One-Time vs. Program Money

The federal government has recently printed trillions of dollars and will be sending billions to the state of Minnesota through the American Rescue Plan. This is one-time money; however, it will most likely be used to expand government programs in our state, leading to problems later on. When this funding from the federal government dries up, Minnesota will have to find a new revenue stream in order to continue to support the programs created through the American Rescue Plan.

This money will be used to grow government and it will create a problem for our state. I explain more in this video.

More Pain at the Pump

Fox 9 news shared this video report about the shortage of fuel truck drivers - since that is my "real life" job, it is something I understand better than most. But there are a lot of other factors at work that contribute to the shortage that are not mentioned in this report. The biggest inhibitor to people seeking this out as a career is government.

For example, I need to renew my license this year. To keep my hazmat endorsement, I must fill out a seven page questionnaire with DHS, then make an appointment with a federal office to get fingerprinted and show my notarized birth certificate, then off to a DVS office authorized to renew CDL licenses, so I can take a written hazmat test. All of this has to be done in order as each relies on the previous. And each charges a fee.

So two months of government appointments, all of which I have done before (and each time was told that it was a one time thing), then fork over almost a total of $150 (everyone has to get paid), so I can have the privilege of working 12-14 hour days. And the best part? You get to ride around the metro, looking at all of the riot damage and the hazards of driving with other commuters who don't understand that the following distance from the vehicle in front of me is for SAFETY not for them to jump into a do a break check.

Every fuel hauling company has minimum experience requirements that make sure no novices haul hazmat. (All for the same pay as similar jobs). It doesn't matter if it is -30 or 110+ degrees on the asphalt, rain, snow, you must be standing next to the valves.

I wonder why people aren't standing in line for that?

Conference Committee Time

My colleague, Representative Miller, has been named as the Republican House conferee for the public safety conference committee. Over the next few weeks, this committee will be working to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate omnibus public safety bills. Yesterday, members of the committee and other legislative leaders gave a press conference to discuss the bill. During the press conference, Representative Miller stated:

"Perhaps the greatest responsibility for government is to provide safety, security, and justice for its people, but that needs to be in God’s righteousness and not just in the hands of a powerful few. We answer to Him."

People of Minnesota have lost faith in us as leaders to do what is right for everyone. It is incumbent on us as leaders to make this right. It is our responsibility to restore the people’s trust.

We do not restore trust and we do not provide justice and safety to our citizens through politics. We do this by listening to each other, humbling ourselves, and doing what is right for others."

We may be in the minority, but our Caucus is doing what we can to be sure your voices are represented. You can watch Representative Miller's video update on this topic HERE.

Choose Freedom,

Cal Bahr
State Representative, 31B

Coming up This Week

• We are now in the 'waiting time' since I am not appointed to any conference committees for the various omnibus bills, we won't have as much going on until the leadership of the House & Senate negotiate the various aspects of what will come back to us in the Conference Reports.
• 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:

We are still attempting to provide regular contact remotely regardless of our COVID-19 restrictions so If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us - 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.