Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the Capitol, where you may have heard the governor issued his last State of the State address this week. He can spin it six ways from Sunday but, ultimately, the Walz legacy will be rampant fraud, reckless state spending growth, lower student test scores and a divisiveness that ripped our state apart from the day he called us, “rocks and cows.”
For cryin’ out loud, the guy has left such a mark on our state as governor that instead of uniting us as “One Minnesota,” he’s preparing to leave office with two state flags. This flag issue has really grown legs this week after House Democrats authored a bill that reduces state funding to cities and counties that choose to fly the historic state flag instead of the new version.
The bill (H.F. 5077) is a big-government response to more and more local governments choosing to fly the historic version instead of the one developed by a commission Democrats in full control of the Capitol selected in 2023. Several cities – Champlin, Zumbrota, Elk River and Inver Grove Heights, to name a few – are opting to fly the former flag on public property. After all, current state law does not require local governments to display the official flag, and that’s the way it should be.
Just one problem: House Democrats are mad that many Minnesotans actually like the classic flag better so they authored a bill forcing local governments to fly the Democrat-approved version or pay the piper. The bill would reduce local government aid by 10 percent for displaying any other flag than the one that became official in 2024.
The LGA funding they propose cutting helps communities pay for essential services such as police and fire departments, but Democrats are threatening to cut it for noncompliance.
That bears repeating: House Democrats are literally willing to cut state funding that supports essential services such as police and fire if cities and counties won’t fly a certain piece of fabric. And here I thought we were all against authoritarian government. Dare we say this sounds like something a KING would do?
I also have First Amendment issues with this bill, even if it is government on government retaliation. Minnesotans should be able to fly the historic Minnesota flag if that’s what they want to do. What’s next? Are they going to try to ban people from flying the historic state flag on private property?”
This bill won’t stop people from flying the old state flag. In fact, I bet the opposite will happen and it will only encourage even more Minnesotans to fly it high. I’m already seeing more of the historic Minnesota flags around the area than I recall before the botched redesign.
The new flag, by the way, was not directly approved by voters or the legislature. Instead, the enabling law specified that the final choice of a commission selected by Democrats would automatically become the official state flag on May 11, 2024. And that’s what happened.
I oppose this bill on every level and will vote against it every chance I get. We’ll see if that ever happens because it was introduced after this year’s bill deadlines had passed. We’re safe for now, but look out if there’s ever a Democrat trifecta in place again because nothing will be off limits at that point.
Have a good weekend.
Sincerely,
Shane