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

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM REP. ERIK MORTENSEN - DISTRICT 55A

Friday, May 21, 2021

This week the legislative session came to a close with a pathetically short final floor session ending at 2:00pm on Monday. We adjourned shortly after a last-minute announcement that the Governor, Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House came to an agreement on targets for the biennium budget. The $52 billion agreement between the leaders includes full federal conformity for both PPP loans and unemployment payments, as well as no tax increases. This budget agreement was strictly an agreement on numbers and not on policy provisions. Yet those policy differences amount to a vast divide between the House and Senate. Will they be able to find common ground before the fiscal year ends on July 1st, or are we inevitably headed to a state shutdown? That's the question on everyone's mind in St. Paul right now. Unfortunately for the people of Minnesota this isn't a transparent and public discussion between two sides, it’s backroom meetings with Leadership who cut deals that benefit them, not Minnesota. Republicans will try to claim this as a victory, but for what? It still increases our spending and is the largest budget in state history.

The next opportunity that we’re going to have to stop this budget and force an end to the emergency powers will be in June when the special session is called. The DFL House will require 20 Republican votes to suspend the rules so that they can pass the budget bills. You can count on me to let you know which Republicans (if any) allow these budget bills to advance.

Since I was elected, I have worked tirelessly to provide transparency in government, especially since the entire Capitol has been closed to the public for over a year. I made a promise to the people of 55A that I was going to St. Paul to fight for less Government in our lives because you know what's best for you, not some unelected bureaucrats from the cities. To accomplish this, my team and I worked hard to draft legislation and to search for good bills that we think deserve to become law. In total I sponsored 21 pieces of legislation and co-sponsored 37 bills. Here’s a list of all of the bills I’ve worked on. I’m proud to have my name on all of these pieces of legislation and hope you are too. These are all common-sense ideas aimed at getting government out of your life.

*Bills Highlighted yellow have either been passed out of the House, or the language is being considered for use in an Omnibus bill.

