Dear Friends and Neighbors, 

This week on the Senate Floor, Democrats passed their top two public safety priorities: giving criminals the right to vote and providing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.  They also passed a bill that changed the way that our budget process works, hidden in what appeared to most people as just a technical change. Also-this weekend, Rep. Pam Altendorf and I will be having a Town Hall n Bellechester on a topic I've heard from a lot of you about -- your Second Amendment Rights. The Democrats are coming after our guns next.  Please become engaged to do your part in helping to protect our Second Amendment from more attacks by liberal lawmakers. 

The Driver’s License for Illegal Immigrants bill passed the Senate and is on its way to the Governor for signature. It is a bad bill that poses serious problems for us in the near future.   This bill punishes people who follow our laws and rewards people who violate them. It also puts our elections at risk. Same-day registration election provisions allow for the driver’s license to be used to validate a home address, and those ballots would be accepted without checking with the Department of Public Safety to see whether that voter is eligible to vote in the first place. Once again,  Democrats rejected every common-sense fix we offered. Their "my way or the highway" approach continues.  

Giving felons the right to vote before they have completed their sentence is a huge mistake. Parole is not something to be taken lightly. It is part of an offender's sentence and a necessary step in repaying their debt to society. Criminals should only have their rights restored once they have completed their sentence. 

Some have argued that in Minnesota, we give very long parole with sentences that can result in people losing their right to vote for many years.  But this is because, in Minnesota, we don't put people in jail for very long.  Our incarceration rate is low compared to other states.  Our sentencing guidelines call for only 2/3 of the sentence to be served in jail and the rest to be served as parole.  Now the Democrats want to limit parole to 5 years. 

A recent local case shows how this might play out. According to the Post Bulletin: "A Rochester man will serve 180 days in jail and up to 30 years of probation in a case involving the rape of two juvenile girls in Olmsted County."..." The light sentence was the result of a plea agreement. Shei was facing three different felony first-degree criminal conduct charges in two separate cases. His plea deal called for no prison time, a stay of adjudication, and the dismissal of two out of three charges. If Shei completes his probation, all charges against him will be dismissed and will not be on his criminal record." This person and many others will never have their voting rights suspended after being convicted of heinous crimes. 

The cumulative effect of these changes is that we will have light jail sentences and five years of parole or less. Add that to Judges granting release without bail and left-wing groups paying the bail of criminals because they don't believe in cash bail. No wonder crime is rampant, especially in the Twin Cities, and spreading to other parts of the state.  Felon Voting is just one more step in making Minnesota a criminal-friendly state.  

This week Senate Democrats passed a bill that makes automatic increases in government spending and limits the amount available for a tax cut in the case of a surplus.

It puts government spending on auto-pilot by giving the Governor and Minnesota Management and Budget the ability to assume inflation prior to the legislature's passage of a new budget. Previously, the legislature was responsible for deciding whether to increase funding for existing programs.  If inflation was causing programs to have funding shortfalls, it was the Legislature that decided to spend more money or recognize efficiencies that could be made, or whether to transfer funding from other less effective programs.

This change will artificially decrease surpluses and increase projected deficits, so the impact will be to overstate how much the state will spend and lower the amount that can be targeted to reducing taxes for hardworking Minnesotans.”  

Moreover, this new law  doesn’t clarify which inflation estimate should be used and leaves it to the discretion of the Commissioner of Management and Budget.  The Democrats were in such a rush to get this done, that they made the effective date IMMEDIATELY following passage.  The next budget forecast is scheduled for this Monday February 27 so we can expect that the Walz administration has already started using it.     

Please contact me to share any issues, concerns, or feedback you have to assist me in best representing you.  The best way to reach me is by email at [email protected] or by phone at 651-296-5612. My legislative assistant is Margaret Martin, and her number is 651-296-4264.  

Sincerely,

Steve Drazkowski

Minnesota Senate, District 20, Wabasha, Goodhue, Winona, Olmsted, and Dakota Counties.

2411 Minnesota Senate Building

95 University Avenue W.
Minnesota Senate Bldg.
St. Paul, MN 55155