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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
On Wednesday, Governor Walz announced reopening plans effective June 1. Information on the reopening of businesses, churches, and more can be found here.
All of our surrounding states are more open than Minnesota—.states we are far similar to than New York City. We need to focus more on plans to better protect the vulnerable, something the Star Tribune reports we are failing at, while allowing Minnesotans to get back to work.
The inconsistencies and arbitrary nature of what is "allowed" to be open is at the root of the frustration I am hearing from so many of you. Here are a few examples of the inconsistencies:
- Big Box stores have no capacity limits indoors, churches are restricted to 10 or fewer, salons and barber shops are limited to 25% capacity, and restaurants are still completely closed for indoor service.
- Restaurant patios are allowed to have 50 people, but outdoor church services are limited to 10.
- Campgrounds are forced to remain closed until June 1 — and there's no explanation why they can't be open for Memorial Day weekend but it will be OK on June 1.
The announcements by the governor show exactly why he needs to stop acting like a 'king' and instead work with the duly elected legislature. He is one man in St. Paul making decisions for a state of over 5 million people spread out over 87 counties and almost 87,000 square miles. He is dictating rather than governing.
The governor should listen to the heart-wrenching cry of small businesses, restaurants, bars, gyms, and churches who have plans to safely reopen — and he should trust Minnesotans to safely go back to living their lives. The governor is destroying the life's work of many Minnesotans by putting such stringent restrictions on their reopening, all under the guise of 'the government knows what's best for us.' At today's press conference, the inconsistent guidelines, which still pick winners and losers, cause me to ask this question: What science is the governor using? The science of virology, or the science of fear-mongering by use of the media?
The governor is not a king and he is very much abusing his powers and violating the constitutional rights of Minnesota citizens. This has gone on for too long and he needs to relent and give up his unilateral peacetime decision-making authority now. Enough is enough.
I have personally reached out to the offices of our Congressional Delegation and the Congressmen directly requesting they ensure United States Attorney General William Barr is aware of the extreme overreach of the Walz Administration. Attorney General Barr has made it clear he will not tolerate the deprivation of rights by state and local officials under the guise of pandemic protection.
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