Dear Neighbors, The 2026 Legislative Session is underway, and already an important theme has presented itself across our legislative work: the need to protect our kids. If you were to walk around the Capitol grounds right now, you would see dozens of school desks sitting in the melting snow. These desks represent the over 200 Minnesota school children killed by gun violence since 2021. Two more desks sit in a Capitol hallway. These ones belonged to 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski. Fletcher and Harper were killed last August in the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, ending a summer that started with the killing of the Hortmans and the shooting of the Hoffmans. The desks outside show that gun violence has been an issue well before last summer, but it was the events of last year that once again threw Minnesota into a national spotlight for all the wrong reasons. There were a series of gun violence prevention bills heard in several committees, including two I serve on. In Minnesota, it is a felony to possess, store or keep a firearm while on public or private school property, but there are several exceptions. In the Education Policy Committee, we heard legislation that would get rid of some of these exceptions - namely storing a pistol in a vehicle on school grounds and possessing dangerous weapons with the approval of an administrator. This bill was voted down. In the Health Committee, we heard a bill that would establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which you can read more about here. Our work in the Minnesota Legislature is at its best when we’re properly informed about the issues we’re trying to address. This proposed office would help address long-lacking research and data on gun violence and its impact on public health. This bill, at the very least, was laid over for future consideration. We can and must do better for our kids. Safer Streets We had our own tragedy in Moorhead last summer, when a driver hit and killed 9-year-old Adam Amin in our community. These are the streets our kids cross every day to get to school, and we all deserve the peace of mind that they can get back home safely. In the aftermath, I pulled together the city council, county commissioners, and school board members to build a solution - the kind of collaborative effort our neighbors deserve. The House Transportation Co-Chair Brad Tabke joined us as well, and together we crafted a bill to create a community-based pedestrian safety program. This is the kind of collaborative work our neighbors expect and deserve. This program would fund road projects that improve traffic and pedestrian safety in Moorhead and communities all across Minnesota. This legislation had its first committee hearing this week, where it was laid over for further consideration. You can watch that hearing here. |