Legislative Update: Special Session Recap
With a cooler packed full of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and maybe another breakfast — I walked through the chamber doors for my first special session.
On Monday, we debated 14 bills on the House floor, starting at 10:30 a.m. and wrapping up just before 11 p.m. I had 72 hours to study the final versions and used that time to meet with committee chairs on both sides of the aisle. My goal was simple: find out where the wins and losses were and decide whether I could live with the outcome.
The first bill up: repealing taxpayer-funded health care for adult undocumented immigrants — a disastrous DFL policy that would have drained public dollars for years to come. After a four-hour debate, we won that battle and saved Minnesotans millions.
Following that, we took up the Health bill, which I had initially planned to vote against. But after confirming that Le Sueur Hospital will receive $400K, that rural EMS services will get much-needed support, and that new funding is included for EMT training, I knew it was the right move for our district. I voted yes.
Now, you might assume that because of my background in law enforcement, I would automatically support anything tied to public safety. But being elected means I represent you, not myself. That is why I voted no on the Transportation bill. Not because I am against fixing roads or investing in safety, but because I could not support using $97 million in dedicated road and bridge funds to build a new State Patrol headquarters.
During a multi-billion-dollar deficit, that kind of spending belongs in a bonding bill, not transportation. And it begs the question: did infrastructure projects get delayed to pay for this instead? Minnesotans deserve better.
In the end, we stopped the Democrats’ tax hikes. We secured nearly $4 billion in cuts. We provided much needed relief for schools. And I walked away having garnered stronger working relationships with both sides of the aisle.
I am not here to sugarcoat anything. I say what I mean, and I fight for what is right until the very last second. During the interim, I will keep pushing to keep Minnesota on the right track and look to join the House Fraud Committee to help root out waste, fraud, and abuse of your hard-earned tax dollars.
In the coming week, I will send out more details on what we were able to accomplish this session.
As always, thank you for your support. Let’s keep fighting.
Have a great week,
Terry Stier