Legislative Update: Public Sector Unions, Omnibus Bills, and the State of the State Address

Public Sector Unions and Collective Bargaining

Yesterday, the Minnesota House of Representatives discussed and voted on HF 961. This bill would give collective bargaining rights to roughly 120 law enforcement supervisors with the State Patrol, DNR, and other public agencies. In doing this, HF 961 would add to the size of public sector unions that exist in Minnesota.

We know that public sector unions routinely reward failure and punish success. Unfortunately, this is a fact that too many people overlook or ignore. Additionally, we know why Democrats brought this bill forward: public sector unions contribute millions of dollars to Democrat campaigns and candidates.

HF 961 was a bad bill and I voted against it. However, the bill was passed by the Minnesota House in a vote of 123-8.

To see my full comments on this bill, please see the below video:

Democrat Omnibus Bills

This week, the Democrats in the Minnesota House have been putting together their massive omnibus bills that are designed to spend even more of your tax dollars. These bills contain hundreds or even thousands of provisions and are organized by subject area such as Public Safety, Taxes, Environment, etc. In my opinion, this is a lazy and inexact way to legislate. However, the Democrats have taken this practice one step further by rolling omnibus bills together and packing multiple subject areas into giant bills.

In one instance, Democrats took the Transportation omnibus bill, the Veterans & Military Affairs omnibus bill, the Pensions omnibus bill, and the State Government omnibus bill and rolled them all into one huge, unnecessary bill. Legislation like this is nothing but a bloated, disorganized mess. The people of Minnesota deserve better.  

In total, the new spending on all these omnibus bills amounts to $7.36 billion. However, Minnesota state government is already fully funded through June of 2023. There is no reason for these bills or any of the new spending. As a matter of fact, our state government currently has a surplus of $9.2 billion. Instead of returning that surplus to the people where it belongs, Democrats are attempting to spend it on ridiculous omnibus bills that will help no one.

We don’t need this crazy spending. We need permanent tax relief for Minnesota families. The ability to deliver tax cuts is within our grasp, but Democrats just don’t want tax relief. They love taking the people’s money. 

Fortunately, these crazy bills will not become law. The Republican majority in the Minnesota Senate will make sure that our hard-earned tax dollars are not wasted on needless omnibus bills and government spending.

Governor Walz’s State of the State Address

On Sunday at 6:00pm, Governor Tim Walz is scheduled to deliver his fourth State of the State address. In this speech at the State Capitol, Governor Walz will no doubt trumpet his big-government, anti-family agenda as he tries to rationalize new ways to spend your hard-earned money.

Most peculiar about this event is the day chosen for the speech. In all my time at the Minnesota Legislature, I cannot think of a time when a governor has delivered their State of the State address on a Sunday. Typically, past governors have chosen weekdays for their speech. So, why would Governor Walz choose a Sunday for this event?

For me and so many other Minnesotans, Sunday is the Lord’s Day; it is a time to go to church, worship God, and be with our families. If the Democrats want to gather in their sanctuary and exalt government as they plan to do, then that is their choice. However, I will not be a part of it. I will not be attending the State of the State address, and I believe Governor Walz would be wise to postpone his address for another day.

Steve Drazkowski