Dear Neighbors,
I wanted to first send a quick note correcting a portion of my update from last week that informed parents about Anoka-Hennepin School District’s public viewing of a new “Genderbread” curriculum for teachers. Unfortunately, this is a PRIVATE viewing of the film and is NOT open to the public. I sincerely apologize for any confusion and inconvenience this may cause.
If you have further questions about the Genderbread video, please contact your local school board members.
Senate Supplemental Budget Proposal
This week the Senate released their supplemental budget proposal, which spends an additional $789 million beyond the state’s two year budget that was signed into law last year. In addition to this spending increase, the Senate continues to call for a gas tax increase.
The DFL had full control of the House, Senate and Governor's seat two years ago and they chose not to pass a gas tax. While I do not believe the government should be proposing any new taxes when we have a surplus, I am especially concerned about a gas tax as it is a regressive tax and likely a diminishing source of revenue as technology advances and cars become more fuel efficient.
The Senate proposal stands in stark contrast to the one put forth by the House last week—one that proposes no net increase in spending, but leaves the state’s $900 million projected surplus for tax relief and roads and bridge repairs.
Fireworks Freedom Act
It is estimated that Minnesota loses as much as $5 million a year in sales tax revenue when folks travel to border states to purchase fireworks. On Monday, the House approved legislation that would allow for the use and sale of firecrackers, bottle rockets, and other similar fireworks around the Fourth of July.
This bill is different from past legislation in a few different ways. First, it allows the sale of these fireworks during a specified timeframe—June 1st through July 10th of every year. Second, it gives cities the option to prohibit sales in their community or charge an annual license fee to stores where they are being sold.
This bill gives responsible adults the freedom to celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks while also giving local economies a boost around Independence Day.
REAL ID Update
Today there was a joint hearing of the Transportation and Civil Law Committees to discuss the Department of Public Safety’s report detailing the costs and procedures needed to bring Minnesota into federal REAL ID compliance. The report indicates that to begin implementation and issuance of REAL ID cards by October of this year, it would cost the state about $4.3-$5.1 million.
I have questions regarding this report and several concerns with REAL ID implementation, including:
- First and foremost, REAL ID is a mandate from the Federal Government and I believe an infringement of the 10th Amendment, which is part of the reason why many states opposed it when it was first passed by Congress. In Minnesota, 200 of 201 legislators voted to prohibit Real ID implementation in 2009.
- Part of the reason Minnesota voted to prohibit implementation was related to privacy concerns, as the risk of law abiding Minnesotan’s private information being shared would vastly increase.
- We currently have a license that is mostly REAL ID compliant—the enhanced driver’s license. The point was raised in committee that with this ID, Minnesotans would be able to board aircraft, enter federal facilities, etc. once the 2018 compliance deadline passes. The small changes that may be needed to make the basic Minnesota IDs fully REAL ID compliant would potentially cost much less than $5.1 million.
I believe it is important to fully vet all these options and am cautious about accepting the estimates in the report, especially as it was completed in a very short time frame. I have other concerns with the report as well; for example, Page 7 of the report reads “REAL ID would not require state-to-state data sharing” but page 8 reads “the State-to-State data exchange will likely require a software application”.
I fully understand the time constraints place on the department and do not want to fault them, however it does seem clear more time is needed to fully address all potential paths forward. I am hopeful we can craft a bill that will be agreeable to all parties, especially as many concerns raised are non-partisan.
HHS Omnibus Bill
A bill I authored that would require abortion clinics and facilities to report abortions performed via tele-medicine, commonly known as "webcam" abortions was included in the Health and Human Services Omnibus bill.
The bill is a very simple change to our reporting laws, which were passed in 1998 - long before thoughts of tele-medicine.
While this bill will help us gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of tele-medicine, I also believe it is important as the risks of complications from webcam abortions, which use the RU-486 drug, are higher than other abortion procedures. I emphasized in the committee that our priority is the health and safety of the mother.
Staying in Touch
I encourage you to attend the Ramsey Business Expo tomorrow. You can read more about this event here.
In addition to tomorrow’s event, I would like to invite you to this year’s Ducks Unlimited Capitol Chapter banquet. Tickets can be purchased here.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, comments, or concerns on anything related to state government. It would be an honor to discuss your ideas on how we can make Minnesota better for everyone. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-1729 or via email at rep.abigail.whelan@house.mn.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Abigail