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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R)

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Legislative Update from Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen

Friday, March 9, 2018

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday, a bill that I am authoring received its first hearing in the Education Innovation Policy Committee. House File 3035 would establish two new felony level criminal sexual conduct offenses for school employees, independent contractors, and volunteers who engage in inappropriate relationships with students between the ages of 16-21.

This bill was introduced in response to a loophole in state law in which it is not necessarily illegal for a teacher, school employee, volunteer, or independent contractor to have consensual sexual relations with a student if that student is at least 18 years old.

Most would agree that no matter the age of a student and even if the student is legally an adult, teachers, school employees, volunteers, and independent contractors should not be using their positions of power to engage in sexual conduct with a student. Period.

The Minnesota County Attorneys Association is supportive of the legislation and I appreciated their expertise as the bill’s language was drafted.

Additionally, I would like to thank Chair Erickson and members of the Education Innovation Policy Committee for their support of the legislation. This is the right thing to do to protect our students from predatory behavior.

As always, if you have any questions regarding this legislation or any other matter of state government, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I can be contacted by phone at 651-296-4229 or via email at rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn.

Thank you and have a great weekend,

Glenn