Center of the American Experiment hosted a panel discussion with police chiefs and state representatives last week to discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding a new law impacting school resource officers (SROs).
The law prohibits SROs in cases where there is no threat of bodily harm or death from using the prone restraint or any force that “places pressure or weight on a pupil’s head, throat, neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen.”
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School boards just gained more control over your property taxes, thanks to a new law that took effect across Minnesota last month.
In May, Gov. Tim Walz signed the state’s largest ever education bill that increases spending for K-12 education by 10.2 percent, or about $2.26 billion, over the next two years — for a total of $23.2 billion.
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The Children’s Minnesota Hospital system gave Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Leigh Finke an award Tuesday for her work in children’s health after she authored a bill designed to protect child sex changes.
Finke, who is transgender, was the chief author of HF146, Minnesota’s “trans refuge” legislation, which would prevent the enforcement of out-of-state laws that would remove a child from their parent’s home for receiving transgender medical interventions, such as hormones or puberty blockers. Finke received the “Children’s Health Hero” award from the Minnesota hospital system for her work on the bill, according to a release from Children’s Minnesota.
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Is HF1830 a bill that funds state government operations? Or is it an “elections bill?”
It depends who you ask.
Rep. Ginny Klevorn, DFL-Plymouth, who carried the bill in the House, says it’s maybe a little bit of both.
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DFLers in the Minnesota House and Senate voted this month to transform American presidential elections by abandoning the Electoral College.
The Senate voted along party lines, 34-33, on Wednesday to pass an elections omnibus policy bill that includes a provision that would have Minnesota award its presidential electors to the candidate with the most votes nationwide. Republicans unsuccessfully tried to remove that language from the bill.
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Forming a commission to redesign the state flag, studying the possibility of instituting ranked choice voting in statewide elections, and signing onto a national popular vote compact for selecting president — these proposed provisions were rolled into two versions of a $1.5 billion omnibus state government bill that passed along party lines in the House and then the Senate last week.
The DFL holds a majority (70-64 in the House and 34-33 in the Senate) in both chambers.
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Will a publicity push this week from Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and former congresswoman turned gun control activist Gabby Giffords be enough to ensure that all 34 Democrats in the Minnesota Senate vote to pass a pair of high-profile and politically polarizing gun restriction bills on the floor this session?
Walz expressed optimism at a press conference Thursday that SF1116 and SF1117 will get the votes required from his DFL colleagues in the Senate that would then almost assuredly send both bills to his desk for signatures.
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Gov. Tim Walz and his family will temporarily relocate to a $17,000-a-month lakeside mansion later this year during renovations to the St. Paul governor’s residence.
The Minnesota Department of Administration entered into an 18-month lease agreement with MFM Properties II, LLC for a five-bedroom, 7,900-square foot home in Sunfish Lake.
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A state senator is attempting to keep drag queens away from Minnesota kids with a bill introduced at the Capitol.
Sen. Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, has introduced SF 933 to classify drag queen performances as adult entertainment.
Lucero spoke to Liz Collin on her podcast about the bill and other topics from the legislative session.
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The Minnesota House passed legislation, dubbed a “Trans Refuge bill” by proponents, that would prevent laws in other states from interfering with the medical gender transition of children in Minnesota, but critics argue the bill could cause parents to lose custody if they do not support their child’s life-altering sex change.
Minnesota’s first transgender lawmaker, Rep. Leigh Finke of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, introduced the bill, HF 146, which passed the House in a 68-62 vote Friday.
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A Democrat lawmaker carrying a bill that would make Minnesota only the third state in the nation to adopt statewide ranked choice voting in its elections said he’s confident he will garner support from Republicans.
That’s despite the fact that Republicans in a House Elections Committee on Friday told Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, that his RCV bill has no support from among the 64 Republican members of the House of Representatives.
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More than 100 homeschool advocates filled an overflow room during a Minnesota House of Representatives committee hearing this week on Gov. Tim Walz’s education policy bill.
Students and their parent educators were in attendance seeking answers as to why the bill, HF1269, included a provision that would require homeschool providers to submit their students’ standardized test scores to local school districts.
