Dear Neighbor,
Bills that will eventually shape the state’s next two-year budget are making their way through the committee process and seem to be on track to come to the House for votes of the full body in a few weeks. I have been following the ag bill which received committee approval on a party-line vote this week.
One of the most controversial provisions relates to chronic wasting disease and how to respond in cases where diseased animals are found on cervidae farms (deer, elk, moose). A new test is coming from the United States Department of Agriculture which can detect CWD in live animals. This would allow us to selectively cull only those infected with CWD instead of putting down entire herds on farms as the bill would do. Common sense says we should take advantage of this new technology to spare animals and also to help protect farmers from losing entire herds.
I was able to have an amendment added that would study the possible negative impacts to property values on land adjacent to community solar gardens.
A slimmed-down version of a provision I authored to help Second Harvest Heartland purchase milk for its food shelves also was included in the omnibus bill. The bill I authored would have provided twice the amount of funding that ended up being written into the bill. The demand is there to do more and I wish the proposal I authored had not been scaled back so significantly.
In other news, House Democrats approved a bill on the floor Monday which could prove to be highly problematic by putting people convicted of serious crimes in contact with some of our most vulnerable citizens.
The bill allows individuals convicted of crimes including murder, drive-by-shooting, felony-level stalking, child abuse, and solicitation of children to engage in sexual conduct, to be eligible to work as personal care attendants, providers of home and community-based care services for Minnesotans with disabilities, adult day services, non-emergency medical transportation drivers and more. This is because the bill would require the Department of Human Services to consider granting a set-aside or variance on background checks to anyone who otherwise would have been disqualified as a result of the aforementioned convictions that are more than 20 years old. But there are no rehabilitation requirements.
It’s hard to justify this move and I strongly oppose it.
Finally, the annual State of the State Address took place in the House Chamber this week, the first one for Gov. Tim Walz. He departed from tradition in that he barely scratched the surface on the top issues and, instead, spent most of his time talking about collaboration and hope. The governor is a former coach and his speech did feel like something of a pep talk. Let’s see if he walks the walk on teamwork when budget negotiations get serious.
Sincerely,
Paul