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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Erik Mortensen (R)

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM REP. ERIK MORTENSEN - DISTRICT 55A

Friday, April 23, 2021

Happy Friday folks! I think it's safe to say that spring has finally come and we can say goodbye to this year's bitter winter.  Birds are chirping and trees are budding. Unfortunately, the DFL in the house has no interest in having a lively and budding debate on their Omnibus bills. The house was in session until 1 AM Wednesday, and for hours we listened to the DFL raise objections on virtually every Republican amendment. The DFL called 12 republican amendments, that related to firearm protections, non-germane to their Public Safety Omnibus bill. Traditionally every single pro-gun amendment made to the Public Safety bill is germane because gun rights are all about PUBLIC SAFETY.  Firearms are used every single day to protect the SAFETY of the public, and elected leaders. But for some reason the DFL elected leaders in Minnesota think they’re the only ones who should be protected with firearms.

This has been the theme all year with the DFL; silence Republicans and refuse to have the debate on the issues. The electronic platform they have forced the House to use has been very convenient for the DFL to quietly force through their radical agenda. This past Wednesday we also saw some political theater on full display for the public. Representative Lislegard introduced an amendment to allow for electronic submission of permits to carry. The amendment was ruled out of order by his own party. He and fellow DFLer Representative Sandstede, both voted to appeal the ruling of the speaker. On the subsequent amendment proposed by Republicans the DFL was quick to oppose, saying it was “duplicative of the previous” in fact it was identical language. However, both Lislegard and Sandstede sided with the Speaker when she ruled this out of order as well. Why? Find out in the continuation below. 

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Keeping to Campaign Promises

When we elect our state Representatives, we assume that they will go to St. Paul and fight for the issues that are most important to our community. For district 55A you told me on the campaign trail you wanted more government accountability, you wanted equal shared parenting passed, and someone who was not afraid to reach across the aisle to support good ideas. I believe I have held true to that promise. I have introduced shared parenting legislation, and have forced discussions by members who frankly were not even interested. I have worked to end the peacetime emergency to restore the balance of power in our state. I have even found common ground with Democrats on good legislation that reduces the scope and authority of the Government when it comes to things like civil asset forfeiture. These are tangible things available to the public to view. You can see the Legislation I submitted this year HERE

Omnibus Bills Update

All but one of the Omnibus bills has made it through all three readings required before a bill can become law. Now they are off to conference committee where the House DFL and Senate Republicans will hammer out the final versions. I could sit here and list every provision I have an issue with but this letter would be a few dozen pages, still not as bad as the thousands of pages the DFL ramrodded through this week. Instead, I will say this, these bills will collectively raise nearly $50 billion for the state, on top of billions in federal money we don’t even have yet, on top of a $7 billion dollar surplus if we were to keep spending flat. This will be the largest state budget ever. It just goes to show that the DFL in Minnesota is determined you cannot be trusted to make decisions for yourself. From their draconian lockdowns which they refuse to lift, to the massive increases in spending that create more welfare programs, the DFL wants to “help” Minnesotans by collecting our medical, and personal data for the Government to “track”. The worst part of trying to fight these unconstitutional Omnibus bills is that the Republicans seem quite content living on easy street. You can see the changes yourself below.

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I attempted to amend the State Government Omnibus bill with my Never Again Act and with my suspension of Governor pay during a shutdown. Both were killed on the floor, and Minority Leader Daudt refused to allow other Republicans to give me hands. You heard that right the Republican leadership has ORDERED his members to refuse to have any roll call votes on quite possibly the most important legislation before us this year. Heaven forbid the Republicans actually have to do something conservative for once. This week has shown me that unless we get these RINO’s out, and take the majority back with actual conservatives, that Minnesota will continue to grow government and follow the likes of California.  In fact, in the last week Republicans introduced an amendment to an Omnibus bill that would have tied the Minnesota economy to Communist China!  Why Minnesota’s establishment Republicans would want to along Minnesota with a communist nation is beyond me.

You can watch my Amendments on the Never Again Act HERE, and see me get shut down on the suspension of Governors pay Amendment HERE.

A Small Victory

let them play

Walz has again given us crumbs to appease the appetite of the masses as he feasts on a $7 billion surplus of our money. As Walz encourages his cronies in the State House to fund massive welfare programs he still holds complete control over our state and the spineless majority leader of the Senate, Paul Gazelka, has refused to allow my Never Again Act to have a hearing. We need to ensure the people of Minnesota never find themselves having to make the tough decision of breaking the law to feed their family. Walz has taken so much away from Minnesotans. Now according to whistleblowers, Let Them Play has received thousands of documents that show Walz attempting to point to the increase of youth infections and the opening of schools led to the many deaths we have seen in Long Term Care facilities. This is disgusting, the Governor is trying to blame our kids to cover his own hide. While I am glad children will no longer have to suffocate in masks while actively playing sports, the Governor still requires them to wear masks on the sidelines and when not actively playing.

Renter Assistance

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RentHelpMN is Now Open for Applications for up to 15 months of taxpayer-funded rent and utilities.

The Minnesota Dept of Housing announced that RentHelpMN is now open and accepting applications. RentHelpMN makes it possible for eligible renters to request taxpayers' financial assistance to get caught up on overdue rent and utilities dating back to March 13, 2020. It also makes provisions for those at risk of falling behind on rent payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Please note that RentHelpMN is in Phase One, in which people with past due rent who meet eligibility requirements are invited to apply. If you are a property owner with tenants behind on rent or utilities, please refer your tenants to this website to see if they qualify. If you are landlord looking for assistance in unpaid back rent please click HERE to see if you qualify. 

To apply for RentHelpMN, please visit renthelpmn.org or call 211. The 211 helpline has dedicated multilingual staff to answer questions about RentHelpMN, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Visit renthelpmn.org to learn more about the program and eligibility requirements and to apply.

Contact

If you have any questions, 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, Grayson, at Grayson.mcnew@house.mn.

Watch the Minnesota House on Public TV

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