SAINT PAUL, MN—Today, the Environment and Natural Resources Committee heard HF 1355, sponsored by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington). In contrast to the plan laid out by the PCA, this bill mandates that the legislature must appropriate the money received as part of the Volkswagen Clean Air Act settlement.
Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South Saint Paul) released the following statement:
“This settlement money was given to us because of fraud perpetrated on us by Volkswagen. It must be used to compensate victims and reduce air emissions, as Minnesotans would expect this settlement was intended to do. Unfortunately, this reckless bill takes the public out of the process and gives it to the legislature to appropriate for whatever they may choose. That’s exactly the path Republicans took with the tobacco settlement money and we shouldn’t allow that to happen again.”
Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South Saint Paul) is the DFL-Lead on the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance. Rep. Hansen has authored nation leading legislation on pollinator and environmental protections.
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