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*April 12, 2024
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Friends and Neighbors,

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Last night we were on the House floor until after midnight.? The policy bills are starting to be finalized and of course, many are controversial.? The three largest omnibus bills passed this week related to Elections, Labor and Industry, and Education Policy.? All three had very partisan provisions and will prove to be controversial with the public when citizens realize what?s happened.

On Tuesday, we engaged in a significant debate on the floor over the DFL-led Elections Omnibus Bill. The bill proposes substantial modifications to our current voting system, such as permitting same-day voter registration without a verified permanent address and not requiring provisional ballots?a standard in 48 other states. While the goal of increasing voting accessibility is commendable and reasonable, we must also prioritize security and confidence in our elections. Changes like allowing a voter to register on Election Day with just a general description of an address instead of a permanent, fixed address could enable potential misuse. It's also noteworthy that, aside from Idaho, Minnesota remains one of the only states without provisional ballots.? So yes, you can now do a same-day registration with your address being a general description of your tent or tree fort.?

Minnesota has proudly upheld a tradition of steering clear of partisan election bills?a standard that has unfortunately been compromised for the second consecutive year.

The Labor and Industry policy bill makes several changes which are too numerous to put in this email.? There were provisions from minimum wage changes for youth and small employers to numerous new requirements for employers in regard to hiring practices.? The bill was heavily opposed by business groups across the state.? It also passed on a party-line vote.

Finally, the Education Policy Bill was debated last night and included several more mandates.? I am on the Education Finance Committee and our team tried to amend the bill to get rid of both new mandates and many of the 65 mandates passed last year.? As usual, we were unsuccessful.? Our main focus was to give local districts back control over student discipline and social studies standards.? If you may recall, last year many new ?progressive? provisions were mandated on these issues and are already causing problems for parents, teachers, and administrators. Our districts were asking for flexibility and the ability to focus on core curriculum rather than ?progressive? political things.? When half the kids in Minnesota can?t read at grade level, that should be our only focus.

There will be a separate Education Finance bill in a couple of weeks but as of now, we don?t know what will ultimately be in it.? The DFL trifecta has a smaller budget target for K-12 so it may not be significant.

Last week, I wrote an update on the Housing bill and unsuccessfully tried to include a link to a Minnpost article that gives a good synopsis.* Here [ [link removed] ]* is that link. Thank you to our City and County officials for their help in defeating this.?

Finally, I?m sure you are following the Uber issue.? Yesterday, the Minneapolis City Council postponed their new ordinance until July 1st in an effort to either try to work something out or let the legislature deal with it.? The dynamics I wrote about earlier haven?t changed and this issue will continue to evolve.? I guess you can say the Minneapolis Council blinked first but it?s more a matter of buying time.?

Almanac did a piece on several freshmen on Sunday including myself.? If you are interested,* here is a link [ [link removed] ]*. It?s about 5 minutes.






Please Contact Me

Please continue to reach out if I can be of any assistance to you. You can reach me by phone at 651-296-3018 or by email at [email protected].

Have a great weekend!?

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Patti











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387 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.3018







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