Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The 2026 session keeps chugging along and a clear trend has developed where really good bills are being delayed or even seem to have been completely derailed. In some cases, it looks like the other side is withholding support for now in the hopes of gaining some late-session negotiating leverage. In other cases, they could be laying the groundwork in the hopes they regain total control of the Capitol and can do whatever they please the next two years.
A lot of this will sort itself out between now and our May 17 date to adjourn. Regardless, I will just keep focusing on doing the job local residents sent me to St. Paul to do. Here’s the latest from the House:
Public safety
A lot of the public safety challenges we’ve been seeing in Minnesota come down to, at least in part, policies that make it harder for state and federal law enforcement to work together. You can see the impact in the numbers as Hennepin County complied with only about 8 percent of ICE detainers over two years, and Ramsey County was even lower at 6 percent.
When jails don’t honor those detainers, it doesn’t stop enforcement, it just moves enforcement out into our communities. That means officers have to go find people in neighborhoods or workplaces, which makes things riskier for everyone involved.
At the same time, polls show 85 percent of Minnesotans think local law enforcement should work with federal authorities in at least some cases. House Republicans introduced H.F. 16, which is really about handling these situations in a safer, more controlled environment like a jail. But just this week, Democrats voted against moving the bill forward, blocking what a lot of people see as a pretty straightforward, common-sense public safety step that could prevent a lot of problems down the road.
Tax relief blocked
House Republicans this week moved to declare urgency on legislation that would help Minnesota businesses this tax season – at zero cost to the state – but House Democrats blocked that effort.
This bill HF3127 would allow businesses to benefit from a new federal provision, delivering an estimated $2.05 billion in tax relief to some 66,000 job creators at a time they can really use some breathing room. It is unfortunate House Democrats voted against moving this bill because, as of now, those dollars will be going to the federal government instead of staying with local workers.
Photos from the Capitol
God’s not dead here at the Minnesota State Capitol! He is Risen!
Enjoyed seeing Nolan Thwaits from Esko down here at the Capitol serving as a high school Page.
Great to have Dan & Jake Dick with C&L Distributing from our district stop by the Capital to discuss some of the successes and challenges in their industry.
It’s always great to have such amazing folks from our area come to the Capitol to discuss issues that matter most to them!
DHS kickbacks
A new report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor examines DHS’s handling of alleged kickbacks in the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program. The program has seen huge growth in recent years, with providers and payments increasing at an alarming rate from approximately $1 million in 2017 to around $343 million by 2024.
DHS has claimed it was unable to act due to a lack of authority, but the OLA report confirms it did, in fact, have the power to investigate and stop payments. This shows a clear failure of leadership and oversight by the Walz administration, which has repeatedly allowed fraud risks to go unaddressed and spiral out of control.
Housing program ends
In a refreshing display of bipartisanship, the House this week unanimously approved a bill to eliminate the Housing Stabilization Services program from statute because it has become overrun with fraud. The program has had hundreds of millions of dollars in misused public funds reported, drawing comparisons to the Feeding Our Future mess. It’s just more evidence of how important it is for our state to tighten up oversight and accountability regarding taxpayer dollars.
We need to pass legislation creating a truly independent Office of the Inspector General, but House Democrats keep blocking it after the Senate approved the same bill 60-7 last year. Go ahead and draw your own conclusions.
Have a good weekend and please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Jeff