Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Before I start this week’s update, I want to provide some clarification about one of my bills I discussed last week. I am coauthoring a bill to reduce the state property taxes paid by commercial and industrial taxpayers. A few of you contacted me with concerns that this would eliminate property taxes paid by businesses to cities or counties, which could then lead to drastically increased property taxes for individuals and homeowners. So, to be clear, my bill would reduce state property taxes – not local property taxes. This move would provide a boost to local economies and reduce businesses’ tax burden without leading to increased property taxes for individuals.
In this week’s update, I will fill you in on recent activity regarding Enbridge and vandalism on northern Minnesota pipelines, proposals to change daylight savings time, and this week’s Capitol visits.
Pipeline Protestors
Earlier this week, four protesters attempted to close pipeline valves for the Line 3 and Line 4 pipelines that run across northern Minnesota. Protesting in this way is not only illegal, but is also extremely dangerous as it threatens the safety of surrounding communities and first responders. Opponents of these pipelines have the right to protest, but trespassing on private property and attempting to alter critical infrastructure poses great dangers and is unacceptable. Regardless of how an individual feels about these pipelines and these projects, this is not the way to go about voicing your opinion.
Last year, I supported common sense legislation to discourage and further penalize illegal acts of protest such as these in order to prevent damage to critical infrastructure. Unfortunately, the bill was ultimately vetoed by Governor Dayton.
You can read the statement I issued on this matter by clicking here and an MPR story on the vandalism here.
Letter to Governor Walz
Yesterday I joined my legislative colleagues in both the House and the Senate in sending a bipartisan letter to Governor Walz urging him to support the Line 3 replacement pipeline, and to drop state-backed legal challenges to the project. Governor Walz and his administration should trust the experts who have signed off on this pipeline and let the project move forward. This project will provide a tremendous economic impact to communities in northern Minnesota and I am hopeful the Governor will side with these communities and support this project.
You can read the letter by clicking here.
Daylight Saving Time Bills
Do you find it more than a nuisance to change your clocks twice a year? Several constituents have written urging me to work to end daylight saving time in Minnesota. As it turns out, a number of states around the country are considering legislative proposals to end daylight saving time and instead observe their normal time zone’s standard time throughout the entire year. There has been some discussion in St. Paul about pursuing such a proposal for Minnesota, which would mean eliminating daylight saving time and staying on central time all year. Eliminating daylight savings time would be a big change for our state as it would impact the daily lives of every Minnesotan. I’d like to know how you would feel about getting rid of daylight saving time and I encourage you to please contact me to share your stance on this topic.
To provide a little background information, below are a couple news stories on examples of proposals that other states are currently considering.
Arkansas: https://www.baxterbulletin.com/story/news/local/2019/02/06/arkansas-bill-daylight-saving-time/2781671002/
Montana: https://kpax.com/news/montana-politics/2019/01/28/bill-would-ask-voters-to-eliminate-daylight-saving-time-in-montana/
Local Visitors
It was my pleasure to again welcome folks from our area to the Capitol this week. I enjoyed chatting with my visitors and I felt we had productive conversations about some important issues.
Had the opportunity to meet with Adam Pavek, Amira Bensami, and Randall Seifert during Student Pharmacy Day at the Capitol.
Folks from Centers of Independent Living, which serves Itasca County, stopped by my office.
With Julie Anne Larkin, Coordinator of Support Within Reach Sexual Violence Resource Center in Itasca County.
Please Contact Me
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns on any legislative issue. I value your input and would love to hear from you.
Have a great weekend,