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U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota introduced two pro-life bills in the U.S. House of Representatives this month.
The Republican congresswoman’s proposed pieces of legislation include the Defund Planned Parenthood Act (H.R. 371) and the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act (H.R. 372), according to a press release.
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Minnesota Democrats are attempting to push through the legislature a bill to make the state 100 percent carbon-free by 2040.
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The Minnesota Department of Corrections will now pay for any inmate’s abortion, regardless of the reasons for seeking the procedure, according to a new policy.
The new policy, adopted January 10, replaces a 2018 policy that limited the department’s coverage of abortion to cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or if the life of the mother was at risk.
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On the latest episode of “Liz Collin Reports,” Liz sat down with incoming Minnesota state representative Dawn Gillman to discuss Republican priorities for the new legislative session, advice for Minnesota parents trying to navigate left-wing ideology in their children’s schools, and more.
Gillman was the founder of Let Them Play Minnesota, a grassroots movement that successfully pressured Gov. Tim Walz into reopening schools and their athletic programs in the fall of 2020. She said the movement grew to a whopping 25,000 members and raised over $500,000 in under a year.
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Minnesota’s Management and Budget estimate a general fund budget surplus of $17.6 billion for the fiscal year 2024-25 biennium.
“Strong collections and lower-than-projected spending add to the FY22-23 surplus,” the agency said. “Economic headwinds lower expected growth but large leftover surplus and healthy net revenues in FY24-25 create estimated $17.6B available for budget.”
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Dr. Scott Jensen repeatedly called on Gov. Tim Walz to provide direct answers to Minnesota voters during a debate Friday afternoon in what was the last and most intense meeting of the two candidates before the election.
The last time Jensen was on a debate stage, he stood next to an empty podium.
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Attorney General Keith Ellison scrambled to defend his oversight of Feeding Our Future after two of his former staff members spoke out in a Star Tribune article published Thursday night.
The article highlights the state’s shortcomings in preventing the fraud and culminates with the analysis of two former senior members of Ellison’s team, both of whom asked to remain anonymous “for fear of retribution.”
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National Republicans now view the Minnesota gubernatorial contest as a potential pickup and are sending in reinforcements with two weeks to go before the election.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) transferred $750,000 to a local group called Heal Minnesota Tuesday and more money could be on the way. Heal Minnesota placed an initial ad buy with WCCO.
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The DFL coverup of the great Feeding Our Future (FOF) caper has now begun. We need to begin with the mess Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) created. Make no mistake, their malfeasance cost taxpayers $250 million.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen has accused Gov. Tim Walz and his administration of a “cover-up” in the Feeding Our Future scandal and called for the appointment of a special investigator.
Jensen held a press conference Monday in response to Ramsey County District Court Judge John Guthmann’s correction of “inaccurate statements by the Governor, the Commissioner of Education, and the media regarding the investigation of Feeding Our Future (FOF) and resulting federal indictments.”
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After taxpayers lost $250 million in what federal officials deemed “the largest pandemic fraud” in the nation, the government agencies involved are blaming each other.
The Department of Justice charged 47 people with the fraud, alleging they exploited federal money left unguarded by lax COVID rules meant to feed hungry kids.
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Calling climate change an “existential threat,” Gov. Tim Walz has announced an “ambitious” plan to combat its effects.
Alongside Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and various state leaders, Walz officially launched Minnesota’s Climate Action Framework this past Friday to help meet several climate-related goals over the coming decades.
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The first-ever Alpha News/Trafalgar Group statewide Minnesota poll was released Tuesday morning, marking Alpha News’ expansion into polling.
Republicans could be on the verge of winning their first statewide race since 2006, with the attorney general’s race representing the best opportunity for a GOP pickup, according to the results.
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by Rose Williams A second retired command sergeant major who served alongside Gov. Tim Walz in the National Guard is speaking out, saying the governor “left his troops high and dry” before a deployment to Iraq. Paul Herr served in the military for 34 years in a variety of…
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Gov. Tim Walz’s vision for a carbon-free Minnesota could have a devastating impact on family budgets, according to a new report released this week.
