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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Cal Bahr (R)

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM REP. CAL BAHR - DISTRICT 31-B

Saturday, April 18, 2020

This has been a dramatic week in St. Paul. We had two sessions on the House floor, discussed two different resolutions to attempt to put legislators back in charge of drafting law rather than by unilateral executive orders, protests at the Governor's Mansion and, all in all, after a lot of angst and drama, we're still exactly the same place we started on Monday.

 

What's My Message To All Of You

For legislators, there were many powerful speeches of how the government has hurt individual lives, ruined businesses, and caused mayhem in the general public.  Is Covid-19 real? Yes. Is it as deadly as we are lead to believe? No. If you listen to the talking heads, you would think that contracting Covid-19 is a death sentence. Scaring the public is not good for anyone.  Is practicing social distancing a good practice? Yes, and is something that we should have been doing anyway.  When waiting in line at your local retailer, was it really necessary to be so close to the person in front of you that they feel your breath on their back? We should be washing our hands more often than we have been. A little extra hygiene goes a long way. 

We are doing all of this to slow the spread. Slow the spread is not the same thing as stopping the spread. Think about that. The only way to stop this is with what is called herd immunity. Herd immunity is when 80% of the population has the antibodies in their system. You can’t get the antibodies unless you are exposed to the virus.  

There has been no blood test to determine people who have the antibodies and have immunity; until now: COVID-19 Antibody Seroprevalence. The test has been approved by the FDA. It will be on the market next week. Will everyone get tested in a couple days? Not a chance. But as we do get more testing, we will see that there is a large portion of the population that would be considered ‘safe’ and that the virus has been spreading throughout the Union for much longer that has been reported.

When we get more information, when we see how many lives are destroyed, when we get a bigger picture. We should remember that the government can only do two things; kill people and break things. Before you say, but they help _______ group of people, remember that government can only do that after they have broken into someone else’s bank account, shattered a dream, stopped a business from opening or forced it too close, or prevented some other non-government approved action. Government is force. It is not benevolence. It is not kindness. Those things come from charitable community groups. How are regulators achieving compliance? A $25,000 per employee fine to the plant manager that opens in defiance of the Governor’s order.  Suspending business licenses (permission slip to employ yourself). $1000 fines to people out in defiance of the Governor’s Executive Order. Government is so intertwined in our lives, individual defiance comes at a high cost.  

 

What I Told My Colleagues

Cal Floor Speech

Minnesota businesses are massively suffering under the stay-at-home order. It is predicted that during the third quarter, we will be looking at an unemployment rate of 32%. This exceeds the Great Depression by almost 7%. It is time to reopen the state and the economy, or we won't have an economy to come back to.

Listen to my floor speech regarding the resolution to end the Governor's peacetime emergency powers.

 

Looking Forward

As a member of the House of Representatives, it is my job to continue to pressure the administration (and my fellow legislators) to not sacrifice the livelihoods of Minnesotans at the altar of false security.

The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence comes to mind - And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.  For many of the 56 signers of that document, that meant death.  Death, for not only themselves, but also loved ones.  Others lost fortunes.  Not a one survived the transition from subject to citizen unscathed.  

Choose Freedom,

 

CalSig

Cal Bahr
State Representative, 31B

 

Contact:

If you have any questions regarding COVID-19, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my office. We are still attempting to provide regular contact remotely so if you have other needs, please email my Legislative Assistant, Barbara, at barbara.smith@house.mn.

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