National Police Week
This is National Police Week, where we commemorate all of the officers we've lost in the line of duty, and we thank all those who've done the job, and those still protecting our communities.
Bills Pass the House
Over the past several days, the House has passed the following bills: Public Safety and Judiciary, the Early Education, K-12 Education, Labor-Workforce-Economic Development, Commerce, and Environment Omnibus bills, as well as the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill. Some notable provisions from these bills include:
Public Safety and Judiciary
- Includes expanded background checks and the red flag law - both haven’t been effective in the many localities they’ve been passed in, and will infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of Minnesotans. They do not address the root causes of the massive increase in violent crime.
- Adds two full time employees to the Department of Human Rights to gather, analyze, and report on discrimination and hate incidents throughout the state. Copying agencies in communist countries, and 1940s Germany. This effectively creates a database of complaints against people using their freedom of speech in a way someone may deem offensive.
Early Education
- Reprioritizes Early Learning Scholarships towards ages birth to three years old and gives the Minnesota Department of Education the ability to set lower scholarship amounts for many family child care providers.
K-12 Education
- Changes teacher licensure to make it harder for Tier 1 teachers to move to Tier 2.
- Repeals the requirement for teachers completing a teacher prep program to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of science-based reading instruction, and exempts those who complete Minnesota Teacher Prep from teacher assessment requirements.
Labor-Workforce-Economic Development
- Even more unfunded mandates, paid time off requirements, and increased fines that will drive job creators out of business.
- Millions of dollars given away to nonprofits without details on how the funds are to be used or what oversight will be in place to ensure there is no fraud.
- Continues to overlook the long-term care crisis in nursing homes.
Commerce
- Establishes a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to attempt to lower drug prices - even though similar boards established elsewhere have acknowledged that while the cost to manufacturers has increased, the cost to the consumer has also increased.
- Transfers money out of the Premium Security Plan Account, which funds our successful reinsurance program. Without funding for that program, we could see health insurance costs skyrocket again.
Environment
- Spending in this bill is off the charts compared to previous years.
- Makes energy more unaffordable for Minnesotans.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
- Raises payroll taxes on employees by nearly $3 billion and imposes massive burdensome mandates on nearly every business in the state, even though many are already providing generous leave benefits.
- Hires 400 new government employees and builds a massive new computer system on par with the MNLARS boondoggle.
Session Continues through the Weekend
Bill hearings will likely continue over the weekend and into Monday, which is our constitutional adjournment date.
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