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Demuth




Dear Neighbor,

Good news: The Minnesota House this week approved a bill to address a change in law last year which caused school resource officers to be removed from schools throughout the state.

The issue goes back to an omnibus education bill (HF 2497 [ [link removed] ]) Democrats enacted into law in 2023, imposing new prohibitions on the use of force in schools, banning certain physical holds by “an employee or agent of a district, including a school resource officer, security personnel, or police officer contracted with a district."

The bill we approved excludes SROs as employees or agents of a school district, excludes SROs from the prohibitions on prone restraints and physical holds, revises the “reasonable force standard,” mandates school districts and charter schools use only trained SROs, and establishes new training and model policy requirements for law enforcement.

I am very pleased with the bipartisan effort to get this done, with overwhelming support for the bill (H.F. 3489 [ [link removed] ]) as it passed the House 124-8. I personally want to thank Rep. Jeff Witte and our law enforcement friends for their hard work to make students, teachers, and staff in our schools safer. This is the kind of positive result we can achieve when we put politics aside and focus on doing what’s best for Minnesotans!

The Senate is expected to take this bill up on Monday. Let's hope for quick approval in that body so the bill can then be sent to the governor for enactment.

*Religious freedom*

Concern over religious freedom has surfaced in regard to changes the majority made in the Minnesota Human Rights Act last year.

Before last year, when gender identity was included within the MHRA definition of sexual orientation, the still-existing religious exemption for sexual orientation covered gender identity claims as well. When a new, separate definition of gender identity was created last year, there was no corresponding religious exemption added.

House Republicans offered an amendment during a committee hearing to restore the religious exemption in the MHRA. Unfortunately, the Democrat majority voted that amendment down.

Senate Democrats can right this wrong by accepting the amendment House Democrats voted down. It is unclear when that issue will be put to a vote since the Senate canceled a hearing on this bill scheduled for this week. This is a major story regarding an issue which undermines a most cherished constitutional right and I will keep you posted.

*Two-time bag-off champion!!*

Bag-off champ

I’m proud to announce I defended my title from last year as champion of a legislative grocery bag-off to benefit local food charities. I successfully loaded two grocery bags of food in 37 seconds, besting my time from last year and defeating my three fellow legislative leaders in the process! Not only does this championship come with major bragging rights at the Capitol, it – far more importantly – will result in a $1,000 contribution from the Minnesota Grocers Association to a local food charity. ROCORI Food Shelf received the prize donation last year.

*50 cents more for gas?*

The Senate Transportation Committee this week conducted the first legislative committee hearing on S.F. 2584 [ [link removed] ], the controversial proposal by House and Senate Democrats to implement a so-called Clean Transportation Standard.

This bill would authorize rulemaking to impose expensive and burdensome mandates that would raise fuel prices for Minnesotans by 40-50 cents per gallon or more in the coming years and decimate our state’s ethanol and biodiesel industries.

With this bill, the legislative majority is pushing to make gas prices more expensive for every family in Minnesota and deliver a devastating blow to our agriculture economy. A diverse coalition of labor unions, agriculture groups, businesses, and countless others have lined up to oppose this bill because it will harm job growth, hurt our farmers and agriculture economy, and raise fuel prices on families at a time when inflation is still far too high.

States that have imposed CTS mandate have among the highest gas prices in the country — Democrats should listen to the concerns that have been raised and abandon this expensive and burdensome proposal.

Until next time, I hope you have a great weekend. Please stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Lisa






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State Rep. Lisa Demuth
223 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55155
[email protected]
(651) 296-4373







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