3CD DFL

Minnesota lawmakers to set new rules for ballot drop boxes

House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a set of new rules for absentee ballot drop boxes, including 24-hour video surveillance of those containers.

ST PAUL, Minn — Key Minnesota lawmakers have agreed in principle to setting up new standards for absentee ballot drop boxes, including 24-hour video surveillance of those ballot receptacles.

House Democrats and Senate Republicans agreed that ballot drop boxes need to be protected from tampering, or abuse through ballot harvesting schemes. A compromise version of the State Government Finance bill will set new standards and require video surveillance.

Until now, state law has lacked a lot of specifics when it came to ballot drop boxes.

“The law basically said, ‘Hey, here are these things called drop boxes. They exist and you can have them.’ But there wasn’t a lot of meat on the bone. So we decided to change that,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told KARE. Continue reading.

GOP senator cites racist, anti-LGBTQ Fox News contributor in floor speech

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) finds a kindred spirit in Mark Steyn.

In a speech given on the floor of the Senate on Monday night, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) extensively quoted from a bigoted column written by conservative pundit Mark Steyn.

Tuberville made his statement in the course of attacking “critical race theory,” an approach to the academic study of systemic racism that many Republicans have recently called a divisive anti-American concept that they falsely claim is being taught in primary and secondary schools.

Claiming that “critical race theory is pushed on school districts across the country,” Tuberville said, “Simply put, critical race theory reinforces divisions on strict racial lines. It doesn’t teach kids moral values, like treating everyone with respect regardless of race. It’s just the opposite. Critical race theory teaches kids to hate one another.” Continue reading.

In the Know: June 28, 2021

Attorney General Keith Ellison
‘One Step Closer To Healing’: George Floyd’s Family, AG Ellison React To Derek Chauvin’s Sentence, CBS Minnesota
Minnesota AG urges Congress to pass police reform bill following Chauvin sentencing, The Hill
Judge sends message with historic prison sentence for Derek Chauvin, Rachel Maddow Show
Minnesota attorney general says Derek Chauvin’s sentence reflects seriousness of crime, ABC This Week

DFL Party News
On Challenging Election Results: Frivolous attacks on elections damage our democracy, Duluth News Tribune

Governor Tim Walz
Gov. Tim Walz says he will end emergency powers Aug. 1, Star Tribune

Trump struggles to explain what Melania is doing post-White House: ‘She’s low key but not actually low key’

Former president Donald Trump gave a rambling explanation for his wife’s activities since leaving the White House nearly six months ago.

The twice-impeached one-term president called in to Newsmax TV for a lengthy interview, and the hosts asked what Melania Trump had been up to since leaving Washington, D.C., as President Joe Biden was sworn in.

“It’s very funny,” Trump began. “She’s a very confident person. She was very successful as a model, she was very, very successful. and she is low key, but not actually low key, but she’s low key and the people love her. For instance, I’m making a speech in Ohio, where they’re going to have big crowds, they already have them lined up. We’re going have big crowds tomorrow night, and when I go there, there will be many, many signs. ‘We love our first lady, we love our first lady,’ and a lot of times they show a picture of a high heel, a shoe with a high heel.” Continue reading.

GOP senator: 690,000 DC residents can just move if they want representation

‘No one’s compelled to actually be here,’ said Sen. James Lankford.

During a Senate hearing Tuesday on statehood for Washington, D.C., Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) argued against representation for the city’s over 690,000 residents, asserting that they can just move to neighboring states if they want voting representation in Congress.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, of which Lankford is a member, held a hearing titled “Examining D.C. Statehood” to discuss H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which passed the House in April and has the support of President Joe Biden.

“Obviously the founders designed a capital region to never be a state,” Lankford said while questioning witness Derek T. Muller, a law professor at the University of Iowa. “I mean, that was the design in the Constitution to say, this is uniquely so that the federal government does not exist under the authority of any state Continue reading.

Minnesota POCI Caucus Statement on Public Safety Accountability

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Today, Monday June 28, the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus (POCI) introduced a number of amendments to the Public Safety and Judiciary budget bill. This is in response to the absence of several necessary accountability measures in the current bill language. The POCI Caucus is also calling on Governor Walz to use his executive authority to enact several reforms. The POCI Caucus released the following statement.

