LEGISLATION HIGHLIGHTSDEMOCRATS OPPOSE BILL REQUIRING VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO BE REPORTED TO ICE A proposal that would have improved efforts to take violent illegal immigrants off our streets was defeated after all Democrats in the Minnesota House opposed it. The plan would have required local law enforcement to report undocumented immigrants arrested for a violent crime to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The proposal was modeled after the federal Laken Riley Act, which requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants admitting to, charged with, or convicted of theft-related crimes, assaulting a police officer, or a crime that results in death or serious bodily injury like drunk driving. Riley was murdered by an illegal immigrant who had been charged in New York and arrested for theft in Georgia – and should have been long gone after these interactions with authorities. The Minnesota House proposal mandates reporting to ICE when illegal immigrants are arrested for violent crimes, including murder, assault, carjacking, and kidnapping. It also prevents local governments from obstructing immigration enforcement by banning sanctuary city policies that protect criminals from deportation. But since no Democrat would support it – one actually said that working with ICE to deport violent illegal aliens "makes us less safe” – Minnesota will continue to turn a blind eye to this common sense initiative. ATTORNEY GENERAL ELLISON DISCUSSES FEEDING OUR FUTURE SCANDAL BEFORE HOUSE FRAUD COMMITTEE Many lawmakers were taken aback recently after audio was released involving Attorney General Keith Ellison and people who were later found to be associated with the Feeding Our Future debacle. The leaked tapes found Ellison expressing sympathy for East African businesses under investigation by state agencies. This included individuals later indicted and convicted in the largest fraud case in Minnesota history - Feeding our Future – which cost taxpayers $250 million. In the audio, Ellison is heard stating he would pressure state agencies on their behalf, despite the fact that, as Attorney General, he is tasked with representing those same agencies. This week, the Minnesota House Fraud committee questioned Ellison about Feeding Our Future and this controversial meeting. During his testimony, serious contradictions emerged between Ellison’s past public statements and the record now available. In September 2022, Ellison’s office issued a statement claiming it "jumpstarted" the Feeding Our Future investigation and had been “deeply involved for two years.” However, Ellison testified that he had no knowledge of the scandal at the time of a December 2021 meeting with individuals tied to the fraud. Additional audio from June 2021 further suggests Ellison had earlier awareness of issues with Feeding Our Future than he previously acknowledged. For many, this explanation still doesn’t pass the smell test, and I would expect the investigation to continue. UNIONS STOP EDUCATION FINANCE BILL FROM MOVING FORWARD When is a negotiated agreement between Republicans and Democrats no longer valid? When the unions tell Democrats to stop the bill’s progress. Recently our Education Finance bill was approved without so much as a peep from Democrats in either the K-12 Education or the Ways and Means committees. Then we learned that SEIU and Education Minnesota contacted Democrats and told them they could not let this bill have a House floor vote. At issue is a new unemployment insurance mandate for hourly school workers. Unlike other seasonal employers, schools don’t pay into the state unemployment insurance system. Instead, costs come directly from local school budgets, paid for by local taxpayers. A temporary state fund was created to offset these costs, but it's quickly drying up. Superintendents have told us they will need to cut teachers and paras in order to make the financial numbers add up. To address this, Republicans and Democrats agreed to sunset the mandate in 2028. But unions like SEIU and Education Minnesota don’t like that, so Democrats are reneging on the deal. Remember this when Democrats tell you they support schools. It’s clear they will always support the unions whose political action committees fund their campaigns each election cycle – not your best interests. LOCAL VISITORS Several Goodhue County residents were in St. Paul this week and visited Rep. Jacob and me.  Thank you for stopping by! |