Dear Friends,
With the new legislative session just a little over a week away, I am getting excited to return to St. Paul for the opportunity to represent the best and stand up for our way of life. Democrats, with their one-party control of our state, will surely once again push forward their expensive, extreme, and out-of-touch agenda. Last session, they put Minnesota on a path towards a budget deficit when they spent a $17.5 billion surplus. They refused to pass any permanent, meaningful tax relief to support Minnesotans and instead raised taxes by $10 billion. I will be fighting every day at the Capitol to support your family budget, build safe communities, and bring some commonsense to our state government.
One key issue that must be addressed as soon as the gavel falls on the first day of session is ensuring that all School Resource Officers (SROs) are back in school. You may remember that earlier this year changes were made to the student disciplinary policy that now make it harder for SROs to keep our students and teachers safe at school. Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty offered conflicting interpretations of the law, proving that this issue must be solved at the legislature.
Despite calls for a special session earlier this fall (including from the Star Tribune Editorial Board!) Democrats have been waiting until session to fix this issue. This week, the Reformer reported that there is draft legislation in the works and that Speaker Hortman has pledged to hold a hearing on SROs on the first day of session.
My Republican colleagues and I will continue to fight for the safety of our students and teachers. Their safety is not secured until 100% of SROs are back in schools.
This issue perfectly illustrates the problems with one-party control of our state. We need to restore balance at the Capitol so we can ensure that issues, such as this one with SROs, do not happen.