Category: Latest News

Rep. Michael Nelson (HD40A) Update: June 30, 2021

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Neighbors, 

Today is the final day of our special session, with the last of our budget bills being passed off the House floor. Early this morning, we passed our State Government, Elections, and Veterans Budget, which I was honored to carry in the House. Like all of our budget bills, it was the product of compromise, with some important provisions left behind, but it’s ultimately a great bill for Minnesotans. 

As our state bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic, our compromise budget fully funds a responsive state government that’s able to meet this moment and assist in our recovery. The budget also protects access to our elections, enforces wage theft laws, and funds resources for the men and women that served our country. 

You can read nonpartisan summaries of all our budget bills and the process to pass them below, thanks to our House Public Information Services. All that’s missing is our Tax bill, which we’re currently debating:

Neighbors, 

Today is the final day of our special session, with the last of our budget bills being passed off the House floor. Early this morning, we passed our State Government, Elections, and Veterans Budget, which I was honored to carry in the House. Like all of our budget bills, it was the product of compromise, with some important provisions left behind, but it’s ultimately a great bill for Minnesotans. 

As our state bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic, our compromise budget fully funds a responsive state government that’s able to meet this moment and assist in our recovery. The budget also protects access to our elections, enforces wage theft laws, and funds resources for the men and women that served our country. 

You can read nonpartisan summaries of all our budget bills and the process to pass them below, thanks to our House Public Information Services. All that’s missing is our Tax bill, which we’re currently debating:

An Orderly End to the Peacetime Emergency

More Minnesotans are fully vaccinated, COVID-19 cases are down, and in St. Paul we recently reached a deal with the US Department of Agriculture to continue emergency food assistance, and passed an off-ramp to the eviction moratorium – all components that led to us being able to vote for a safe and orderly end to the COVID-19 peacetime emergency, which had been in place since last March.

renthelpmn.org or call 211


Ending the peacetime emergency also ends Governor Waz’s executive orders, and it was in negotiations with the Senate and the Governor that we were able to put together this roadmap that ensured we weren’t just replacing this emergency with a different crisis when it ends. For example, the off-ramp we just passed to the eviction moratorium gives landlords and renters the time and resources they need to be made whole. If you or someone you know has been struggling with rent payments because of the pandemic, I highly encourage you to check out renthelpmn.org. 

Stay Connected

With the end of today’s special session, we’re not scheduled to be back on the House floor until the 2022 legislative session. During the interim, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have about the bills we passed this year, or ideas you may have for our community. You can contact me through email (rep.michael.nelson@house.mn) or phone (651-296-3751). I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope you and your loved ones have a safe and fun 4th of July weekend. 

Sincerely,  

Rep. Michael V. Nelson

Poll: Nearly Half Of QAnon Followers Believe In Global Jewish Conspiracy

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At the dawn of the 20th century, a booklet based on anti-Semitic lies about a shadowy plot by Jews to control the world that was originally published in Russia in 1905 and subsequently translated into other languages, began spreading throughout Europe and to other countries.

A century later, the ideas captured in “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” still have their adherents. A Morning Consult poll conducted April 27-29 and published on June 28 finds that nearly half of believers in the QAnon conspiracy theory also believe in the purported plot by Jews for world domination.

Experts say the overlap is not all that shocking. Continue reading.

Rep. Gosar denies knowledge of fundraiser with group that promotes white-nationalist ideas despite invitation for the event

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Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday denied that he plans to attend a fundraiser this week with a group that promotes white nationalist ideas, despite an invitation for the event circulating online that features the congressman and Nick Fuentes, a far-right operative who leads America First.

Gosar has previously attended events with Fuentes and appeared to defend the fundraiser in a tweet Monday night when he wrote: “Not sure why anyone is freaking out. I’ll say this: there are millions of Gen Z, Y and X conservatives. They believe in America First. They will not agree 100% on every issue. No group does. We will not let the left dictate our strategy, alliances and efforts. Ignore the left.”

But on Tuesday Gosar denied any knowledge of the fundraiser when asked about the invitation featuring a photo of him with Fuentes. Continue reading.

GOP Blocked Bipartisan Jan. 6 Investigation — But Now They Demand One

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One month after congressional Republicans blocked a bipartisan investigation into the January 6 Capitol insurrection, congressional Republicans are demanding a bipartisan investigation into the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

The House in May passed by a vote of 252-175 a bill that would have created a bipartisan commission modeled on the one that investigated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The bill, the result of a compromise between Republican Rep. John Katko of New York and Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, was nearly identical to a January GOP proposal. It would have established an outside panel with an even number of Democratic and Republican appointees.

