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This week we celebrated the annual Township Day at the Capitol. Township officials came to share items of interest that address local needs. Several bills were heard on the House floor. The bills centered around public safety policy, elections policy, and technical corrections to last session’s Capital Investment bill. There were no gun control measures in the public safety policy bill and did not include any additional spending. Constituents continue to voice concerns on issues important to our district. Some of the issues are 2nd Amendment rights, restoring our religious freedom, and Earned Safe and Sick Time. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to inform me on the issues important to our district.
Township Day at the Capitol
On Monday representatives from townships across the state came to the Capitol for the annual Township Day on the Hill. Those who came received training on state government, heard from speakers on a variety of areas of interest for their townships, and had meetings with representatives to advocate for important township priorities. There are 1,780 townships in Minnesota, 16% of Minnesotans live in a township, and townships control 41 percent of roads in Minnesota. This is more road miles than any other level of government.
In our district, there are 40 communities and 24 of them are townships.
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Sibley County – Alfsborg, Arlington, Cornish, Dryden, Faxon, Green Isle, Henderson, Jessenland, Kelso, New Auburn, Severance, Sibley, Transit, and Washington Lake.
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Carver County – Camden, Dahlgren, Hancock, Hollywood, San Franciso, Watertown, and Young America.
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McLeod County – Bergen, Helen, and Winsted.
On Monday, HF 4772, the Elections Policy Omnibus Bill came to the House for debate. This bill ignores a longstanding tradition of keeping the elections policy broadly bipartisan so that neither side can claim an unfair advantage over the other. Enacting partisan elections policy with virtually zero support from the other side is patently undemocratic and irresponsible. Not one bill proposed by the minority party was able to obtain a hearing this legislative session.
At a time when public trust in our election processes is at a low, safeguarding election integrity should be a top priority. However, this bill does the opposite by allowing individuals to register to vote without providing a verifiable address, instead permitting them to simply describe their place of residence. Furthermore, during the critical redistricting process that follows each census, the bill would count prisoners at their last known address, even if they have been incarcerated for an extended time. This approach not only distorts the accuracy of district boundaries but also unfairly allocates state funds, redirecting resources away from rural communities towards urban areas. This may be the first step to allow felons to vote from prison, which is already permitted in Washington DC and Vermont.
The bill language also infringes on local government autonomy by imposing additional unfunded mandates on local election officials. Implementing new procedures for voter registration, absentee ballot processing, and the establishment of additional polling sites could require significant resources. These requirements could strain local election offices, requiring additional staff, training, and technology at a time when budgets are already tight.
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Gary from Green Isle Township along with Bill and Jolene from Camden Township visited about issues that affect the Townships they serve. Thank you for your service!
Bobbie Harder
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