Having trouble viewing this email?? [ [link removed] ]View it as a Web page [ [link removed] ].






Scott Header




*April 26, 2024
*






Friends and Neighbors,

?

This has been an interesting week at the Capitol so far to say the least. I passed a spousal maintenance bill off of the House Floor on Wednesday and Senator Nicole Mitchell was arrested on suspicion of first-degree burglary [ [link removed] ] this past Monday. More about both below:

First, I'm happy to report that *my spousal maintenance bill passed off of the House Floor on Wednesday* on a bipartisan vote! My bill, HF 2895 [ [link removed] ], would allow for retirement to be taken into consideration in cases of spousal maintenance. Specifically, it allows modification of the maintenance by considering whether or not the retirement is early or consistent with Social Security guidelines and the financial resources and assets available to each party. You can read the House Research summary of the bill here [ [link removed] ].

Now onto the *situation with Senator Nicole Mitchell* - the charging documents and police report indicate that Senator Mitchell left her home district of Woodbury at approximately 1:00 in the morning and drove to her stepmother's house in Detroit Lakes while wearing all black and carrying a flashlight modified to reduce the amount of light output.

Once there, she allegedly broke into the house through a basement window while her stepmother was asleep upstairs. The 911 transcript [ [link removed] ] that was just released last night adds even more bizarre details to the story - it seems that Senator Mitchell was lying on the floor next to her sleeping stepmother before she woke up, tripped over her, and called the police while the senator fled to the basement. *Senator Mitchell even said to police, after being Mirandized, that "I know I did something bad" and "clearly I'm not good at this."*

Senator Mitchell was then arrested with her stepmother's laptop in her bag. She spent the night in jail, had a restraining order filed against her by her stepmother, and was later released.

*This situation clearly complicates the end of the legislative session with Senator Mitchell being the deciding vote in a one-seat majority in the Senate*. As of today, Senator Mitchell has not yet returned to the Capitol and she did not vote during Wednesday's Senate Floor session where a motion to expedite an ethics committee hearing into Senator Mitchell's conduct failed on a party-line vote [ [link removed] ], 33-33.

*_Despite all of this, Democrats are moving forward with their plans to pass more gun control bills this legislative session, with Senator Mitchell being the deciding vote in the Senate
_*

*Gun control bills will be considered on the House Floor on Monday, *and then will head to the Senate where Senator Mitchell will be the 34th vote. We simply cannot allow a Senator facing felony charges to be the deciding vote on gun control bills and other controversial pieces of legislation in the final weeks of session.

The Senate Republican Minority Leader Mark Johnson issued a statement calling on Senator Mitchell to resign.* I support those calls, and agree that her conduct has clearly breached Senate rules* which stipulate that ?Members shall adhere to the highest standard of ethical conduct?? Senate rules go on to state that ?improper conduct includes conduct that [?] betrays the public trust, or that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor or disrepute.?

This story is developing and I will keep you updated as new details emerge. For now, we have a deadlocked Legislature and the people of Woodbury have no representation in the Senate Chamber.






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].

Peggy Signature









Facebook Logo

?

/RepPeggyScott





335 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph. 651.296.4231







________________________________________________________________________

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page [ [link removed] ]. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com [ [link removed] ].

This service is provided to you at no charge by Minnesota House GOP [ [link removed] ].

________________________________________________________________________

This email was sent to [email protected] using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Minnesota House GOP ? 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. ? Saint Paul, MN 55155 GovDelivery logo [ [link removed] ]