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*February 16, 2024*






Dear Friends,

Legislators headed back to St. Paul this week to begin the 2024 legislative session. Spending more time at my day job as a middle school principal and getting out in the community has energized me for this session. There are so many critical issues we must address. From supporting family budgets to reining in government spending to supporting our students and educators, I am excited to get to work representing you at the Capitol.

Last session, despite a $17.5 billion surplus, Democrats raised taxes by $10 billion to pay for their 40% state budget increase. Now, if we do not cut back on wasteful government spending ? like the $730 million state office building renovation ? we are projected to face a budget deficit in the next biennium. Minnesotans have not been served well under one-party control of our state government. We need more balance at the Capitol to ensure all Minnesotans are represented, and to prevent mistakes from occurring.

One mistake that we must address immediately is the student resource officer (SRO) language that passed last session. Democrats made changes to the student disciplinary policy which has caused confusion regarding what actions SROs are able to take to protect students and staff at school. Clarification must be made in statute in order to fix this problem.

Republicans called for a special session to fix the SRO language prior to the beginning of the new school year, but Democrats pledged to address this issue at the beginning of the next legislative session. On the first day of session, Republicans tried to declare an ?urgency? so we could take up the bill immediately. Unfortunately, the Majority voted the motion down. While we heard and passed the Democrats? SRO bill out of the Education Policy committee, the legislation is now sitting in the Public Safety committee, where it is stalled. This bill is no longer on the ?fast track? and students, educators, and law enforcement will have to continue to wait for a resolution until the Majority decides to come to the table so we can act.

I spoke about the need to fix the SRO language from the House floor on Monday which you can watch here [ [link removed] ]. As a school principal, I have seen the incredible work of SROs firsthand. They aren?t just school resource officers, they are school "relationship "officers who foster important bonds with the students they serve and protect. This issue is not fixed until 100% of SROs are back in schools. I am committed to working across the aisle so we can return SROs to schools and ensure school safety across Minnesota.






Please Contact Me

Please continue to reach out if I can be of any assistance to you. You can reach me by phone at 651-296-5185 or by email at [email protected].?

Have a great weekend!?

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Ben











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329 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.5185







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