Dear Neighbor,
The end of this week brings us to the first committee deadline in the House this session. A bill must clear its first committee hurdle by today to remain viable for passage this session. A second deadline will follow requiring additional steps to have been met and then we have until April 8 to act on major finance bills.
That April 8 deadline comes just before the Legislature will break to observe Easter/Passover. After that, five weeks will remain to finish our work before the regular session’s constitutionally mandated end date, this year May 23.
I hope we can take care of some more time-sensitive matters far sooner than the end of May. For example, we need resolution to the unemployment tax increase that is unnecessarily landing on our employers after House Democrats refused to pass a bill to fix this issue. The Senate one month ago approved by a veto-proof majority legislation to take care of this, but the House still has not acted on that bill.
On another subject, I have co-signed a House Resolution “urging the President of the United States to consider the current geopolitical tensions and support policies and take measures to ensure America’s long-term energy affordability, security, leadership and progress, including actions that result in the continued operation of existing oil and natural gas pipelines, the construction of new pipelines, and an end to restrictions on developing our nation's onshore and offshore oil and natural gas resources.”
We need an all-of-the-above energy approach in Minnesota to make sure we have an affordable, reliable grid. This is only more apparent during a time such as this, where global instability exposes our vulnerability to relying on other nations for energy. We cannot afford to risk energy shortages in our region, where prolonged outages could be catastrophic, particularly in the colder months. And, it goes without saying, we need to make sure our tax dollars aren’t being used to fund the atrocities being committed by Russia.
Have a good weekend and, as always, let me know how I can help.
Sincerely,
Matt