Dear Neighbors,
Lance Corporal Riley S. Kuznia, who was serving the country he loved, tragically lost his life while in the line of duty at his Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C. His funeral will be held in Karlstad on Saturday. Details can be found here.
House File 18
This week, I introduced HF 18. This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture to make payments for claims filed by farmers and ranchers for damage done by wolves and elk. I have authored this bill in the past, and we currently spend about $700,000 per biennium to pay these claims. Once all of the data is in from previous years, we will be able to estimate the dollars needed for the next two years.
House Rules
The first action on House Rules taken by the DFL will make it much more likely that openness and transparency in the House legislative process will be reduced. This “temporary rule” put in place on Tuesday was vigorously debated and opposed by myself and several of my Republican colleagues. The “permanent rules” of the House will be debated in a couple of weeks. I hope Minnesotans will speak up and help try to stop this overreach by the House DFL.
DFL Priorities
Also this week, the House DFL unveiled their top 10 priorities in House Files 1-10. In those bills, they propose to raise taxes and increase the cost of health care. I’m very concerned about the proposed Minnesota Care buy-in because it threatens our local hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other small town rural providers. These bills also include an attack on our Second Amendment rights. I will not be supporting these bills.
Former Representative Tommy Rukavina
Former Representative Tommy Rukavina of Virginia, MN, passed away on January 7, 2019. Tommy was a long serving Iron Range member and a very good friend of mine. The hole left in the hearts of many is as large as an open pit mine. We paid tribute to him on the House Floor on Thursday. My comments can be found here at 45:10-49:00.
I ask that you keep the Rukavina family and friends in your prayers at this difficult time.
Follow me on Facebook
To stay up-to-date on what’s happening at your State Capitol, feel free to “like” my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RepDanFabian.
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My door is always open to the needs and priorities of our area. Please feel free to let me know if I can be of assistance to you and your family. I am here to serve you!
Dan