Dear Neighbors,
Less than three weeks are remaining in the 2024 legislative session and we’re entering crunch time here in St. Paul with the first round of supplemental budget bills making their way to the House Floor this week.
Like any omnibus bill, many of these legislative packages contained several provisions that I would support if they were standalone bills. Unfortunately, most of these omnibus bills included various poison pill provisions that made it difficult for me to support.
Take for instance the Education bill. There were many provisions in this bill that I think will help schools and students. Unfortunately, there were also many new unfunded mandates that will place additional burdens on our local school districts. Because of this, I was unable to support the entire bill.
Another example is the Environment Bill. There were a lot of good provisions in this bill that I think will help protect our rich natural resources. One specific provision that I strongly support is a bill that I co-authored that establishes a regulatory framework for gas and oil production in the state. This is in direct response to the helium discovery near Babbitt in Lake County.
Unfortunately, the broader Environment Omnibus bill included too many harmful provisions to earn my support.
Despite this disappointing reality, I was proud to support the Legacy Bill which allocates funding for a variety of outdoor projects across Minnesota and right here in our backyard. As a lifelong lover of the great outdoors, it was nice to be able to cast a vote that will help improve water quality, maintain our rich natural resources, and make sure the outdoors remain accessible for all Minnesotans.
There were a handful of projects with local impact included in the bill:
- $3 million to restore and enhance stream habitat in the Little Devil Track River.
- $1 million to support soil and water conservation districts and other local governments and partner organizations in the Lake Superior basin to leverage the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative or other federal Great Lakes funding to implement prioritized activities.
- $2 million for enhancing county-level delivery systems for subsurface sewage treatment system(SSTS) activities.
I’d like to extend my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to Legacy Committee Chairman, Rep. Leon Lillie, for his hard work in putting together a great bill that is geographically balanced and one that we can all be proud to support.
Gun Control Bills
As a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I will always vote to uphold the rights of law-abiding Minnesotans to own firearms. This commitment guides my decision-making when gun control bills are presented here in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
This week, two separate gun control bills were voted on and passed. I voted “no” on both because they are focused on controlling the behavior of law-abiding Minnesotans instead of addressing criminals and holding them accountable for their actions.
The first bill requires gun owners to report a firearm lost or stolen if they are the victim of theft. If someone fails to report the crime within an arbitrary timeline, then they would be charged with a crime themselves.
There is no other instance in state law where we criminalize the victim of a crime for failing to report that crime.
The second bill mandates certain storage requirements for firearms inside your private residence. Failing to adhere to the storage standards would result in a crime.
As you can see, these bills have nothing to do with going after criminals who are committing violent acts in our communities. They instead establish new restrictions and legal traps that could turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals themselves. This is the complete opposite approach we should be taking to address gun violence in Minnesota.
Staying in Touch
If you plan to be in St. Paul anytime soon or would like to set up a time to meet back home, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office. It would be great to chat with you about the issues that are important to you and your family.
You can call me at 651-296-2190 or email me at rep.roger.skraba@house.mn.gov.
Have a great day!
Roger