Dear Friends and neighbors,
It’s supposed to be the middle of winter, but it feels like Spring is here to stay. The session begins Monday, February 12, at noon and will continue until May 20. A short time frame to get meaningful changes for Minnesotans. Below are a few issues that will be addressed during the session this year.
SANCTUARY STATE
The Democrats are proposing to make Minnesota a sanctuary state for immigrants in the U.S. who are here without legal authorization.
Attempts to make Minnesota a “sanctuary state” – especially following recent surges of migrants here – emphasize why border security is so important to the entire country, not just border states. Refusing to uphold our immigration laws would simply be political gamesmanship from left-wing activists. We shouldn’t make Minnesota a more enticing place to go to avoid the consequences of violating immigration law. It’s unfair to force Minnesota taxpayers to pay for the high costs associated with illegal immigration due to overburdening our social services.
PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE
Recently, the house had a hearing of HF1930/SF1813, a bill to allow for assisted suicide:
It’s really no surprise Democrats are continuing with a culture of death in their single-party control. Rather than providing treatment and care for the vulnerable, terminally ill, depressed, and frail, they propose a sanitized ‘medical aid in dying’ approach that just masks a hidden agenda to undermine a person’s right to life.
We’ve seen the horrifying results of these assisted suicide laws in other states and countries, like doctor shopping by family members to end the life of a loved one, flimsy psychological referrals, and even expanding qualifications to include economic status. A person’s right to life does not depend on their quality of life, mental health, or income. This bill is an extremely dangerous policy that will pit Minnesotans against one another and divide families facing challenging situations.
WALZ BONDING PROPOSAL
Walz proposed nearly 1 billion in infrastructure bonding projects. You can read about it here:
https://www.startribune.com/gov-tim-walz-proposes-nearly-1-billion-infrastructure-bonding-projects-for-2024/600336039/
I’m still gathering information from constituents, stakeholders, and my caucus on which priorities a bonding bill should have this year and I am concerned there isn’t more money in this proposal for local needs across the state. Wastewater treatment and crumbling roads might not be glamorous, but they are the basic necessities that every community needs to thrive.
SRO FIX
Recently, Democrat-proposed Student Resource Officer fix bill posted for a hearing in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
After spending all summer accusing Republicans of manufacturing the School Resource Officer issue for political reasons, I’m genuinely happy to see that Democrats are finally joining us and admitting that the law they passed last year needs to be fixed.
As we’ve said from the beginning, the safety of our kids, teachers, and schools is a bipartisan priority that should bring Republicans and Democrats together – at the urging of the professionals in law enforcement, school districts, community leaders, and parents – we can fix the law and solve the problems created by this legislation once and for all.
We’re looking forward to the opportunity to have open and transparent bill hearings in the appropriate committees of both the House and Senate where we can hear from all of the stakeholders who are urging that a correction to the law be passed as quickly as possible. I expect that much of the misinformation and politically motivated criticism of law enforcement will be corrected with their testimony and expert feedback regarding the bill.
Let’s get this fixed so that kids, teachers, parents, and school resource officers can have some piece of mind and get back to focusing on helping Minnesota students succeed academically in a safe learning environment.
CONTACT ME
As always, if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime. Your feedback is extremely important to me, and I encourage you to share your input. You can send me an email at Sen.Mark.Johnson@mnsenate.gov or call my Capitol office at 651-296-5782. It’s a great honor to serve as your State Senator.
Finally, if you don’t already follow me on Facebook, please give my page a ‘Like’. This is a great way to stay on top of the latest news from the Capitol! Visit my page here: https://www.facebook.com/Senator.Mark.Johnson/.
Sincerely,
Mark Johnson
Minnesota Senate Minority Leader
2401 Minnesota Senate Building
St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 296-5782