My Bills
House FIle Number	Sponsor	Description
HF2525*	Mortensen	Object suspension between driver and windshield prohibition removed.
HF2524	Mortensen	Consumption tax imposition during shutdown period prohibited.
HF2286	Mortensen	Intoxicating liquor producer authorized to sell product directly to consumers.
HF2204	Mortensen	Governor's power to declare emergency repealed, legislative emergency declaration and extension process established, governor's authority to adopt orders and expedited rules that have the effect of law during an emergency repealed, citizen's rights protected, and technical corrections made.
HF2188*	Mortensen	Minnesota State Retirement System; state employee's service credit transferred from the general employees retirement plan to the correctional employees retirement plan.
HF1974	Mortensen	Shakopee; Minnesota River riverbank restoration funding provided, and money appropriated.
HF1265	Mortensen	Second Amendment Preservation Act established.
HF1263	Mortensen	Self-defense use of force law clarified, common law duty to retreat in self-defense outside the home eliminated, dwelling boundaries for self-defense purposes expanded, and right to self-defense presumption created.
HF1262*	Mortensen	Paycheck protection program forgiven loans excluded from gross income, and expense deductions allowed.
HF1261	Mortensen	Federal Department of Veterans Affairs law enforcement granted reciprocal arrest and detention authority in Minnesota.
HF0963	Mortensen	Custody determination best interest factors amended.
HF0962	Mortensen	Business license revocation prohibited due to executive order noncompliance, and criminal penalties imposed.
HF0573	Mortensen	COVID-19; executive order violation immunity established.
HF0266	Mortensen	All occupational licensing voided, and revisor instructed to prepare legislation.
HF0207	Mortensen	Governor release of National Guard to federal active duty restricted.
HF0200	Mortensen	City and school district official recall elections authorized, and school board authority to remove members eliminated.
HF0199	Mortensen	Iron range and metropolitan fiscal disparities program repealed.
HF0145	Mortensen	Child care assistance program, basic sliding fee child care and MFIP child care provisions repealed.
HF0126	Mortensen	Governor and legislator salary suspended when certain orders are issued restricting the operation or conduct of private business.
HC0002	Mortensen	A house concurrent resolution terminating the peacetime emergency.
HR0002	Mortensen	A house resolution providing for the impeachment of Governor Timothy J. Walz for corrupt conduct in office and other crimes and misdemeanors.
Co-Sponsored
House FIle Number	Sponsor	Description
HF2608	Munson	Presidential elector nomination and election modified.
HF2531*	Munson	Motor vehicle registration sticker display requirements eliminated.
HF2530	Lucero	Vaccine passport, vaccine pass, and vaccine credentials for immunization status requirement prohibited.
HF2529*	Frazier	Peace officer authority to stop or detain drivers for motor vehicle equipment violations limited.
HF2491	Drazkowski	Employees granted the right to work without being required to become a member or pay fees to a labor organization, criminal penalties created and jurisdiction established, and other unfair labor practices provided.
HF1933	Drazkowski	Food beverage service establishment and liquor licensees operating restaurants fees and penalties waived, and penalty refunds required.
HF1922	Munson	Commissioner of revenue required to distribute income tax refunds, and money appropriated.
HF1828	Kiel	Minnesota Athletic Trainers Act modified.
HF1762*	Hollins	No-knock search warrants regulated.
HF1657	Lucero	Male student participation in female athletics restricted, male access to female changing facilities restricted, and criminal penalties provided.
HF1582	Scott	Parenting time provisions modified.
HF1430*	Vang	Cottage food producer requirements modified.
HF1348	Munson	Legislator prohibited from being employed by or receiving compensation from certain types of businesses.
HF1330	Munson	A resolution memorializing the President and Congress to hold vaccine manufacturers liable for design defects that result in adverse side effects from vaccines.
HF1277	Munson	Political subdivisions prohibited from spending public money for lobbying.
HF1132	Bennett	Term limits placed on legislators and executive officers, and constitutional amendment proposed.
HF1080	Richardson	Nondiscrimination in access to organ transplants required, and remedies prescribed.
HF0982	Munson	Legislator and executive officer term limits placed, and constitutional amendment proposed.
HF0955	Bahr	Metropolitan Council and state agencies prohibited from soliciting or obtaining cellular telephone data, and existing data destruction required.
HF0915	Munson	A joint resolution to call a constitutional convention to propose a constitutional amendment to provide that members of Congress be subject to term limits.
HF0856	Hollins	Presentence investigation report authorized to include brain injury information.
HF0824	Bahr	Right of the people to acquired, keep, possess, transport, carry, and use arms including firearms, knives, or any weapons and ammunition, components, and accessories for these arms provided; and constitutional amendment proposed.
HF0688	Lucero	COVID-19 immunity liability established.
HF0675	Munson	Cannabis; health commissioner required to apply for federal Schedule I exemption for medical use of cannabis, and marijuana and nonsynthetic THC reclassified from Schedule I to Schedule II controlled substance.
HF0643	Miller	Abortions prohibited when a fetal heartbeat is detected with certain exceptions, and penalties provided.
HF0554	Bahr	Local government authorized to issue licenses for barbering and cosmetology, and barbers and cosmetologists state licensing repealed.
HF0474*	Huot	Elementary or secondary school student organization fund-raising sales provided exempt under various conditions.
HF0433*	Munson	Minnesota Food Freedom Act established, homemade food sellers exempted from statutes, and local ordinance application to homemade food sellers preempted.
HF0360	Hertaus	Custody and parenting time presumptions modified.
HF0306*	Frazier	Criminal and traffic surcharge waiver or reduction authorized; courts required to consider indigency or hardship before imposing fines, fees, or surcharges; and notice required.
HF0213	Drazkowski	Provisional balloting procedure established.
HF0211	Drazkowski	Voters required to provide picture ID before receiving a ballot; voter ID cards issuance provided at no charge, notice required, and provisional balloting procedure established.
HF0075*	Moller	Vehicles and property subject to forfeiture limited, innocent owners provided property recovery, federal equitable sharing program participation modified, reports required, and money appropriated.
SF0026*	Becker-Finn	Marriage application in-person requirement waiver extended.
HF0026	Jurgens	Social Security unlimited subtraction allowed.
HF0017*	Becker-Finn	Marriage application in-person requirement waiver extended.
HC0003	Drazkowski	A house concurrent resolution terminating the peacetime emergency.

*Bills Highlighted yellow have either been passed out of the House, or the language is being considered for use in an Omnibus bill.

Perhaps two of my proudest pieces of legislation are the two that the DFL allowed me to actually get a hearing on and both were personal requests from constituents. The first pertains to cottage food producers here in Minnesota. In Minnesota we have a ton of unnecessary restrictions on the cottage food industry from how much you can make, to how much you can profit from selling it. The language for the bill is currently being tossed around in discussion on the omnibus bills and appears some form of cottage food laws are set to pass into law. The second was to correct a simple error for a constituent who was supposed to be put into a different retirement fund when he changed jobs. The bill mentions his scenario and corrects this mistake. This correction will give a significant boost to his retirement account but will not subtract anything from the pension fund. Because of Minnesota Pension law, the only way to correct mistakes of this kind is by legislation.

I began my time in the legislature standing up against the Speaker of the House and against the Governor’s unconstitutional executive orders. Over the last five months, I have done all I could to be the warrior for your God-given rights whether it was the popular thing to do or not. For me there is no question that it’s the people who hold all of the political influence but that it’s my job to keep you abreast of what’s happening in the Capitol so that you’re empowered to hold legislators accountable. I look forward to doing more of the same during the special session and the 2022 legislative session.

Remember if you want to be politically respected you must be politically feared,

Mort isg

Erik Mortensen

State Representative, 55A

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 me at rep.erik.mortensen@house.mn

Watch the Minnesota House on Public TV

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

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