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It was another busy week in St. Paul! The DFL released their budget targets, there was action on gun control bills in both the House and the Senate, and last night, the DFL passed their ?trans refuge? bill off the House floor.
Gun Bill Update
The gun control bills are moving in both the House and the Senate. Yesterday the Senate Judiciary committee passed several gun control proposals including red flag laws and universal background checks. More gun control will be heard in the Senate public safety bill today and these bills will also be heard in the House in the coming weeks. I?m opposed to these measures and believe that we need to invest in solutions that improve public safety and don?t infringe on a constitutional right like mental health and substance abuse treatment.
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Budget Targets
This week the DFL unveiled their coordinated budget targets. These targets are spending targets given to each committee, and these targets are on top of the base budget of over $50 billion. The House DFL, Senate DFL, and Governor all agreed to these targets without taking any input from GOP leaders.
The budget targets show that the DFL intends to spend an additional $17.9 billion and raise the base budget to a whopping $70 billion. You read that right, they will be spending the entire surplus, raising taxes to pay for it, and increasing the size of government by an incredible 34%. This level of increase is reckless and unsustainable. I think that we need to give the surplus back instead of spending it and I will continue working to give the surplus back to the taxpayers by advocating for policies like the Social Security tax elimination.
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Trans Refuge Bill
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Last night the DFL passed their ?transgender refuge? bill off the House floor. This bill aims to make Minnesota a sanctuary state for ?gender affirming care,? which includes puberty blockers and irreversible surgeries.
My issue with this bill is that it almost exclusively mentions children & families. This bill clearly isn?t aimed at consenting adults, it?s aimed at children in other states whose families may not consent to their treatment. The bill has no age limits, no guardrails like requiring parental consent, no limitations on the types of treatment minors can receive, and usurps parents? rights by allowing a child to be brought to Minnesota (not even by a parent or family member!) to receive any treatment the child wants.
The issues above don?t even touch on the constitutional and legal issues found in the bill. For those reasons and more, I voted no.
You can read the bill here and watch the floor debate here when the video is uploaded.
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It was National Ag Day this past week and agricultural groups were out in force this week to talk about drainage portal language moving through the Environment Committee, legislation regarding treated seeds and pesticide use in the Ag Committee along with other issues relevant to rural Minnesota. ?A big thank you to Mike Skaug representing the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, Katherine and Tate Perry, Erik Younggren and Charlie Vogel with Farm Bureau and the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers for stopping by my office and sharing their thoughts and insights.
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I enjoyed the opportunity to congratulate Sanford Ambulance paramedic Tim Cook from Thief River Falls for being named a MN Ambulance Association Star of Life award recipient and appreciated the visit about issues related to EMS services.? For the past 8 years Tim works tirelessly as a Lead Paramedic for Sanford Ambulance Thief River Falls.? Thank you, Tim, for all that you do to support the communities served by Sanford Ambulance.
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Appreciated the conversation Thursday morning with Bishop Andrew Cozzens from the Diocese of Crookston and Bishop Robert Barron from the Diocese of Winona-Rochester about current issues floating around the legislature this session and our responsibility to foster a culture of life and encourage legislation that enhances the family in Minnesota. Thank you both for stopping by my office to visit and a big thank you to Bishop Barron for his willingness to accept my invitation to lead the House of Representatives in prayer before the Thursday afternoon floor session.
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