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Legislative Update
Over the last month, bills have been flying through the legislative process, through committees and off the House floor at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, the process being used is not the way it is meant to be here in the legislature. The Democrats are sending bills to the House Floor that have missed relevant committees, or spending bills that have not had fiscal notes ready for their committees of jurisdiction.
One example of this is the free school meals bill, which was calendared for a Floor debate on Thursday. Aside from this bill is very expensive and not targeted towards those who actually need free school meals, the bill includes a huge IT build of an estimated 820 hours to expand the current school meals system, but the bill did not go through the State Government Finance committee which has jurisdiction over MN.IT?s budget. There also would be a local cost impact for each school district to implement this program, but there was no local cost information discussed in Education Finance or Ways & Means.
On Monday of this week, we discussed a bill to increase funding for the Attorney General?s office to beef up the division that will help counties prosecute crime when they need extra help. Republicans tried to add amendments that would tighten up what the money could actually be used for and add a report to the legislature for how the funding would be used, but unfortunately those were voted down. I voted yes for this bill because our counties really do need backup on crime prosecutions, and right now the Attorney General?s office does not have the resources to do that well.
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In Higher Education so far this session, we have been focusing exclusively on budget items rather than passing one-off bills like most other committees. I am happy with this system, as it is a budget year and our main responsibility is going to be putting together a well-thought out budget bill for the higher education system in Minnesota.
Finally, last week I spoke at a rally to support giving parents the freedom to make their own health choices for their own children and not the government. While many Republican lawmakers showed up in support, not one Democrat was interested in showing up to support health freedom and parental rights. We should not be forced to co-parent with the government.
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Please Contact Me
As always, if you need assistance on an issue pertaining to state government or have concerns or ideas about legislation, my office is available to you. You can e-mail at [email protected] or call my office at 651-296-5063. You can also write a letter to me. My office address at the Capitol is 357 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55155.
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/RepMarionONeill
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357 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
651.296.5063 |
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