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Hello from the State Capitol,
As this session draws to a close, did you know that more than 5,000 bills have been introduced over the past two years? And more than 6,000 were introduced during my first term?
Think about this. More than 11,000 pieces of legislation have been drafted during my four years. I find this offensive. Think of the resources that are wasted compiling all these bills, well more than half of which have never seen the light of day. Drafting legislation shouldn’t be performance art; bills shouldn’t be compiled if they have no chance of success or lawmakers are just putting them out there to appease someone. Lawmakers need to use some common sense.
RIGHT TO LIFE
This week, I agreed to co-author legislation that recognizes a pre-born child has a right to life. Pro-life issues are among my top priorities at the Capitol, and am proud to support this needed measure.
FBI EXECUTES COURT-ORDERED SEARCH WARRANTS IN ONGOING FRAUD INVESTIGATION
Major fraud developments took place this week. On Tuesday, the FBI, working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies executed 22 court-approved federal search warrants in the State of Minnesota. All of them were connected to the investigation into Medicaid fraud, and it was reported that child and daycare providers primarily within the Twin Cities were targeted.
The previous U.S. attorney estimated months ago that potentially $9 billion in Minnesota’s tax dollars had been lost to fraud. A recent KARE 11 report found Minnesota paid $4.32 billion last year in Medicaid reimbursements to the 14 programs now identified as being a high risk for fraud - more than double what it paid in 2021. Since 2018, $20 billion has been spent on the same high-risk programs.
Be thankful the federal government is taking our fraud problem very seriously and is taking needed action to hold fraudsters accountable.
FINANCIAL PENALTIES FOR REFUSING TO FLY NEW STATE FLAG?
A new bill offered by House Democrats this week would financially punish cities and counties for refusing to fly the new flag.
Even though current law does not require local governments to fly the official state flag, their bill would mandate a 10% reduction in a city or county’s government aid if that jurisdiction displays any flag other than the newly adopted one. In other words, they want to hurt those communities who refuse to fall in line.
In 2023, Democrats created a 13-member commission to redesign Minnesota’s state flag and seal, neither of which were formally approved by voters or the state legislature. Instead, the law that created the commission specified that its final flag selection would automatically take effect as the official state flag.
If their initial bill to create a new state flag had teeth like this, it never would have been approved. This is blatant bait and switch. They force the adoption of a new state flag without public buy-in or legislative approval, but to downplay that they say you can fly whatever flag you want. Now that the flag has been made official, and cities like Zumbrota, Pine Island, and Plainview and potentially Chatfield don’t want it, they want to financially punish them for refusing to fly it.
STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS DRAWS POOR RECEPTION
Not surprisingly, the governor’s annual state of the state address was not well-attended, as he has treated Republicans quite poorly over the final years of his tenure. The guy who ran on One Minnesota will leave office with the state never more divided in its history, and he ended up playing the most significant role in that effort.
As his time comes to an end, here are some stats regarding how far Minnesota has fallen under his leadership:
- Reading proficiency scores have dropped from 59% to 49%
- Math proficiency scores have dropped from 55% to 45%
- National education ranking 6th to 19th
- Unemployment has gone up 50%
- Real median income has decreased by $6,000
- $9 billion+ in fraud
- Minnesota is now below the national average for per capita personal income (first time ever)
- 48,000 people have left the state
- 19% increase in violent crime
KEEP IN TOUCH
As always, my door is always open. If you ever have any legislative questions, please contact me. I can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 651.296.2273.
Have a good weekend,
Steve
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