Dear [email protected],
The Senate has now been back in session for a month. Legislation is beginning to arrive at the floor. Here are some highlights of the business we've conducted.
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Last week, the Senate passed its first bill of the session unanimously. Senate File 3623 changed the law to indicate that cars must stop when a school bus’s red lights are flashing, not when the stop sign fully extends. This comes from a case in Baxter, Minnesota, where a driver passed a stopped school bus with a stop sign arm that extended slowly while children were present. The driver was convicted, but the appeals court overturned the conviction because state law stated that cars were required to stop only when the stop sign was fully extended. While this may seem like a small fix in the grand scheme of our political battles, these are the moments of good, common-sense governance that remind us all that our Legislature can agree on fixing everyday problems.
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The Senate passed Senate File 3596, a $40 million rental assistance bill designed to bail out anyone that heeded DFLers’ call to stop working during Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Metro Surge and is now behind on rent. This money is being taken from a dedicated fund established by the Legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a Minnesota law was unconstitutional (Tyler v. Hennepin County, 2023). The $109 million fund was established to help counties settle litigation after the state failed to return equity after a tax sale. I voted against this bill; actions have consequences.
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Metropolitan Council Appointment
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On Thursday, I rose on the Senate floor to offer remarks regarding the appointment of Robin Hutcheson as Chair of the Metropolitan Council. The Met Council has the power to collect taxes, and yet none of the members of the council are elected. When it was initially created, the Met Council was designed to be an advisory board. It now has the power to tax citizens of the seven-county metropolitan area directly, and the Senate only votes on the appointment of the chair of the council. The Metropolitan Council should be dismantled and its responsibilities returned to city, township, county, and state governments.
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Cal Bahr
Minnesota Senate, District 31
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Capitol Address
95 University Avenue W.
Minnesota Senate Bldg. 2415
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-3219
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