Legislative Update

This week the House passed the final version of HF 3489 on Wednesday afternoon after an 8-minute conference committee meeting the previous day to bring the House and Senate versions of the bill in line with each other. This is the School Resource Officer bill that has taken a bipartisan effort to address the shortfalls in the Democrat’s Education Omnibus bill from last year. Last night the governor signed the bipartisan bill that will allow schools across the state to return their resource officers where they are desperately needed in the schools. Democrats needed Republican votes to pass this bill, and even in its final version, nine DFL House members voted against the bill in their continued effort to dismantle public safety and endanger students, teachers, and staff. After months of Republican calls for action and stops to allow every stakeholder to give their input, I'm relieved we were finally able to get this important legislation passed.

In Judiciary Committee this week Democrats continue to push their agenda of death with the assisted suicide bill. HF 1930 would make it legal for physicians to administer drugs to end someone’s life. This bill goes so far that anyone age 18 or older who can make an “informed decision” can request to end their life upon receiving a diagnosis of less than 6 months to live. There are countless circumstances where this could go awry. I just can’t believe that we have come to a point in this country where we value life so little that it is deemed morally acceptable to choose assisted suicide over fighting to protect life. How many news stories are there each year of miraculous recoveries after a doctor predicts someone has only a short time to live or that they will live with an ailment the rest of their lives that they end up recovering from. This bill encourages people to not value life and instead throw it away.

We concluded the week by attempting to declare an urgency on GOP Representative Scott’s bill (HF 548) to raise the crime of knowingly purchasing a firearm for someone who is known to be prohibited from possessing a firearm to the level of a felony, commonly referred to as straw purchasing. As news outlets are beginning to report that the criminal who murdered three first responders in Burnsville illegally acquired the weapons used through a straw purchaser, Democrats stood on the House floor and defended the practice of not prosecuting the crime of straw purchasing, this type of crime has been linked to several deaths in Minnesota. They parade out every bill they can possibly think of to limit the rights of law-abiding gun owners yet when Republicans want to strengthen current gun laws that hold criminals accountable, democrats take the side of the criminals.

I will continue to pray for our state and the safety of her citizens as we face these bills and the one-size-fits-all mandates Democrats want to force on the state. Have a great weekend as we all head back to our districts to recover from this week and enjoy the fresh air of greater Minnesota.

Legislative Update

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