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Dear Neighbors,
Now that the House is officially organized, we have been holding committee hearings on bills and budget proposals. Right now, Republicans have a one-seat advantage on the House floor and in committees. If we return to a 67-67 tie following a March 11 special election, the agreed upon co-governing agreement will go into effect.
It’s also been a busy time for meetings with constituents, advocates, and community organizations working to move our state forward. These past two weeks I’ve met with Physical Therapists, the Minnesota Medical Association, ISAIAH volunteers from our district, Christopher from the Minnesota Chiropractic Association, and more! I also met with a student page from my alma mater, Hopkins High School.
I attended the annual Chippewa Tribe event and participated in panel discussions with the Minnesota Rural Electric Association and biology seminar students at Hamline to discuss the impact of STEM professionals on policy. Engaging with constituents, advocates, and community organizations is critical to the work we do!
During these few weeks with sole control of committees, Republicans have decided to use the time they have to push harmful, controversial, and unpopular bills that will move our state backward, create instability in our long-term budget, and harm groups of Minnesotans who are already facing a deluge of attacks from the Trump Administration.
I want you to know that my colleagues and I are pushing back on these unpopular, unworkable bills every day in committee, and they will not receive the bipartisan support needed to pass off the House floor.
In the Energy Committee, on which I am currently the DFL lead member, Republicans are pushing to weaken and delay parts of Minnesota’s Clean Energy by 2040 bill. There are also bills being proposed to lift the state’s nuclear power moratorium and exempt huge Amazon data centers from environmental review processes.
Often, the Republican bill authors don’t understand the changes they are making, or how they will impact our ability to transition to a clean energy future. As we saw during Trump’s threatened trade war with Canada, continuing our reliance on fossil fuels isn’t just bad climate policy, it’s bad economics.
If we revert to a tie and begin the power-sharing agreement, Republicans and Democrats will have to work together to pass a responsible budget that moves our state forward. I’m disappointed that they are using this time to hear bills that have no chance of passing instead of coming together to solve the problems Minnesotans elected us to address.
The Trump administration continues to overstep its authority in D.C., letting Elon Musk and his billionaire friends make decisions without congressional approval that will harm our country and state.
Trump’s unconstitutional spending freeze has far-reaching impacts too numerous to mention here, but I have contacted our partners in the Commerce Department to find out more about its impact on Minnesota’s clean energy transition.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Energy Resources Division receives most of its funds from the federal government. Commerce uses those now frozen funds to assist local governments, tribes, businesses, nonprofit agencies, and families in our state to weatherize their homes, reduce energy use, reduce fossil fuel use, improve energy efficiency, finance clean energy projects, and infrastructure development. All told, $273 million in frozen funding has been identified by Commerce, with $2.7 billion in already awarded grants to expand and modernize Minnesota’s electric grid also frozen.
In short, Trump’s actions hurt Minnesota taxpayers, drive up energy costs, and hinder our transition to a cleaner, greener economy. Minnesota legislators are working closely with Attorney General Ellison and Governor Walz to fight these freezes in any way we can.
I’d encourage you to follow the Attorney General’s social media pages and keep an eye on his press communications to learn more about how we are fighting back against Trump’s agenda. Thank you to each and every one of you who are speaking up against this dangerous agenda. We are stronger when we raise our voices together.
Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback you would like to share. You can contact me by email at [email protected] or call my office during business hours at (651) 296-9934.
Sincerely,
Patty Acomb
State Representative
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