“Minneapolis, Minnesota is the recent epicenter of a racial justice reckoning happening across the United States. After the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Derek Chauvin, people from all backgrounds took to the streets demanding change. Unfortunately the changes sought by so many, that would help diminish the killing of BIPOC people at the hands of the police, did not emerge.

“During the regular session and through the special session, the POCI Caucus and members of the House DFL Public Safety Committee worked tirelessly to move meaningful police accountability policies in negotiations with the Senate Republican Majority who refused to hold bad actors accountable. The bill as posted does not include the significant changes to hold police accountable or to prevent future harm.

Scholars horrified by Pennsylvania GOP’s new ‘un-American’ bill targeting critical race theory

Republicans in Pennsylvania have published a draft of a bill intended to end the teaching of critical race theory in their state, and it’s causing many professional scholars to react with horror.

The new bill was first flagged by economist Jeffrey Sachs, who highlighted some particularly egregious passages, such as a clause banning teachers from telling students that “the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is fundamentally racist or sexist,” while also banning people from speaking at universities if they espouse what the Republicans describe as “racist or sexist” views.

“Not only does it prohibit universities from promoting any of the usual forbidden concepts, it also prohibits them from hosting speakers or assigning readings that do,” Sachs commented on Twitter. Continue reading.

DFL Party Hires New Finance Director

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, the Minnesota DFL Party is pleased to announce the hiring of Nora Ptacek to serve as the party’s next Finance Director. Ptacek will be taking over for the DFL Party’s current Finance Director, Tyler Blackmon, who will be leaving the party to attend law school at the end of the month.

Ptacek currently serves as the DFL Party’s Deputy Finance Director and has a deep familiarity with Minnesota’s political landscape and the DFL Party specifically as a result. Her political experience also includes time on Secretary Clinton’s Campaign in 2016, Senator Baldwin’s campaign in 2018, Senator Tina Smith’s state office, and independent political research at the University of Minnesota. Ptacek is a graduate of the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement:

“During my tenure at the DFL Party, we have built a reputation as the strongest fundraiser in Minnesota politics, and I have every confidence that will continue with the incredibly talented Nora Ptacek at the helm of our finance department. When she served as the DFL Party’s Deputy Finance Director, Nora played a big role in the fundraising success the party enjoyed during this last election cycle. I know that Nora will continue to accomplish great things as the DFL Party’s Finance Director and I look forward to another cycle of the DFL Party as a strong, well-funded organization.”

Rep. Kristin Bahner (HD34B) Update: June 26, 2021

Dear Neighbors,

Last week, the Minnesota House and Senate convened for a special session to complete work on the two-year state budget. I’m focused on delivering bipartisan compromises to help Minnesotans in our collective recovery from COVID-19, and taking action to ensure our families, workers, and small businesses have a fighting chance to thrive post-pandemic. With July 1 right around the corner, we’re making steady progress in passing bills with various DFL and GOP provisions. Compromise means each side must sacrifice priorities they would like to see included and I’m pleased to share we have found common ground and passed budgets in the following areas: commerce, climate & energy; higher education; agriculture; clean water, outdoors, arts, and cultural heritage projects funded through the Legacy Amendment; and transportation; housing; environment; jobs & workforce development.

Just today we passed the Early Childhood-12 Education budget on the House Floor. We know our students need a little extra help after a challenging year in distance learning, hybrid, or the classroom, which is why we prioritized the strongest level of investment in public education in 15 years with a 2.45% increase to the general education formula in 2022, and another 2% in 2023.

House Republicans move to censure Biden and accidentally admit Trump broke the law

The Government Accountability Office already rejected Republicans’ argument that delaying the border wall was illegal.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert and 23 other House Republicans introduced a resolution on Wednesday to censure President Joe Biden for ending his predecessor’s immigration policies. But in doing so they inadvertently admitted that former President Donald Trump broke the law when he tried to pressure Ukraine into announcing it was investigating his political opponents in 2019.

The proposed resolution would express the House of Representatives’ “disapproval of the failure to uphold the constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ and the usurpation of the legislative authority of Congress by the President of the United States.”

“My censure bill holds President Biden accountable for his actions—or lack thereof—at the border,” Boebert said in a press release. Continue reading.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: