws are doing more harm than good, and it is far past time to pass this bill. This legislation creates a safe, well-regulated legal marketplace for Minnesotans over the age of 21. It prioritizes automatic expungement of prior marijuana convictions. Finally, the bill will help start-up cannabis businesses to ensure the communities disproportionately affected by prohibition can take part in the economic opportunity created by legalization. I was proud to vote “yes” on this legislation.
Budget Bill Updates
Last week was another busy week at the State Capitol, having now passed all of our budget proposals off the House Floor. You can read into the specifics of our budget proposals in the House Public Information articles written on each: Higher Education, Legacy, Environment and Clean Energy, Housing, Veterans, Elections, State and Local Government, K-12 Education, Agriculture, Transportation, Early Learning, Children & Families, Jobs & Labor, Human Services, Pensions, Commerce, Judiciary & Public Safety, Tax, and Health.
Stay Connected!
To share your input or ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance, please feel free to reach out at rep.brion.curran@house.mn.gov or 651-296-4342, and I will be happy to help. If you were forwarded this email and you’d like to subscribe, click here. If you have a friend or neighbor who would be interested in receiving these, please forward this and encourage them to subscribe!
Sincerely,
Brion Curran
State Representative