Dear Friends and Neighbors,

 

The Legislature is about to close out for 2023, barring a special session which does not look likely at this point. The constitutionally mandated end point is tonight before midnight. Deadlines have a way of sharpening the debate. I will send more extended comments and analysis later but for now, here are a few thoughts before I head to the floor. 

Major Bill Status Update As of Monday morning, 5/22

• Signed into Law:  Veterans and Military Affairs, Agriculture, Broadband and Rural Development, Higher Ed, Housing, Public Safety, Legacy
• Passed by the House and Senate, awaiting the Governor's signature: Workforce/Economic Development, early childhood education, Commerce, Education, Paid Family Leave, Environment, Taxes, Transportation, and Energy. Human Services, Cannabis Legalization, State Government. 
• Awaiting Action by the House and/or Senate: Health, bonding, cash capital investment

There are several major pieces of legislation left to debate today in the Senate.:

• Health and Human services omnibus
• Bonding Bill
• Capital Investment Cash bill
• Nurses at the Bedside Act

 All of these bills have been and will be very controversial.  The Health and Human Services bill carries a great many provisions from HF 70 that many of you have written me about. It basically strips out 50 years of pro-life legislation, most of it common sense and humane, such as the Born Alive Act.  Innocuously named "Keep The Nurses at the Bedside Act" has been denounced by newspapers around the state. This bill lets unions dictate the level of staffing in hospitals. When their standards are exceeded, Hospitals will have no choice but to turn patients away.  Coupled with a growing staffing shortage, this has the potential to create a perfect storm in our hospitals, especially in Greater Minnesota. The Mayo clinic made an open threat to leave Minnesota if it were passed. With their considerable clout, they were made exempt from the proposed law,  No such fate awaits other hospitals, especially those who are struggling right now. 

 

The Capital Investment Cash and Bonding Bills are the result of many hours of negotiation by Republicans and Democrats.  Democrats wanted to reward their voters in the Metro, especially non-profits and Republicans had to fight for the inclusion of more infrastructure projects for Greater Minnesota. 

 

Republicans have also fought for more funding for nursing homes.  We have yet to see the details on the final deal, but when could not get the Democrats and Governor Walz to budge on their absurdly small taxpayer rebate, we pressed harder on doing something about our nursing homes, many which are on the brink of collapse.

One of the most talked about bills this session was the Public Safety bill which was signed into law late last week.  I received many phone calls, emails and letters from constituents about this bill, most opposing the changes to firearms laws. Red Flag law gun confiscation and so-called “universal background checks” are in this new legislation.  What struck me about communications from people who supported them was how little they had to say about how the provisions would help reduce crime. That is because they won’t.  

 

In my speech on the floor, I cited over a hundred years of crime data and restrictive gun laws, and the data is clear.  After restricting guns, in every case, crime got worse, not better.  The reason is simple; criminals don’t follow the law.  Law-abiding gun owners do, and restrictive laws are just more onerous for them.   Fortunately, there were many other provisions that the Democrats wanted that they did not get, like reducing the size of magazines, requiring guns to be completely disabled while in your home, with gun safe inspections by law enforcement, physical and mental tests for gun owners, and removing shall issue from carry permit laws. What is the point of having a weapon if you can’t access your weapon for self-defense in your own home?  That’s right. They don’t want you to have it.

 

All of these proposals will be back next year at the legislature. You can count on it.  

 

The author of the bill himself could not say when these laws would take full effect.  We will probably see some court challenges, and much of the way that these laws are enforced will depend on the way that local law enforcement implements them.  I will have more information on this in the coming days. .  

 

In addition to the gun provisions, the bill contained:

• Changes to landlord-tenant law and rental eviction record expungement, including limitations against crime-free lease terms. This makes it harder for landlords to provide a safe place to live.  
• Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission’s five-year felony probation cap, plus retroactive application to any sentence already in place in Minnesota
• It puts the crime of carjacking into statute but does not add any new penalty. A useless change.
• It reduces sentences for juveniles charged as adults.
• It reduces prison time from 2/3 of an offender’s sentence to only half, which would make 92% of our prison population eligible for early release.  
• It contains a change to law which removes a statement that pedophiles are not a "sexual orientation."  This provision was brought forward earlier in a bill in the House and when it was pointed out that removing the language created a loophole for pedophiles to sue for job discrimination or file a complaint, the House removed it by a unanimous vote.  The provision was never even in the Senate version of the bill. When the bill came back from conference, lo and behold, there it was!  The meaning of this provision will be debated for some time.  It doesn't "legalize pedophilia" but it creates an opportunity for court action, on this topic. Activists see the courts as a tool to get what they want when the legislature is an obstacle, and Democrats are more than willing to assist them.  
• The bill funded the Department of Human Rights to collect information on racially motivated incidents and create a database. There was no direction about what kind of incidents and information would make it into the database. When this language passed the House earlier, Republicans tried to clarify that only behavior that met a criminal standard would be in the database. Democrats rejected it. 
• There is significant new spending for nonprofit services, and most of it has very little accountability.  This is true for almost every spending bill.  Given what the Legislative Auditor has reported about fraud and misuse of government grants to nonprofits, we can look forward to much of this money simply disappearing without any benefit.  

In the hustle and bustle of the end of Session, Rep. Jacob and I were still able to visit with a group of 6th graders from Lewiston-Altura Intermediate Elementary.  They were lucky to make their trip on Statehood Day, May 11, when the capitol's great "electrolier" chandelier is lit. Interestingly, a provision in the State and Local Government bill this year provides for this state treasure to be lit more than only once a year, principally when the Legislature is in session.   For information about free tours of our beautiful State Capitol see this page at the Minnesota Historical Society. 

Please contact me to share any issues, concerns, or feedback you have to assist me in best representing you.  The best way to reach me is by email at [email protected] or by phone at 651-296-5612. My legislative assistant is Margaret Martin, and her number is 651-296-4264.  

Sincerely,

Steve Drazkowski

Minnesota Senate, District 20, Wabasha, Goodhue, Winona, Olmsted, and Dakota Counties.

2411 Minnesota Senate Building

95 University Avenue W.
Minnesota Senate Bldg.
St. Paul, MN 55155