Minnesota House Committee Declares ‘Racism Embedded in Foundation of America’

A Minnesota House committee approved a resolution Tuesday declaring racism a statewide “public health crisis.”

The resolution passed out of the House Rules Committee and now heads to the House floor for debate, with a final vote expected for July 20.

Read More

Walz Condemns House DFL Leader for Falsely Claiming Truck Driver at Center of 35W Incident Was ‘White Supremacist’

Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) falsely claimed that the truck driver at the center of Sunday’s frightening incident on I-35W was a “white supremacist.”

State officials said the driver, who has been identified as 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko, might not have realized that the interstates had been shut down in an effort to quell unrest in the Twin Cities. Vechirko was arrested on suspicion of assault and remains jailed, but Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said Monday that he didn’t seem to be acting intentionally.

Read More

Minnesota State Senator ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by DFL Leader’s Threat to Cut Funding from County Over Refugees

A Minnesota senator said he is “deeply disturbed” by House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler’s (DFL-Golden Valley) threat to cut state aid from Beltrami County after it voted to opt out of refugee resettlement.

Read More

DFL House Leader Threatens Minnesota County for Voting Against Refugee Resettlement

A high-ranking Minnesota lawmaker is threatening to withhold state aid from Beltrami County after it became the first county in the state to opt out of refugee resettlement.

Read More

Lawmakers Say Minnesotans Are ‘Overtaxed’ and ‘Fed Up’ After Release of Budget Forecast

An economic forecast released Thursday predicts Minnesota will have a budget surplus of $1.3 billion for the 2020-21 biennium, setting up debates between state lawmakers about what their budgeting priorities will be when they return for session in February.

Read More

DFL Legislators Say ‘Core Function’ of Government Is to Protect Citizens from Criminals in Push to End Private Prisons

Minnesota House and Senate Democrats unveiled a set of companion bills to ban private prisons in the state at a press conference Tuesday. The legislation comes in response to talks of reopening Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota, which is owned by CoreCivic and has been closed since 2010. House…

Read More

Archbishop Joins DFL Legislators at Capitol in Push to Provide Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

House DFL legislators joined community organizers Thursday for a press conference to call for providing driver’s licenses to all Minnesotans, “regardless of immigration status.” House Majority Ryan Winkler (D-Golden Valley) was accompanied by colleagues Rep. Aisha Gomez (D-Minneapolis), Rep. Rod Hamilton (D-Mountain Lake), and others in unveiling House File (HF)…

Read More

Ilhan Omar Faces Widespread Condemnation for Using Anti-Semitic Tropes

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) is once again facing backlash for multiple anti-Semitic tweets in which she suggested that Jewish money is responsible for bipartisan support of Israel. In response to journalist Glenn Greenwald’s claim that “it’s stunning how much time U.S. political leaders spend defending a foreign nation even if…

Read More

Confusion Surrounds New Minnesota House Rules as Democrats Face Backlash for Jamming Through Legislation

A major opioids bill in Minnesota, House File (HF) 400, was introduced Monday at 3:30 p.m. House members and the public then had until Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., less than 24 hours, to offer any changes or amendments before the bill went to a hearing Wednesday at the Health and…

Read More

House DFL Tells Trump He’s ‘Threatening the Well-Being of Minnesotans’ in Letter

Nearly every DFL member of the Minnesota House signed their name to a letter sent to President Donald Trump Thursday urging him to “end this shutdown immediately.” “The ongoing federal government shutdown—now the longest in the history of our nation—is threatening the well-being of Minnesotans, putting our state tax dollars…

Read More

Next Minnesota House Speaker Wants More Politicians Who Aren’t Worried About Being Polite

Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park) was facing pressure to resign in 2017 after criticizing her “white male” colleagues for sitting in the “retiring room” during a debate, but now she has been selected to serve as the next Minnesota House speaker. “I hate to break up the 100 percent…

Read More