Friends and neighbors,
On Friday, the Senate approved perhaps the most consequential and dangerous public safety bill that I have seen in my time in the legislature.
It is a bill that will make thousands of convicted criminals eligible for early release, including violent offenders and juveniles that commit heinous crimes. It includes two controversial gun control provisions (red flag and universal background checks) that infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. It removed funding for three important provisions: mental health grants and wellness grants for first responders, additional school safety center staff, and bodycam grants for law enforcement. The bill adds “gender identity” all throughout the Human Rights Act
But there is one item in particular I wanted to discuss: the conference committee, which had no Republicans on it, deleted a provision that clearly and unequivocally stated that pedophilia is not a protected class.
This provision passed the House unanimously. Yet the Democrat conference committee still stripped it out.
Here is what the new text says:
To be clear, these provisions do not legalize pedophilia. Criminal sexual contact is still a crime. However, it does take us in the direction of legitimizing, condoning, and normalizing pedophilia. And that is a dangerous path to go down.
Ask yourself this question: how would you feel if you had young children, and a pedophile wanted to move into the duplex next door? What if one wanted to apply to work at your child’s daycare or school? These are sincere questions that families should not have to grapple with.
Protecting children should be our first and foremost concern, not protecting the feelings of pedophiles.
There are a number of other dangerous items in the bill that you should be aware of as well:
- Changes to landlord-tenant law and rental eviction record expungement, including limitations against crime-free lease terms. This makes it harder for landlords to provide a safe place to live.
- Legislative approval of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission’s five-year felony probation cap, plus retroactive application to any sentence already in place in Minnesota
- It puts the crime of carjacking into statute, but does not add any new penalty. A useless change.
- It reduces sentences for juveniles charged as adults
- It reduces prison time from 2/3 of an offender’s sentence to only half, which would make 92% of our prison population eligible for early release
- Significant new spending for nonprofit services, the vast majority of it has very little accountability
The Democrat approach takes us in exactly the opposite direction that Minnesotans expect. Instead of releasing criminals, we should be cracking down on crime, strengthening police, and holding judges and prosecutors accountable.
Please take a moment to watch my closing comments about this bill, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTQYFe1GBFY
Republicans introduced a plan a few months ago that would have accomplished all these goals. It is a much better approach to public safety.
Contact me
I love hearing your feedback. If you have any questions or comments about the issues we are working on, please contact me anytime. My email is sen.glenn.gruenhagen@senate.mn, or you can call me at 651-296-4131.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook: https://www.fb.com/SenatorGlennGruenhagen.
It is a privilege to serve you. God Bless.