|
Dear Friends,
It was a busy week of committee hearings and constituent meetings. Yesterday I met with constituents who are members of the Teamsters to learn about their concerns. I also met with a college student who is interested in politics.
Judiciary Committee
This week we heard more gender affirming care bills in the Judiciary committee. Yesterday, we heard HF 2280, or the Gender-Affirming Rights Act. This bill would establish a fundamental right to gender-affirming care, stating: ?The Minnesota Constitution establishes the principles of individual liberty, personal privacy, and equality. These principles ensure the right to gender-affirming health care.? This bill fails to provide any protections for minors and doesn?t even mention parental involvement.
We also heard bills related to the Governor?s proposal to create a new Children, Youth, and Families agency. The creation of this new agency would not only expand our already bloated bureaucracy, but also create a host of data privacy concerns. Minnesotans? personal information from existing agencies ? like Human Services, Education, Public Safety, or Corrections ? would all be merged in the Children, Youth, and Families department without obtaining consent for their data to be shared. In all my years as a legislator, I have never seen such an egregious and extreme disregard for people?s personal data.
I will continue sounding the alarm on these data privacy concerns in committee and on the House floor. Every Minnesotan has the right for their government-held data to be secure and not be shared without their consent. I will work to ensure our government respects those rights.
Safe & Sound Minnesota
House and Senate Republicans announced our public safety plan yesterday to combat the rise in crime across our state. Every Minnesotan should feel safe in their community. Unfortunately, crime is spreading from the cities and into the suburbs. Moms are getting carjacked at the grocery store, and even I once witnessed a purse snatcher in a suburban parking lot. This lawlessness is unacceptable.
Our ?Safe & Sound Minnesota? plan will confront the threat of violent and repeat criminals, strengthen police and improve training for law enforcement, and hold judges and prosecutors accountable with public data and information. ?Bills included in the package would:
- Add a new crime of carjacking to state statute;
- Increase penalties for fleeing police in a motor vehicle;
- Align fentanyl to the same weight thresholds and penalties as heroin; and
- Increase sentences for those convicted with at least two prior crimes of violence.
As the lead on the Judiciary Committee, I spoke during the press conference about the need make sure prosecutors and judges enforce our laws and hold criminals accountable for their actions. My bill, HF 534, to require county attorneys to provide data to the legislature about felony level offenses that go uncharged was included in our package.
Democrats need to get serious about crime. I hope that we can work together to ensure every Minnesotan is safe in their community. ?
|
