Dear Friends,
Even though we didn’t spend as many hours on the House floor this week, that didn’t stop Democrats from continuing to push their extreme agenda. We have a $17.5 billion surplus, and yet they passed another bill this week that would raise taxes by $2.9 billion. So far this session, Minnesotans are looking at about $10 billion in new taxes. Keep reading to learn more.
Dems Crush Every Main Street Job Creator
I want to make sure that Minnesota continues to be a great state to raise a family. However, I am concerned that a Paid Family Leave bill that passed this week with bipartisan opposition (we don’t see a whole lot of that around here) will hurt employee wages and crush our small, Main Street job creators. Provisions in this bill include:
- A new 0.7% payroll tax which will hit both employers and employees. Studies show that workers ultimately pay for these tax increases through lower wages. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce says that 80% of their members already provide paid family leave. This bill threatens worker benefits, and employees may end up with a worse paid family leave program than the one their employer currently offers.
- Expands bureaucracy with 400 new FTEs to start, implement, and administrate this program. It will take years of development and will require a brand-new IT system to manage the program – similar to MNLARS or MNsure.
Republicans offered an alternative family leave plan – the MN Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (MN FaMLI) – that would support families and help job creators provide these kinds of benefits. Highlights of our plan include:
- Benefits will be available to Minnesotans on January 1st, 2024—a full 18 months before Democrats’ bill.
- MN FaMLI offers a small business tax credit to incentivize employers to join the plan.
- Minnesotans may opt-in to the program for $5/week if employer does not join.
- Employees that are satisfied with current benefits offered by their employers can keep them without being forced onto a government-run program.
- MN FaMLI private option will be backed by an insurance company, so taxpayers will not be expected to cover the costs of program shortfalls or losses.
- MN FaMLI allows for flexibility that fits the needs of both the employer and employee, with no new taxes and mandates.
I am disappointed that Democrats chose their $2.9 billion, heavily mandated plan over our cheaper, flexible option. We need to support families, but sacrificing employee wages and growing our bureaucracy is not the way to do that.
E-Pull Tab Changes Continue Debate
As I’ve previously shared, Democrats are considering a change to charitable gambling that will alter electronic pull tabs as we know it. The definition of e-pull tab games will change to require the player to manually activate each ticket to be opened instead of using the current “open all” function.
This will devastate Minnesota’s charities and the local bars and restaurants they partner with. Yesterday, House Republicans held a press conference along with NHL All-Star Devan Dubnyk, Stanley Cup Champion Tom Chorske, former NHL Defensemen Nate Prosser, representatives from Allied Charities, and numerous other members of veterans clubs, firefighters, Lions Clubs, and youth sports who would be impacted. I will continue fighting for our charities to stop this change and I hope it is removed in conference committee.
Marijuana Legalization Bill Passes
Bills to legalize recreational marijuana recently passed the House and Senate. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana, there are some concerning aspects of the House bill, including:
- Threatens the existing hemp industry. This bill will regulate hemp under the same industry as marijuana, opening them up to new mandates and taxes which will threaten many small businesses in Minnesota. Other states that have legalized marijuana have not subjected hemp or CBD products to the same regulations. Hemp is legal federally, unlike marijuana.
- Ignores Local Control. Local units of government are restricted in their ability to enact guardrails for marijuana in their communities. This one size fits all approach will hurt local communities who want more control over the number of marijuana-related businesses in their community.
- Won’t stop the black market. While we want to stop the marijuana black market and ensure people have access to safe cannabis products, legalizing it won’t necessarily accomplish this goal. Other states that have legalized recreational marijuana, like California and New York, continue to have issues with the black market. This bill does not go far enough in establishing guardrails to deter Minnesotans from black market cannabis products.
We can support the decriminalization of marijuana, but we don’t have to normalize its use. Had this bill been strictly about decriminalization, there would have been more bipartisan support.
There are differences between the House and Senate versions of this bill, so those are currently being negotiated in conference committee. I hope concerns regarding the hemp industry, local control, and stopping the black market are addressed before the final version comes back to the House for a final vote.
Second Amendment Under Attack
The Public Safety omnibus bill contained some concerning provisions that will undermine your Second Amendment rights. These include:
- Universal Background Checks. Instead of addressing the root causes of violent crime, this proposal will create strict and impractical hurdles for law-abiding Minnesotans seeking to exercise their 2ndAmendment right. Criminals looking to acquire firearms will not follow the complex new process laid out in the proposal and it will do nothing to stop the flow of firearms in the illicit, criminal gun market. Efforts should be focused on enforcing the numerous laws we already have governing firearm transfers before the Legislature creates new ones that will only harm law-abiding citizens.
- Extreme Risk Protection Order. This proposal violates due process and does not address the alleged safety risk – the individual. If someone poses a legitimate threat, simply seizing firearms will not prevent an individual from doing harm to themselves or others through other means. Our efforts should be focused on providing support and care to those in crisis.
No Republicans were appointed to the Judiciary and Public Safety Conference Committee, which means no one is advocating for your 2nd Amendment right. You can find information on the conference committee here. I strongly encourage you to reach out to these members and urge them to defend your constitutional right.