ST. PAUL – Rep. Eric Lucero, R-Dayton, is among more than 50 Republican lawmakers urging Gov. Tim Walz and state agencies to improve their relations with businesses amid efforts to combat COVID-19.
Rep. Lucero and colleague House Republicans sent a letter to Gov. Walz on Monday in response to a letter Walz’s Minnesota Department of Health and Department of Labor and Industry issued last week threatening hospitality industry leaders with increased state compliance checks that could result in fines, forced closure, loss of liquor license, workplace investigations, and more.
“Gov. Walz needlessly forced closed the doors of businesses across our state with many having been put out of business permanently and tens of thousands of jobs lost,” Rep. Lucero said. “Maintaining a business in the hospitality industry is incredibly difficult enough without additional threats coming from Gov. Walz’s administration. Minnesotans are outraged Gov. Walz is using an iron fist on the hospitality industry while, at the same time, he looked the other way and permitted lawbreakers to vandalize our Capitol despite having advanced knowledge of the attack last June.”
According to estimates from Hospitality Minnesota, just 2.3% of total state cases have been traced back to restaurants and bars, and there have been just over two dozen restaurants specifically identified as sources of outbreaks.
Walz previously stated enforcement of state mandates and regulations were to be educational in nature rather than punitive. The letter urges Walz to “reassess the tone and approach your agencies are taking” with restaurants and bars, and urges state agencies to be partners rather than adversaries.
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