DFL Pay-to-Play Fundraiser Stopped
An invitation to a midsession fundraiser hosted by the DFL raised eyebrows and made headlines last week. The fundraiser, which was to be held right across the street from the Capitol, was exploiting a loophole in the law that bans legislators and party units from receiving contributions from lobbyists during the legislative session. The invitation, which was sent to lobbyists, stated that current members of DFL House and Senate leadership would be in attendance.
Once this was discovered, Rep. Torkelson introduced HF 2790 - a bill that would close this loophole by prohibiting major political parties from accepting contributions during the legislative session. Within hours of the bill’s introduction, the fundraiser was postponed.
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Several of my bills are being heard in the senate. Here are a couple:
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HF521 - Use of hydrogen produced by nuclear power plants in Minnesota feasibility study funding provided, and money appropriated. Smart, clean energy.
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HF0247 - Criminal penalty established for substantial bodily harm caused by response for fictitious emergency, and restitution provided for public agencies and victims affected by reporting of fictitious emergency. (Anti-Swatting bill)
Last week, Republicans introduced our plan to improve public safety in Minnesota. The plan includes 17 GOP bills that focus on confronting the criminal threat, supporting police, and overhauling our court system to require more transparency and accountability. You can watch the press conference here and see the full press release here.
The Safe & Sound Plan has three parts: confronting the threat of violent and repeat criminals, strengthening police, and holding judges and prosecutors accountable with public data and information.
A few specific proposals include:
- Making carjacking a crime
- Increasing penalties for fleeing police in a motor vehicle
- Increasing sentences for those convicted of at least two prior crimes of violence
- Aligning fentanyl to the same weight thresholds and penalties as heroin
- Increasing sworn officers on Metro Transit
- Increasing the penalty for transferring a firearm to an ineligible person and requiring a court to ensure someone who has been ordered to give up their firearms has indeed done so
- Mandatory minimum sentences for criminals who commit crimes with a firearm
We are more than two months into session and the majority party has yet to pass any bills that improve or even address public safety. It’s time to tackle this problem for a safer, brighter Minnesota.
Early last week, the Democrats used procedural motion to kill debate on the House floor. House Republicans made a motion to adopt a minority committee report from the Economic Development Committee on HF 2093, a bill that would give over $100 million to a nonprofit that doesn’t even own the property they’re looking to renovate in Minneapolis.
According to the Rules of the House, a minority report, defined as “a report that reflects the thinking of the members not favoring the majority position or action on an issue”, must be considered before the majority committee report, which is needed to officially move the bill from one committee to another.
While my House Republican colleagues were speaking to this motion, Rep. Long made a non-debatable motion to table the report and promptly killed both debate and the report. Seeing as how the minority report was not adopted, and the majority report was therefore never taken up, the bill cannot move to another committee for consideration and the bill’s future is now unclear. You can watch the floor proceedings here.
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