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.
For those interested in a detailed 2021 session overview, our Senate DFL staff put together an excellent document that summarizes the session as a whole and provides an in-depth examination of each individual budget bill: http://senatedfl.mn/2021-end-of-session-review/
Yesterday, I led a tour of the Duluth Water Treatment Plant, where I was joined by Senators Jen McEwen and Scott Dibble as well as several guests. Stay tuned for content from that tour, as well as from the several similar facility tours and job site visits I’ll be completing throughout the summer and fall!
On Wednesday, I recorded an episode of the Senate DFL podcast, the Call of the Senate, in which Senator Susan Kent and I discussed the end of this year’s contentious session. You can watch that recording below.
Community News & Events
The Minnetonka City Council will meet on Monday at 6:30 pm. The agenda and other details can be found here.
The BoDeans and the Okee Dokee Brothers will both play shows at Plymouth’s Hilde Performance Center next weekend – the BoDeans on Saturday the 17th at 7 pm, and the Okee Dokee Brothers on Sunday the 18th at 3 pm. Details and tickets can be found here for the former, and here for the latter.
The Minnetonka and Plymouth farmers markets will both take place next week. The Minnetonka market is open from 3-7 pm every Tuesday at Civic Center Park, and the Plymouth market is open from 2:30-6:30 pm every Wednesday at Parkers Lake Playfield.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with input, questions, or concerns!
sen.ann.johnson.stewart@senate.mn | 651-296-9261
Minnesota Senate Building, Room 2413
95 University Avenue W
St. Paul, MN 55155