Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

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

Back to profile

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM REP. CAL BAHR - DISTRICT 31B

Friday, February 5, 2021

When the Government Can Take Everything

This week, the Transportation Committee heard testimony about a proposed land bridge over I-94 that would reconnect the Rondo neighborhood. Much of the area was condemned, destroyed and displaced during the 50's & 60's for the construction of the freeway. We were informed that over 500 families were displaced and many more generational businesses shut their doors.

ALL parties agreed that this is difficult to justify but it could happen again. In order to truly address the problem, there needs to be changes to the government's power of eminent domain.

When the government can come in and take your generational wealth away, the government has entirely too much power. We used to have property rights, and it's time that we bring those property rights back.

Here's the video we shot the next day: Rep. Bahr's Rondo video.

The Odds of Winning a Lottery Aren't Good

Vaccine Cartoon

There continues to be a very short supply of vaccines in Minnesota if you want one with about 35,000 doses being available to seniors this week. If you already signed up for the state’s vaccine pilot program, you do not need to take any further action, as they will be continuing to draw names for the state’s community vaccination sites. Those who were not able to get on the waitlist should reach out to healthcare providers directly to see about scheduling a vaccine. You can find the list of vaccine providers here: Find Vaccine Providers

There is still a limited amount of vaccine available, so appointment options are variable at each of these sites.

Of the 918,000 seniors in our state, only 12% have received a vaccine. Seniors are at the highest risk for illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID, and need to be the priority in our State’s distribution plan. Minnesota has been allocated 444,166 vaccine doses and only 25% of those have gone to Minnesota’s seniors. The rest have gone to everything from prisoners to teachers to zoo workers. Minnesota’s seniors are more at risk than any of these groups and 90% of Minnesota’s deaths from COVID have come from the 65 and up population. They need to be prioritized as such. At the rate we are vaccinating, it will take another 16 weeks to vaccinate all of our seniors.

These websites have good additional info:

The Governor's "SAFE" Act

The House Ways and Means Committee is the final word state spending for the House. On Monday of next week, the Ways and Means Committee will discuss the State Aid for Emergencies (SAFE) act. This bill was proposed by Governor Walz and allocates $35 million for public safety and law enforcement resources in the Twin Cities to address potential civil unrest related to the upcoming Derek Chauvin trial.

I have no intention of voting for this bill when it comes to the floor. To be clear, I believe public safety is essential. Without police officers and first responders, our society would be thrust into chaos. However, the Minneapolis city government has expressed repeated interest in the ‘defund the police’ movement. As a matter of fact, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to cut $8 million from their own police budget. The Minneapolis Police Department is currently down 200 officers, and morale is at an all-time low due to the city council’s actions.

Despite this, Governor Walz is asking the taxpayers of Minnesota to spend $35 million when these underlying issues have not been addressed. Why should every Minnesotan pick up the public safety check for a city that cuts its own public safety budget? Governor Walz continues to take money from greater Minnesota and give it to Minneapolis politicians who refuse to take responsibility for themselves and protect their city.

Choose Freedom,

CalSig

Cal Bahr
State Representative, 31B

Coming up Next Week

  • I am requesting a hearing for my bill to remove the state licensing requirement for Cosmetology services and allow local cities to issue licenses for any of those services in their communities. Sen. Karin Housley is carrying the language in the other body. You can read the language and follow its progress here: HF 554.
  • I have received a lot of calls and emails from my community about HF 604 - the mask mandate. Let me assure you that I do not support the mandatory wearing of masks and will be voting against any bill that would require you to wear one.

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.

Watch the Minnesota House on Public TV

Video: Streaming Website. Also you can watch committees and Floor Sessions on YouTube.