Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I know many of us used the time to reconnect with family and reflect on what truly matters after a busy election cycle. Now, as we prepare for the 2025 Legislative Session, there’s important news from the Capitol that I want to share with you.

This week, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released their November forecast, and the results were shocking. Minnesota is facing a $5.1 billion deficit over the next four years. Let me be clear: this fiscal disaster is the direct result of reckless decisions by the DFL majority.

In just two years, Democrats spent the entire $18 billion surplus, raised taxes by $10 billion, and ballooned the state budget by an unsustainable 38%. House Republicans repeatedly warned that this irresponsible spending spree would have dire consequences. Those warnings were ignored, and now every Minnesotan is stuck footing the bill for their failures.

Let me assure you, I will not stand by while Democrats try to fix this mess by reaching deeper into your pockets. We need to cut wasteful spending, root out fraud, and restore fiscal discipline. The answer is not higher taxes—it’s holding government accountable and ensuring your hard-earned money is spent wisely.

As if the forecast wasn’t bad enough, the DFL majority made another reckless decision this week during the lame-duck House Rules Committee meeting. They voted to use $10,000 of taxpayer money to pay the private legal fees of one of their own members, Representative Bianca Virnig.

Rep. Virnig was involved in a private labor dispute with her former employer where she retained legal counsel and settled outside of court. Yet, despite no lawsuit being filed and no explanation offered, Democrats decided to use public funds to cover her legal bills. Neither Rep. Virnig nor her attorney showed up to answer questions, and the terms of her settlement were never disclosed.

This blatant abuse of taxpayer dollars is indefensible. Let me be clear: I will fight tooth and nail to stop this kind of corruption. Legislators should pay their own bills, not force Minnesota taxpayers to clean up their personal problems.

The upcoming session will be historic, with a tied House and shared committee leadership. House Republicans are now a co-equal majority, and we’re ready to fight for Minnesotans who are sick and tired of the waste, fraud, and abuse coming out of St. Paul.

I’ll continue to keep you updated as we prepare to hold the DFL accountable and restore common sense to our state government during the historic 2025 Legislative Session.