Category: SD44

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

The Senate adjourned our special session on Wednesday, ending this year’s legislative session in conjunction with the House, which had already adjourned its own session last week. We in the Senate remained in session for an extra week such that my Republican colleagues could take up consideration of several of Governor Walz’s unconfirmed commissioners. As they unfortunately showed last summer as well, they’re comfortable using the Senate’s advice and consent role as a political cudgel – they’ve allowed all but three of those 24 officials to serve in their roles for years without official Senate confirmation, holding the possibility of swift removal over their heads if they make decisions that Republican leadership doesn’t like.

As a result, Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop resigned her position on Tuesday to pre-empt her guaranteed removal by my Republican colleagues, who have long indicated their strong disagreement with her agency’s move to implement Clean Car rules in Minnesota. Thankfully, no other commissioners were ousted, though several informational hearings were held in which Republicans questioned commissioners’ job performance from a hyper-partisan perspective. Aside from this basic lack of necessity for our remaining in session an extra week, we wasted significant taxpayer funds in doing so: for all 67 Senators, the daily mileage and per diem allotments we receive add up to at least $8,000 per day, on top of salaries and staff expenses. This was nothing more than poor time and fiscal management by the Republican majority.

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

On Tuesday, we finished passing all of the budget bills required to avoid a government shutdown, and I’m glad we satisfied the most basic requirement of our job as legislators by passing Minnesota’s budget on time. As the only divided legislature in the country, policy compromises were inevitable, but it would’ve been truly irresponsible to waste taxpayer funds and harm many people’s lives and livelihoods with a shutdown.

While there are good provisions in each budget bill that will directly and materially improve the lives of Minnesotans, thanks largely to the passionate advocacy of my Senate and House DFL colleagues, we could’ve aimed higher and done far more with our resources. We have a long way to go before we’ve secured a truly safe and sustainable future for our state, and I’m committed to continuing that work.

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

We continue to work towards passing Minnesota’s two-year budget before the July 1 state shutdown deadline, a task that is both very achievable and non-negotiable. Thus far, we have passed the omnibus Agriculture, Higher Education, Legacy, Jobs, Commerce & Energy, and Transportation budget bills, but several others remain unpassed, including E-12 Education, Housing, Taxes, and Capital Investment. Those will occupy our time and attention across the weekend and early next week.

The passage of the Jobs bill was particularly controversial. Senator Karla Bigham proposed a refinery safety amendment during floor debate on the bill last Friday, the Safe and Skilled Worker Act, that would require Minnesota’s petroleum refineries to employ only skilled, properly-trained workers – truly a no-brainer from the standpoint of both worker and community safety, given the extensive and geographically-widespread damage that can result from refinery accidents. We passed the Act and added it to the Jobs bill on Friday by a large, bipartisan majority vote, 50-17.

However, by Monday, my Republican colleagues had changed their minds, and they used their power as our chamber’s majority party to pull the Jobs bill back to the Finance Committee and remove that Act. I was incredibly disappointed by this example of pure partisanship used to the detriment of our state, but we haven’t given up on Senator Bigham’s provision, and intend to work towards its inclusion in a different budget bill. I spoke on the Senate floor on Monday about my support for the Act, rooted in my career experience, which you can view below.

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

We returned to the Capitol this week for our special legislative session, with the goal of passing Minnesota’s two-year budget before the state government shutdown deadline of July 1. As the only divided legislature in the country, there will inevitably be compromises made – but that’s a routine concept for those of us with careers in other industries, and I’m committed to avoiding the delays and political theatrics that will cause unnecessary stress for the many, many Minnesotans whose lives and livelihoods would be impacted by a shutdown.

One of the near-complete budget bills we began examining this week is the Agriculture bill, and during floor debate yesterday, I spoke in favor of Market Bucks, a $10 coupon for Minnesotans using SNAP to buy locally-grown produce at one of the 99 participating farmers markets in the state. It should never have been cut from the bill in the first place – it costs very little (only $325,000 per year), especially in the context of its major positive impact on Minnesota’s farmers, families, and economy. I’m glad I had the chance to urge my colleagues to put Market Bucks back in the budget, and am hopeful that the leaders of the Agriculture Committee will negotiate its inclusion in their final bill.

Week-in-Review Video

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

Week-in-Review Video

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

As required by the state Constitution, our regular legislative session ended on Monday at midnight, but we did not pass Minnesota’s biennial budget in time – so we expect to return for a special session in June to complete our work and pass a balanced budget before the government shutdown deadline of July 1.

The Governor and legislative leadership in both the Senate and House finally agreed to a broad framework for the $52 billion budget on Monday morning, which is an important step towards completion. The most entrenched disagreements were smoothed over to some degree by the infusion of $2.8 billion in American Rescue Plan funds from the federal government, allowing us to increase spending on education and social services (albeit not as much as I’d prefer to see) without new taxes, but significant policy differences remain between the Senate and House versions of each committee’s omnibus budget bill. The conference committees will continue their negotiations over the next few weeks in preparation for our return in June.