Friends and neighbors –
This week, instead of highlighting some of the extreme ideas that Democrats are moving through the Senate, I thought we could focus on a couple of areas where we have been able to find common ground.
Take robocalls. We have all dealt with them, and we all find them aggravating. Unfortunately, it seems like they are non-stop, and the fraudsters are getting more and more sophisticated each year.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Committee heard my bill to push back some of these irritating calls by empowering the attorney general to sue and recover a civil penalty from robocallers found in violation of state statute.
The private sector is also taking steps to combat robocalling. Some cell phone companies have begun proactively labeling numbers as potential spam, and congress has taken steps to reduce robocalls as well.
Keeping children safe at the bus stop
Even with the safety measures we have in place, you would be shocked at how many drivers disobey school bus stop-arms. Experts have said there are as many as 250,000 violations every year – it is a disaster waiting to happen.
We made progress in recent years by starting the process of equipping every school bus with outward-facing cameras to crack down on violators. This week, the Transportation Committee heard two Republican bills to build on that momentum, including one that would require stop-arms to be several feet bigger. In places where bigger stop arms have been adopted, they have reduced incidents by 89%.
Contact me:
If you have any questions about any of these issues or any other issue the legislature is working on, please don’t hesitate to contact me any time. My email is Sen.Rich.Draheim@Senate.mn, and my phone number is 651-296-5558.
And please follow me on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorRichDraheim/
It is a privilege to serve you.