Legislative Update Dear Neighbors, My name is Bryan Lawrence, and I am your new state representative. I was recently elected in a special election to step in for our former representative, Kurt Daudt, who retired earlier this year. I was officially sworn into office on Tuesday, April 2nd and I am excited for the opportunity to work with and for all of you in House District 27B. If you’re receiving this email, that means you originally subscribed to former Rep. Daudt’s weekly update list. Moving forward I will release weekly updates to provide you with information on what is going on here in St. Paul. Below is a brief introduction about myself and the journey I have been on to get here. About me I grew up in a family deeply rooted in agriculture. My father, Doug Lawrence, was a successful entrepreneur, owning and operating Rocket Oil, Rocket Turf, and Lawrence Herefords. I worked alongside my father, mother, and brother in these businesses, gaining valuable experience in turf grass production, oil delivery/sales, and cattle management. After graduating from Coon Rapids High School in 1988, I attended the University of Minnesota, where I earned a degree in Agricultural Business Administration. I then returned to the family farm in Princeton, MN, where my wife, Marytina, and I continue to raise our family, live, and work. In addition to working in agriculture, I have been actively involved in local government and currently serve in leadership positions for several business organizations. I served on the Baldwin Township Board for over 20 years, working to prepare the township for growth and development. I also served on several committees in Sherburne County, including chairman of county planning & zoning. Why I Ran My motivation for seeking this House seat is based on my desire to serve my community and represent our conservative common-sense values at the state level. Over the past few years, I have observed the degradation of those core values in addition to increased taxes paired with massive inflation. As your representative, I believe in being a responsible steward of your tax dollars. I do not believe that your money should be paying for abortions – especially up until birth, gender reassignment surgeries, and other random allocations that do not represent our value system. Instead, it should be used on things like improving infrastructure and meeting the individual needs of our school systems so they can empower and educate the next generation as well as opportunities that benefit the common interests of our community. Higher cost of living, education shortfalls, and removal of Constitutional rights have been disastrous for the people of Minnesota. I ran to help restore the balance of power that creates good policy and to defend these rights, including the right to live affordably in our community. As your new state representative, I aim to be an actual representative of the needs of our community. With that said, please do not hesitate to reach out and share your concerns or just ask questions. Hearing from you allows me to better represent you, and advocate on behalf of all of us in district 27B. Issues of Interest I completely support your Second Amendment rights. Currently, there are two bills of major concern before the legislature that completely miss the objective of making our communities safer by only targeting law-abiding gun owners. HF 3672 repeals the preemption that prohibits local governments from regulating firearms. This means cities could pass different ordinances city by city, instead of having state-wide gun policies. This leads to confusing regulations aimed at eliminating your constitutional right to carry. HF 4300 would require state-wide standards for firearm storage. Currently, there is already a law on the books addressing this concern, specifically when there are children present in the home. This bill mandates that you must store your guns unloaded in a locked safe with ammunition in a separate compartment, regardless of your home situation, essentially eliminating any chance of using it in self-defense. Further, the First Amendment has also been under attack as of late. In 2023, the DFL amended the Minnesota Human Rights Act to include gender identity as a protected class. However, this change did not include the long-respected religious exemptions, which were intended to allow the faith community to maintain its values in hiring practices. Efforts to rectify this through amendments in the House Judiciary Committee were dismissed as were attempts to declare an urgency on the floor to suspend the rules and re-add the exemption, leaving the status of religious liberty in Minnesota in jeopardy. Inauguration My son, who is the senior high youth director at New Life Church in Princeton, MN, was granted the privilege of opening session for the day with prayer. It was amazing to have my family by my side when I was officially sworn in as your new representative. I also want to say thank you to all the members of the community who came to support me, and for all the support I received during the special election. If you are ever in St. Paul, please don’t hesitate to swing in and say hello. My door is always open to constituents. If you’d like to see the videos from that day, you find them below. |