Dear Neighbor,
Working our way through another busy week in the 2023 session and want to pass along some news from this week in St. Paul:
High school page participant
It was great to see Iris Jensen from Shevlin at the Capitol as she recently participated in the House of Representatives Page Program for high school juniors. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to spend a week working behind the scenes at the Capitol. Please share this link with any students you think may be interested in applying to this position down the road.
Introducing bills
I continue introducing House bills to help our district and that focus on key priorities. One bill supports retreats for veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD.
Another bill I am sponsoring would shrink the transportation funding gap for the Bemidji school district, which has been an ongoing issue. (I don’t officially represent the city of Bemidji, but a number of District 2B residents attend school there.)
And, under the label of “Good Government” I am reintroducing legislation I previously authored to develop business impact estimates for proposed legislation. If a legislator authors a bill placing new mandates on employers, it’s only right for the impact to be taken into consideration as we make decisions.
Each of these bills are in the early stages of the legislative process. I’ll share more as warranted on these proposals and others I’m authoring.
Call to action re: gun-control bills
Second Amendment supporters should be on notice regarding gun-control bills House Democrats are moving through the committee process in an attempt to force unprecedented restrictions on us.
There will be gun-control hearings tomorrow (Friday) in the Minnesota House Public Safety Finance & Policy Committee (8:30 a.m. in State Capitol Room 120). While I highly encourage area residents to attend this meeting in person, here’s a link to the committee’s meetings page and a button to the video stream if you are unable to make it to St. Paul.
The bills that will be heard will be:
- HF 14: Universal Background Checks (aka Universal Gun Registration): Criminal background checks required for firearm transfers, and grounds modified for disqualification of transferee permit.
- HF 15: Red Flag Gun Confiscation Orders: Law enforcement and family members enabled to petition a court to prohibit people from possessing firearms if they pose a significant danger to themselves or others by possessing a firearm, and money appropriated.
- HF 396: Safe storage of firearms and ammunition required, locking device required to be included in each firearm transfer, and criminal penalties imposed.
- HF 601: Lost and stolen firearms required to be reported promptly to law enforcement.
If you enjoy the 2A, it is important to read these bills and understand what is at stake. I have significant concerns with each of these bills and will always fight for our constitutional rights. In fact, I have authored H.F. 662, the right to carry without permit provided, and optional permit to carry provided. Please join me in voicing your thoughts as well.
Sincerely,
Matt