SAINT PAUL, MN –In the early morning hours, after not allowing public input or amendments prior to adoption, legislative Republicans adopted a two year joint budget for jobs and energy which contains numerous provisions Governor Dayton didn’t agree to. That agreement stripped out internet privacy provisions adopted by the Minnesota House on a vote of 200-1. Further, the jobs and energy bill cuts job creation efforts, consumer protections, racial & economic disparities efforts, workforce housing, and rolls back decades of progress on renewable energy in Minnesota.
Rep. Tim Mahoney (Saint Paul), the DFL-Jobs Lead, released the following statement:
“Forget the farce of a process this bill went through and forget the fact that nobody saw it prior to it being plunked down on their desks, this bill is the epitome of Minnesota Republicans embracing Trumpism. The bill they sent to the Governor early this morning was a backroom deal cut with lobbyists from Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and all those telecom companies so they can sell the internet data of Minnesotans to the highest bidder. Not only that, it cuts job creation efforts and rolls back decades of progress on renewable energy. Minnesotans value our internet privacy, our clean environment, and the leadership role we’ve taken in a clean energy economy. This bill completely abandons our commitment to those cherished values.”
-30-