The report was authored by the Center of the American Experiment’s Isaac Orr, Mitch Rolling, and John Phelan, who used economic modeling software to predict the impacts of Gov. Walz’s proposal to create a 100% carbon-free electric grid by 2040.
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On a 150-year-old farm in Brewster, Tom Behrends hopes his tell-it-like-it-is style will finally get the attention he believes it deserves in Minnesota’s race for governor.
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Gov. Tim Walz, running for reelection on a promise of “One Minnesota,” once described Republicans as naturally inclined to “demonize” others before mockingly accusing them of using “The Handmaid’s Tale” as an “operator’s manual.”
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Minnesota farmers are urging Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers to reject California’s new zero-emission standards that will all but prohibit sales of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) recently expressed its opposition to any future adoption of California’s new standards for vehicles manufactured in 2026 and beyond, which replace the state’s current “clean car” standards.
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Gov. Tim Walz’s very first executive order, issued on his second day in office, established the “One Minnesota Council on Inclusion and Equity.”
This is not to be confused with the “Governor’s Community Council on Inclusion and Equity,” established at a later date to advise the first council.
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The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s 2021 Uniform Crime Report shows a 21.6% increase in violent crime in the state.
Local law enforcement agencies submit the crime summary data to meet state and federal reporting requirements. A BCA crime data tool explores crime trends.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claimed that a whole host of “rights,” such as “women’s rights to work in the workplace,” may be targeted following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
At a Tuesday press conference discussing the “future” of abortion with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Walz stressed the importance of ensuring continued abortion access in Minnesota, vowing that the state will never curtail it under his leadership.
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Gov. Tim Walz suggested sending half of the state’s $9.2 billion surplus back to taxpayers in a 15-minute special session.
Walz last weekend proposed sending individuals $1,000, and married couples $2,000.
Only Walz can call a special session, but he hasn’t after a GOP and DFL broad deal for $4 billion in tax relief and $4 billion in savings disintegrated in May as the regular session concluded.
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As poll numbers for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz continue to fall, one major pollster has labeled the state’s gubernatorial race a “toss-up.”
RealClearPolitics, an independent poll aggregator and media company, is giving Walz an average point advantage of 3.5 over Dr. Scott Jensen, the Republican-endorsed candidate for governor.
Read MoreSome Minnesota landlords are blasting Gov. Tim Walz and his eviction moratorium for costing them more than $100,000 to repair the mess some tenants left behind.
They are sending a message in hopes it will help others speak up after a tenant went 18 months without paying rent or utilities before they were forced to hire an attorney to get her to leave.
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The chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is now sitting on a state government board that hands out taxpayer-funded arts and culture grants.
On Monday, Ken Martin was appointed as a member of the State Arts Board by Gov. Tim Walz. Martin occupies the seat previously held by Sean Dowse, former mayor of Red Wing in southeast Minnesota, who recently resigned from the post.
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Minnesotans are calling on Gov. Tim Walz and the Legislature to return the record-breaking $9.3 billion budget surplus to the people by permanently cutting taxes.
A crowd gathered inside the Minnesota Capitol rotunda Saturday for the “Give it Back Tax Rally.” The rally was hosted by the Center of the American Experiment and involved several speakers including multiple radio hosts and a former U.S. congressman.
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The Center of the American Experiment is hosting a tax rally outside the Minnesota Capitol to call for the return of the state’s enormous budget surplus to taxpayers.
The event, the “Give It Back Rally,” will take place on Saturday, April 23, at 11 a.m.
“We’re hosting a Tax Rally in St. Paul to pressure Gov. Tim Walz and the legislature to return the record-breaking $9.3 billion budget surplus to the hardworking taxpayers of Minnesota,” according to a press release.
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In a tough reelection battle this year, Gov. Tim Walz is changing his tune on gas taxes.
The Minnesotan joined five other Democratic governors urging the U.S. Congress to suspend the federal gas tax amid soaring prices at the pump caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and President Joe Biden’s ban on importing Russian oil this week.
