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March 11, 2025
Legislative Update
Friends and Neighbors,
This is a consequential week at the legislature as the special election in House District 40B will recalibrate the balance of power for the remainder of the biennium. Republicans remain committed to making Minnesota more affordable and addressing the concerns we have heard from our communities.
Over the past week, we've received news about Minnesota's financial future, progressed bills to prevent future fraud, debated reforms to costly mandates, and I've been working on bills to expand access to the outdoors.
Let's dive in.
Budget Forecast Shows Trouble Ahead
A new budget forecast has been released and it confirmed what many of us feared—two years of unchecked Democrat spending while they had one-party control over state government has turned a historic near $20 billion surplus into a nearly $6 billion deficit by Fiscal Year 2028-29. Despite record-high tax collections, spending continues to outpace revenue, leaving Minnesota families and small businesses to foot the bill for this fiscal disaster.
Now, instead of taking responsibility, Democrats are trying to shift the blame. We have been warning about this situation for the entirety of the last two years, during which time Democrats controlled the entire state government, but they refused to listen to common sense. They own this deficit.
During the last legislative session, Democrats raised taxes by more than $10 billion and expanded state government by 40%, creating an unsustainable budget crisis. Now, they’re scrambling to distract from the reality that their spending spree has left Minnesota in financial disarray.
Minnesotans are already feeling the squeeze from inflation and rising costs but Democrats seem to believe that this issue is because they're not taking enough of your hard-earned money instead of recognizing the reality that they blew the largest budget surplus in state history. More taxes are not the answer! Instead of coming back for more of your money, the legislature must focus on cutting waste and fraud, controlling spending, and restoring fiscal responsibility.
Taking Steps to Prevent Fraud
Monday, we took another great step to help address the ongoing concerns with fraud in Minnesota as we passed HF 23 off the House floor. HF 23 enhances whistleblower protections so state employees can know they will be protected when they bring forward concerns with fraud and the misuse of tax dollars. This could not be more important. More than $610 million of fraud has already been discovered while Tim Walz has been Governor. However, that is just the fraud we are aware of at this time, and I expect that number to grow which is why the whistleblower protections in HF 23 are so important. It encourages accountability within our state agencies and protects those who come forward as responsible stewards of taxpayer money to expose potential fraud and misuse.
Reforming Costly Mandates
During the last biennium, numerous heavy-handed one-size-fits-all mandates were passed onto employers and employees like the Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) and the Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML). Countless employers like small businesses and public employers, including counties and schools, are very concerned about the additional unfunded costs that will have to be addressed likely through increases to property taxes – which we all know are out of control. This week, the Workforce Development, Labor, and Economic Development Committee will hear bills to add flexibility and humility to these mandates and lessen the burden for employers. I am glad to be the chief author of HF 1325 which is the bill to modify the ESST program. I’m committed to working on this bill in a bipartisan fashion throughout session to hopefully get it passed and lessen the weight on employers and taxpayers.
Outdoor News
Our community loves the outdoors, whether we are hunting or fishing, farming, riding our ATVs, enjoying state parks, or our many incredible lakes, Minnesotans value our time outside. There are several bills I’m working on this session to build upon this. Last Thursday, House Republicans brought forward several bills to expand access to ATV trails, especially up north, and we also took a big step increasing the allowable weight of ATVs in Minnesota which should continue to lead to more innovation and a bright exciting future for a sport that many of us care very deeply about. These bills will continue to move through the committee process over the coming weeks.
Locally, we know the wolf population has been on the rise as wolves have continued to move further and further south and toward more densely populated areas after our recent mild winters. Our federal delegation is working to delist the wolf from the endangered species list and return all management to the states. Minnesota needs to be prepared to properly manage the wolf population, including preparation for a wolf hunt – which the DNR has every ability to do once the wolf is delisted by the federal government. Yet it's important to ensure these decisions are made with sound science and data.
For too long, the DNR has chosen to only survey the wolf population in the northern third of the state and has frankly missed a large portion of the wolf population in their surveys. In our district alone, the DNR does not survey the wolf population in the southern half of Morrison County, any of Benton County, the southern half of Mille Lacs County, nor portions of Isanti County. It’s time for this to change. That’s why I've introduced a bill to do a statewide survey of the wolf population so that we have sound science and data to support our efforts for the proper management of the wolf population.
This bill will have a hearing later today in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee and I’m glad to have testifiers in support from the Minnesota Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, Deer Hunters Association, and Trappers Association. This is a bill that comes directly from the engagement I’ve had with sportsmen and hunters in addition to farmers and ranchers.
You can watch the Committee live at 1:00 PM here.
Town Hall
The best ideas are born from conversations with all of you which is why I love to stay in touch with in-person town hall meetings. You are invited to my March Town Hall meeting coming up on Friday, March 21st, at the Old Creamery Café in Rice from 8:00-9:30 AM. I hope to see you there!
 Thank you for your continued outreach during this legislative session, I always appreciate hearing from you!
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