Gun Rights are Constitutional Rights
House Democrat leadership passed HF 8 & 9 to the House floor on Thursday. I voted, "no" on both bills. HF 8 & 9 are the Universal Gun Registration and the “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation bills. These bills were so bad, even five democrats voted against them. It is a travesty the way they trample the Constitution in these two bills by presuming people "guilty until proven innocent" and, also violating our constitutionally protected right to bear arms. These bills do not respect law-abiding gun owners or any concept of due process, and are driven by out-of-state special interest money. These bills are Dead On Arrival in the Senate. Meanwhile, bills like this are the driving force behind the ever-growing number of Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties. Here is the statement I released in advance of Thursday’s votes: https://youtu.be/CzAOHXHGisg
Taxpayer Dollars Should Not Be Used to Violate Your Privacy
I offered an amendment to eliminate the Presidential Primary and to protect your private voter data from being disseminated to private organizations – the national parties. Unfortunately, very few politicians were willing to support the amendment, because both our parties are pressuring our legislature to continue to fund the data collection – at a cost of $12-$15 MILLION to Minnesota taxpayers. 40,000 election workers will be hired by the government for the benefit of private organizations. That’s ridiculous.
In a political move, so everyone can campaign on "doing something", the House passed a futile bill to try to restrict what happens with your data in Washington DC. However, this bill is meaningless, as there is no chance it will pass the Senate, be signed by the Governor and leave enough time for the Secretary of State to implement the necessary technical changes prior to voting on Tuesday. Furthermore, this bill does not stop the spending of taxpayer money to collect the data.
You can see my full statement on the primary here: https://youtu.be/wGGXf-ExpZI
Insulin for All Bill
Also this week, the insulin bill passed the House floor. I voted "no". This $38 million dollar per year bill provides patients with nearly free insulin if their family income is less than $150,000 per year. It even covers people with private insurance. The bill is so poorly constructed, there are built in incentives for employers to raise deductibles, and it penalizes insulin manufacturers who lower their cost of insulin. In fact, this bill is beneficial to the larger pharmaceutical companies who charge more for their insulin. Furthermore, insurance companies which have already lowered deductibles, will need to raise rates due to Obamacare's actuarial value mandates on their plans. And for the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who are asking about the skyrocketing costs of EpiPens, inhalers, cancer drugs, or any other lifesaving treatment, this bill does nothing. This bill is the trial run for Medicare for All and a complete socialist takeover of healthcare.
My comments on the House floor can be found here: https://youtu.be/gGbtBuX-yd8
Coming up Next Week
- I am making progress with Cassie’s Law and am scheduled for a second hearing next Wednesday 3/4
- The Mayor of Vernon Center will be joining me to present the city's bonding request for waste water infrastructure repairs to the Capital Investment Committee on Wednesday evening.
If you visit the Capitol in Saint Paul, please drop by and say hello! If you know a date you will be in town, please call or email my Legislative Assistant, Barbara, and she will get you on the calendar. Her number is 651-297-1307 or barbara.smith@house.mn
Watch the Minnesota House on Public TV
Video: Streaming Website. Also you can watch committees and Floor Sessions on YouTube.