But just 35 Republicans joined the Democratic majority in voting for it after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to support it and Donald Trump instructed Republican lawmakers to block the legislation. Continue reading.

Wisconsin GOP leader gushed that Trump’s ‘power’ was on par with ‘Thor’s hammer’ in groveling letter

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The Republican president of the Wisconsin State Senate sent a groveling letter to former President Donald Trump last week after the twice-impeached former president criticized his party for not overturning the results of the 2020 election.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Wisconsin State Sen. Chris Kapenga last week tried to smooth over tensions between the Wisconsin GOP and the former president after Trump accused them of “working hard to cover up election corruption” and “actively trying to prevent a Forensic Audit of the election results.”

“Wisconsin Republican leaders Robin Vos, Chris Kapenga, and Devin LeMahieu, are working hard to cover up election corruption, in Wisconsin,” Trump ranted in a statement last Friday. Continue reading.

Tuskegee relatives promote COVID-19 vaccines in ad campaign

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Tuskegee is the one-word answer some people give as a reason they’re avoiding COVID-19 vaccines. A new ad campaign launched Wednesday with relatives of men who unwittingly became part of the infamous experiment wants to change minds.

Tuskegee is the one-word answer some people give as a reason they’re avoiding COVID-19 vaccines. A new ad campaign launched Wednesday with relatives of men who unwittingly became part of the infamous experiment wants to change minds.

Neal said he agreed to appear in the national campaign after doing research to gain confidence in the vaccines. Continue reading.

DFL Party Statement On The Signing of Minnesota’s COVID-19 Recovery Budget

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, following Governor Walz’s signing of Minnesota’s COVID-19 Recovery Budget, DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin
released the following statement:

“Thanks to the hard work of Governor Walz, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan, and the DFL members of our legislature, Minnesotans can rest easy knowing that this budget will help our state build our economy back stronger than it was before this crisis. This budget provides historic investments in our students and educators, in our frontline workers, in our state’s economic recovery, and will ensure our small businesses have the support they need to thrive. Under impossible circumstances, Governor Walz and our DFL leaders in the legislature have stepped up to protect our state and now they have ensured our state can rebuild better than ever.” 

Some of the budget highlights include:

Continue reading “DFL Party Statement On The Signing of Minnesota’s COVID-19 Recovery Budget”

It’s a failure’: Arizona audit appears to be backfiring on Republicans – and could haunt them at the ballot box

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A new poll shows that a partisan audit of votes cast in the 2020 presidential election could ultimately backfire on Republicans who appear on future ballots in Arizona, especially if they express support for the bogus effort.

Sean Noble, a top GOP operative in the state, told Politicoof the controversial recount in Maricopa County, “it’s a failure, it’s a joke,” adding that Republicans in other states should “avoid it. The election is long over, time to look forward.”

Fernand Amandi, whose firm conducted the poll, said: “As bloody red meat for the MAGA Republican base, the audit is manna from heaven, but the problem is that Arizona is not a red state anymore. It’s a swing state. The audit may be serving two interests: firing up the MAGA base but giving Democrats the opportunity to make the case to Arizona voters to stick with them.” Continue reading.

Supreme Court leaves CDC eviction moratorium intact

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday left intact a nationwide pause on evictions put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 5-4 vote rejected an emergency request from a group of landlords asking the court to effectively end the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium, which is set to run through July.

The landlord group had asked the justices to lift the stay on a ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that the moratorium amounted to an unlawful government overreach. Continue reading.

‘There is a God’: Trump brutally mocked after he’s denied permit for July 4th weekend rally

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According to a report from AL.com, Donald Trump’s plan to hold a July 4th weekend rally at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park on the western shore of Mobile Bay has been shot down by park commissioners over concerns about its possible content.

In a statement chairman of the commission, Bill Tunnell explained the board thought Trump’s rally “…was going to be a partisan political event, rather than just a patriotic event planned for that evening,” which is why they denied the permit.

“Tunnell says commissioners sought an opinion from the attorney general’s office in late May. NBC 15 News obtained Attorney General Steve Marshall’s response which stated there was little time for a formal opinion to be rendered but did note the park may be used for political events provided access is ‘available for all political parties and candidates on an equal basis,'” NBC 15 News reported. Continue reading.