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I wish you all a blessed Easter as we remember the passion of Jesus Christ and His life-giving resurrection.?
As we head into the Legislature?s ?spring break,? I wanted to update you on a couple of very important issues that have arisen in the past week. Specifically, House Republicans? attempt to return protection for religious liberty into the Human Rights Act and a brief update on the lead ammo ban and other gun control bills.
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Religious Liberty
The biggest issue of the past week is reinstating previously existing protections for religious liberty into the Human Rights Act. Last year, the Democrat majority removed protection for religious institutions regarding their hiring and personnel practices. The removal of this protection would require religious institutions to hire transgender-identifying persons regardless of the teachings and deeply held beliefs of those institutions or face a Human Rights violation/lawsuit. Protecting religious liberty shouldn?t be a partisan issue, and in fact, is a core tenant of our republic, but our bill to re-insert these religious protections has failed on a party-line vote several times. Just this week the majority party voted to table our bill on the House Floor, shutting down consideration of the bill without debate. House Republicans held a press conference on the issue, which you can watch in its entirety here.
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Gun Bill Update
We?ve seen several gun control bills move through the committee process this session, one of which is the ban on lead ammo and tackle. Thankfully, we don?t expect this bill to get a hearing, much less pass off of the floor of the House and Senate, but it is something to keep an eye on. One bill in particular that has been granted a hearing is much more concerning. This bill would eliminate statewide preemption of firearm laws, which would allow local municipalities to enact stricter firearm regulations than what is currently at the state level. This means that with different cities having different firearm laws, a firearm that you lawfully carry in one town may be illegal in the next due to features like standard capacity magazines. Remember, all of this is being done while Democrats block my bill to increase penalties for straw purchasers. That is, individuals who knowingly purchase firearms for those who are prohibited by law from owning guns like convicted, violent criminals. I believe that my bill is, unlike the bills above, a meaningful way to address gun violence while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens.
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Please Contact Me
I encourage you to please contact me with any questions or input by phone at 651-296-4231 or by email at [email protected].
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/RepPeggyScott
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335 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph. 651.296.4231 |
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