Greetings from the Floor,
On Tuesday, Gov. Dayton and the Department of Agriculture announced a proposed rule to reduce nitrogen in drinking water. This announcement came after 17 public meetings around the state where landowners issued more than 820 written comments about the proposed rule last year. The proposed rule will be officially published for formal comment in mid to late-May (this will be followed by a 30-day public comment period and additional public hearings on the proposed rule). The proposed rule would target the central and southern parts of Minnesota, and has exemptions for northwest Minnesota, the arrowhead region and Ramsey County. These exemptions are for parts of the state that don’t have a lot of agriculture (arrowhead region and Ramsey County), where fall planting requires nitrogen fertilizer and where soils have a low leaching potential (northwest Minnesota). The proposed rule would aim to encourage landowners to implement Best Management Practices.
The Agriculture Finance Committee heard a couple of presentations on Thursday about Best Management Practices focusing on cover crops. Cover crops provide many solutions for water quality and the prevention of soil erosion. Encouraging Best Management Practices is a common sense approach to water quality, and cooperation between the state and landowners to implement these land (and water) stewardship practices would be much more effective than mandates. Cooperation between the state and landowners is the approach we need to use in order to implement long-lasting practices for clean water. For more information, please go to https://mn.gov/governor/newsroom/?id=1055-328382.
On Wednesday, Gov. Dayton announced his Safe and Secure Schools Act. This was also the same day hundreds of St. Paul high school students walked out of class, and held a demonstration at the State Office Building against school violence. The proposal would direct school districts in helping expelled students, provide $20.9 million into making Minnesota schools safer through building improvements (like more secure entrances, enhanced classroom safety and hiring additional resource officers) and establish a $5 million grant for improved school-based mental health programs.
The governor also announced new proposals for firearm legislation on Wednesday. These include:
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criminal background checks for every firearm exchange
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clarify Minnesota’s existing “bump stock” ban
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collect data on gun ownership for public health research
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restrict the sale of semiautomatic military-style assault weapons to people over the age of 21
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allow family members and law enforcement to petition the courts to temporarily suspend a person’s access to firearms if there is a documented threat to themselves or others
Two other high profile firearm related bills were introduced last year. One would allow Minnesotans to carry concealed firearms without permits and the other would establish a “Castle Doctrine” law in Minnesota. I anticipate a proposal may come from the Legislature to appropriate more dollars into school safety and mental health needs. Minnesota is already close to last in the country for its student to school counselor ratio. This, along with increasing demands on school counselors for career readiness, is a situation in need of critical support. It is so unfortunate that it often takes horrific events like school shootings for people to look at the need for student mental health support. Making these investments will ensure schools continue to be places where students can grow to become healthy, successful adults. No student should ever have to be on the watch for threats or feel as though they don’t have a place in their school.
I don’t anticipate much may happen in the way of legislation directly related to firearms this year. We must focus on eliminating the chance for firearms to get into the hands of dangerous, unstable people. Strengthening the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (by closing the “gun show” loophole and incorporating more information about violent criminal and mental health histories) and restricting sales of after-market products that make firearms more deadly are sensible ways to reduce firearm violence. I respect responsible firearm owners, and thank them for their responsibility. There are sensible ways to protect our constitutional rights, and keep people safe from further firearm violence.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben