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Legislative Update
Dear Neighbors,
This week was short both because of the weather and the Easter break. As we head into the weekend, I wish you all a very happy Easter with your families.
Religious Freedom
Coincidentally, as Holy Week ends and Easter approaches, religious liberty has been the biggest topic here in St. Paul. Religious freedom is a fundamental value of our nation and one of utmost importance to our society. Hence why it is the First Amendment in our constitution. However, those rights have recently come under attack by the Democrat majority.
In 2023, they made changes to the Minnesota Human Rights Act to include gender identity as a protected class. Originally, this was thought to fall under the “sexual orientation” category. In that provision, and all provisions with the MNHRA before it, there were built-in religious exemptions to allow the faith community to make hiring decisions based on their mission and beliefs. With this update, however, that exemption is alarmingly absent.
Originally, many of us thought that this was merely an oversight. However, it has become abundantly clear that this omission was an intentional attack on our religious liberties by the extremist majority. Amendments were offered in the House Judiciary Committee in February, to address this omission. Faith leaders from a variety of religions appeared before the committee to testify for religious freedom. All the Democrats, however, treated those leaders with incredible disrespect, calling them bigots and berating them on the stand. That amendment was voted down along party lines.
This week, Representative Harry Niska (R-Ramsey), introduced a bill, HF 3926, that would add the religious exemption. He introduced the bill in early February and requested a hearing from the House Judiciary Chair Jamie Becker-Finn (D-Roseville) on February 26th, who denied that request. Without a hearing, and the passing of the first and second deadlines last week, Niska brought the bill to the floor and declared an urgency. This means that the rules would be suspended, and the bill could be voted on for passage. However, DFL Majority Leader Jamie Long (D-Minneapolis) motioned to table the motion for an urgency – a nondebatable motion – leaving religious freedom at great risk in Minnesota. It remains unclear if – or when – Democrats will allow the House to take up this bill and restore religious freedom.
Revitalizing SAVI Bill
As a freshman legislator in 2011, I introduced a bill that incentivizes responsible government spending and saving. This bill, dubbed “SAVI,” created a structure that returned half of the money to the general fund and the other half was put into a special account that was to be used for what the people in our communities need. By having a committee of stakeholders who decided how to spend the allocated funds, they were able to better address the needs of Minnesotans. When this bill originally passed, it was bipartisan, with all but nine members voting yes in the House, and a unanimous yes vote in the Senate. It was during a time of large deficits and was lightly used.
In the era of big state government spending, as is well apparent after the DFL spent the entire $18 billion of the surplus last year, a bill like this could have helped prevent the predicted future deficit and made sure that money was used responsibly. The original 2011 bill had a sunset clause of three budgets, meaning it needs to be passed again. This year, I introduced HF 520, which would do just that. However, my bill was not granted a hearing by the Chair of the House State and Local Government Committee.
Now, with the first and second legislative deadlines passed, I still plan to try and find a bill to add this provision to as an amendment. Our government must spend money responsibly and address the biggest needs of our communities. This bill would save money and help ensure that it’s spent on the right things.
Please Stay in Touch
Please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts or concerns. My phone number is 651-296-9236 or you can email me at rep.duane.quam@house.mn.
Have a great weekend!
 Duane
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