Hello from the State Capitol,
As a farmer, I always take an active interest in the happenings within the House ag committee. This week has been one for the books, as the Democrat chair of the committee continues to promote anti-ag information.
We heard a proposal that would ban neonicotinoid treated seeds. Farmers have welcomed the ability to target pesticide control directly on the seeds being planted rather than using dangerous products such as Dyphonate that are placed "in furrow" and not targeted directly on the seed planted. By banning treated seeds farmers will be forced back to methods used decades ago that apply much larger quantities of dangerous pesticides to the entire field rather than limiting pesticide applications to the seeds alone.
This nonsense came on the heels of the Democrats inviting a guest speaker to committee who claimed to be an ag “expert.” He told us, “farmers are turning waterways into sewers” and that we are “putting cancer in the water.” It was deeply offensive to all of us who do everything we can to avoid polluting the environment and answer the call to help feed the world.
This is another example of when Democrats tell you who they are, believe them. They think farmers are intentionally poisoning the public, they want to tell you how to farm and tell you what products you can use. If they become the legislative majority again, you can expect this garbage to become state law. Democratic -Farmer-Labor party, my foot.
DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO RAISE YOUR ENERGY BILLS
This week, we learned of a Democrat bill that would create a climate “superfund.” It would require large fossil fuel companies to pay fees for damages related to greenhouse gas emissions.
Understand that if Democrats force companies to spend millions of dollars on this, those costs are going to be passed to every one of their customers. Which means you.
Here’s what the Democrat Senate author had to say: “I honestly don’t expect it to get passed this year. Our goal is to pass it next year,” Johnson Stewart told the Star Tribune in an interview. “This is obviously more of a Democrat bill.”
In other words, she’s hoping for another Democrat trifecta next session so she can ram this through. Again, we don’t have to guess how Democrats would act if they were back in the majority. They are showing us in real time.
MORE NONSENSE
Continuing our ride aboard the crazy train, Democrat State Representative Dave Pinto thinks the state should study the benefit of shoplifting and retail theft. I kid you not. Click here to watch.
And then we have Democrat Meg Lugar-Nikolai, who apparently wants to quintuple your car tab fees. Watch here.
Even if you give these two the benefit of the doubt and say they were joking, why even say this out loud in a committee setting? When just two years ago your party wasted an $18 billion surplus, raised taxes by another $10 billion besides, and grew government spending by 40%, people have a tendency to believe you if you say you’re going to raise taxes and waste their money doing something ridiculous.
THE CULTURE OF FRAUD
From start to finish this week, it seems we’re dealing with fraud at every turn. Either trying to prevent it from starting, or reacting to something that’s already happened.
In our environment committee, the Democrats want to abandon a grant process where an application is entered and a determination is then made on how the money will be spent. They would prefer just handing over the money and maybe following up later to see if the recipient used the money the way they were supposed to.
Then in human services, we have our new health commissioner, who watched all of the state’s fraud happen during her tenure and still got promoted, continue to give committee members Pollyanna answers and do a very good job of not addressing anything.
OFFICER GARY SCHROEDER HIGHWAY DESIGNATION
My bill that would rename a portion of Highway 58 in Zumbrota after former city police officer Gary Schroeder was heard in our transportation committee this week. I was very happy to bring this bill forward. The popular retired officer suffered from in-the-line-of-duty PTSD and is no longer with us, and his father and widow were in St. Paul to testify on behalf of the proposal.
KEEP IN TOUCH
As always, my door is always open. If you ever have any legislative questions, please contact me. I can be reached at rep.steven.jacob@house.mn.gov or by phone at 651.296.2273.
Have a good weekend,
Steve