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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Debra Hilstrom

379 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-3709

For more information contact: Carrie Lucking 651-296-4169

Posted: 2011-03-31 00:00:00
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MISPLACED PRIORITIES IN REPUBLICAN OMNIBUS PUBLIC SAFETY BILL MAKES US LESS SAFE Statement from Rep. Debra Hilstrom on House Omnibus Public Safety Bill

Even under the most conservative definition of government, public safety is a core state function. Yet even the critical duty to protect us has not been spared from the Republican budget whack-a-mole. This is the Public UNsafety bill. And the fund raids in this bill make hedge-fund managers look like Mother Theresa.

In the latest case of Enron accounting, the Republicans pilfer $17 million in public safety funds to put in the general fund. For example, every insured Minnesotan pays a fee on their insurance that is specifically directed to fire safety. Under the Republican proposal, that fire safety fee becomes a hidden tax that would now come to the state – not to save our home or loved ones in a fire – but for whatever the Republican majority wants. Did I mention that Minnesota is already 3rd from the bottom of states in fire safety?

We’ve all been paying a fee on our phone bill to make sure that 911 service is reliable. The Republicans are siphoning that money, too, which means greater Minnesotans paid for something and got nothing. And 911 service? Well, Republicans say good luck with that.

The shifts just keep on coming – police training, corrections, you name it, the Republicans take it.

There’s even a back-door property tax increase in this bill. By sending violent offenders to county jails to serve the end of their prison sentences, the Republicans pass the buck for those prisoners onto counties. And guess where counties will get the money? Property taxes.

Perhaps difficult times call for us to be creative, but making our communities less safe is simply unacceptable.

In addition to cutting fire protection and 911, the Republican public safety budget also places a high priority on giving criminals “get out of jail free" cards.

Not only will this bill move offenders to county jails to serve the end of their sentences – a practice that all evidence says puts our communities’ safety at risk, but it also cuts $16 million from prisons. That’s the equivalent of shutting down Shakopee women’s prison.

Let’s talk about the kind of people who are locked up in that prison:
95 murderers
70 violent assaulters
60 robbers

And kidnappers and sex offenders, too. Nearly 1/3 of the prisoners at Shakopee are violent offenders.

And if letting adult criminals go free isn’t enough, this bill also closes down our juvenile detention centers, so young criminals – 31% of whom have committed violent crimes - either get the luxury of living down the block in a halfway house or get shipped into costly, corrupt facilities in other states. Either way, public safety is not the priority.

Of course, this entire debate is about misplaced priorities. Instead of asking millionaires to be a part of the budget solution, the Republicans ask every Minnesota community to sacrifice some of their security. That’s the logic of this majority and a public unsafety bill.

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