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Two governors who serve as co-chairs of the bipartisan, presidentially-appointed Council of Governors – meant to give advice and opinions to the United States President’s Office along with heads of executive branch agencies like the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Friday denounced Russia’s…
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Democrats announced a plan Monday to promote police officer recruitment that mirrors proposals of Gov. Tim Walz and Republicans.
House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler authored the bill, HF 3581, which was developed in consultation with the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, and Minnesota Department of Public Safety. He said at a news conference announcing the bill that law enforcement leaders want to recruit officers who reflect the community, have a high social-emotional set of skills and are committed to community services, but they’re struggling to do that.
“[The bill] is built on the premise that Minnesota can recruit, can hire, can train and can retain the kinds of police officers who reflect our communities’ values,” Winkler said.
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Gov. Tim Walz says he plans to send 2.7 million Minnesotans “Walz Checks” up to $350 as part of his 2022 Local Jobs and Projects Plan.
“To continue growing Minnesota’s economy, we must invest in the people who made it strong in the first place,” Walz said in a statement. “By investing in workforce development, cutting taxes for the middle class and working families, lowering costs, and expanding access to resources like technical education and high-speed broadband, we will improve economic prosperity across the state and grow the workforce we need to compete.”
The proposal aims to deliver $700 million in direct payments to Minnesotans funded by Minnesota’s tax surplus.
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The Minnesota Medical Association (MMA) has announced its support for renewed mask mandates in the Twin Cities.
In a statement released Thursday, the MMA said it “fully supports the decisions by Minneapolis and St. Paul to re-institute mandatory mask use while indoors” and urged “other communities to consider similar actions.”
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In 1995, Minneapolis saw a record-setting 97 homicides. Operating by the strict definition of a homicide as an event where one person intentionally kills another, there were 97 homicides in the city last year.
The final homicide of 2021 occurred just hours before the new year as a 15-year-old boy was gunned down in north Minneapolis. No arrests have been made. The shooters are believed to have fired from a vehicle.
Some homicides, like the killing of Winston Smith in June, were justified and non-criminal. Technicalities aside, most share a concern about the high number of murders in 2021.
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Republican Kendall Qualls announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as president of TakeCharge, a nonprofit he founded earlier this year, prompting speculation that he will be running for governor of Minnesota.
Qualls first gained notoriety in 2020 during his unsuccessful bid against Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District. A few months later, he launched TakeCharge, which has focused on inspiring a “new movement in the black community to return it to its cultural roots of faith, family and education.”
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Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday via Twitter that he and other members of his family have tested positive for COVID-19.
Gus, who is vaccinated, had “some sniffles” over the weekend, tested negative for COVID-19 with a rapid test and then tested positive, the governor said in a video message on Twitter.
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A Soros-backed activist who allegedly lied about her Native-American heritage and headed the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) during its most controversial moments currently sits on the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission (MSGC).
Tonja Honsey was removed from all her major leadership roles except for one after it was revealed that she allegedly lied to and defrauded those around her. Now, she only sits on the MSGC that Gov. Tim Walz appointed her to, helping to decide what punishments should be available for Minnesota judges to dole out. In this position, she’s presently advocating for a measure that would eliminate stronger sentences for criminals who commit more crimes while on probation or parole.
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A woman who kept her restaurant open against Gov. Tim Walz’s orders was convicted and began her jail term the same week the state dropped charges against the man who toppled and destroyed a statue of Christopher Columbus at the Minnesota Capitol.
Lisa Hanson owns The Interchange Wine and Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, Minnesota. When Walz issued an executive order last year demanding that all bars and restaurants close their doors in the name of COVID-19 prevention, she did not comply. This resulted in her being convicted of six criminal misdemeanors on Thursday following a trial that took less than a week and a jury deliberation that took only a few hours.
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Gov. Tim Walz announced he’s preparing the Minnesota National Guard to provide public-safety assistance if necessary during the trial of former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter.
The mobilization to readiness follows a request made by the Brooklyn Center and Hennepin County.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are prepared to ask members of the Minnesota National Guard to be available to support local law enforcement with the mission of allowing for peaceful demonstrations, keeping the peace, and ensuring public safety,” Walz said in a statement.
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