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March 15, 2024

Legislative Update

Public Safety on the House Floor

House Republicans pushed the school resource officer bill to the finish line this week, and the final version of HF 3489 passed on Wednesday afternoon. The bill will fix the problematic school resource officer law, which will enable districts to bring SROs back into schools across the state and provide clarity on what they can do in the scope of their job.

The Senate followed suit and Governor Walz signed the bill into law on Thursday night. Throughout the course of the last seven months, Democrats have argued and delayed this bill numerous times. After months of Republican calls for action, we were able to finally get this important legislation passed and it is my hope that every school resource officer is back in their schools as soon as possible.

During Thursday's House Floor session, Republicans attempted to suspend House rules and bring up two important bills in response to recent attacks on law enforcement and the revelation that the man who murdered three first responders in Burnsville recently got his guns through a straw purchase.

The first bill would have made straw purchasing weapons for those who are prohibited from possessing guns a felony. Former Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman testified in a House committee that straw purchasing is rarely prosecuted because the penalty is too low - currently it is only a gross misdemeanor. Increasing the penalty to a felony level would get more straw purchasers off the streets and help keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. This bill was actually included in last year's House Public Safety Omnibus, but then was dropped in conference committee without any comment from members about why. To listen to my speech on the House floor during this debate, click here.

The second bill would change the terms of last year's public safety aid given to police departments to allow them to use those dollars for armored vehicles and safety improvements to law enforcement facilities - things that could save the lives of the officers who keep us safe every day.

Unfortunately, Democrats voted against these motions and we were unable to pass the bills.

Visits This Week

This week I met with local Girl Scouts and had the opportunity to talk to them about Minnesota?s government and the different things they can do and be a part of within our state government. And of course, we talked about cookies. I? also met with some local bankers (photo at right) to discuss taxes and the need to work on some of the state's heavy regulations that stifle growth and innovation in banking. Finally, I met with the school board chair and superintendent from Waconia about their concerns over the many unfunded mandates that increased burdens on schools and then left them high and dry when it came time to comply with them.

We talked about funding equalization, which would provide metro student with more money from metro taxes rather than sending those dollars out to other districts. Since school boards don?t have the ability to raise a levy at the end of the year, any unfunded mandates from St. Paul create problems for our local school districts. One such problematic mandate is student-teacher ratios in classrooms, which could mean building new schools that districts simply do not have the funds to build.

Professional Politicians Act

Democrats in the Elections committee heard a bill this week that would make Minnesota a full-time legislature instead of our current part-time one. This bill takes representation farther away from the people, forcing legislators to spend massive amounts of time in St. Paul rather than connecting with their communities and spending time in the districts they serve. Anytime the legislature is in session, your wallet is in danger. In just five months last year, the DFL-controlled legislature spent the entire $17.5 billion budget, raised taxes by $10 billion, and grew government by 40%. A full-time legislature is an irresponsible and unaffordable idea.

Please Contact Me

Please feel free to reach out to my office if there is any way I can be of assistance. My?phone number is 651-296-4282, I am here to serve you!

Have a great weekend!

Jim

349 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.4282