Dear Neighbors,
Another busy week at the Capitol is ahead of us. Here’s an update on a few items that are under consideration at the Legislature:
Local Driver Motor Vehicle (DMV) Bill Advances
On Thursday, the New Brighton DMV bill was heard in the Transportation and Regional Governance Policy Committee, of which I am the DFL Committee-Lead. HF 94 would allow adding a full service license DMV counter at New Brighton City Hall. Expanding to a full service location in our district where residents can renew their driver’s licenses and purchase their tabs and license plates will help our community as well as reduce long wait times at surrounding DMVs.
The New Brighton Mayor and City Manager provided testimony in support of the initiative to the Transportation and Regional Governance Policy Committee members. The bill passed the committee and is ready to move forward to the full vote of the House. In the Senate, it is waiting to be considered for possible inclusion to the final Senate Transportation Omnibus bill. Senator Laine, Rep Kunesh-Podein and I will continue to work on getting this bill passed.
House Rules Discussion
Every biennium, toward the beginning of the legislative session, the Minnesota House of Representatives creates, establishes and passes the House ‘Rules’ or a set of guidelines in which all members are to conduct themselves while serving their constituencies at the Capitol. A discussion of the Rules are brought before the House Rules Committee, and then before the entire House of Representatives for a vote. While the discussion is generally bipartisan, this was certainly not the case last Thursday.
The DFL offered several amendments to the proposed House Majority’s rules, one of which gained much debate and media attention.
The amendment would prohibit the use of Speaker Daudt’s ‘mute’ button, which is located behind his podium. This ‘mute’ button was installed during Capitol renovations, behind closed doors, and no mention of it to the public. In fact, House Democrats didn’t learn of the button until a debate last session occurred when it was thought there was a power outage.
During the debate, House Republicans argued the mute button is necessary to control House Floor debate, not acknowledging its’ secret installation, nor the various other methods to control House floor discussion, such as the Speaker’s large gavel to call is to order on every session day.
When we silence members during our legislative process and prevent the public from hearing the debate, we are silencing democracy from taking place. I voted to ban the use of a mute button during floor debates.
To read KARE 11’s story about the ‘mute’ button, please click here.
Constituent Visit
On Tuesday last week, I had the opportunity to discuss patient safety with local nurses from our district. They were advocating for safe staffing ratios of nurses to patients to increase quality of care. It was great to hear from these professionals who take such good care of us.
I also met with a local YMCA group visiting the Capitol. As a past board member of the YMCA Youth in Government Board, I had the chance to observe and learn about the great ways the Y contributes to our community.
As always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts, ideas and concerns. I can be reached at 651-296-5510 or by email at rep.connie.bernardy@house.mn.
Sincerely,
Connie Bernardy
State Representative