It’s been another busy week here at the Capitol. The Democrats have been holding hearings on their biggest priorities including a Paid Leave bill in the Jobs and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday that would add another billion dollar tax on our small businesses.

Senate Republicans push back against Democrat overreach, increase their representation on key committees 

Senate Republicans received an additional nine spots on Senate Committees, nearly all from non-metro districts. The Committee representation has been a concern of Republicans and a priority to fix since committees were announced before the session began.

“We all come to the Senate with different backgrounds, experiences, and interests. I’m very happy that we were able to gain more representation for Greater Minnesota on key committees that impact the entire state,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (R- East Grand Forks) said. “Transportation is not just a metro issue, Agriculture is not just a rural issue. The committees have a better balance and we are ready to get to work on the issues Minnesotans asked us to focus on, cutting taxes, keeping people safe, and getting kids back on track.”

Senate rules require committees to have the same majority-minority balance of power as the body as a whole. With just a one-seat difference, Republicans were dismayed that Democrats ensured every committee had at least a two- and sometimes three-seat difference. With these changes, just one committee has a one-seat difference, but the additional Republicans leave most committees with a two-seat difference.

Democrats took control of the legislature after the November elections. Committee assignments are just one way to wield their one-party rule to stifle the minority.

The additions are as follows:  

• Senator Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo) to Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development
• Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R- Fergus Falls) to Capital Investment
• Senator Eric Lucero (R- St. Michael) to Energy, Utilities, Environment, and Climate
• Senator Rich Draheim (R- Madison Lake) to Finance
• Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) to Human Services
• Senator Carla Nelson (R- Rochester) to Jobs and Economic Development
• Senator Justin Eichorn (R- Grand Rapids) to Judiciary and Public Safety
• Senator Andrew Lang (R-Olivia) to State and Local Government and Veterans
• Senator Jeff Howe (R- Rockville) to Transportation

Democrat education spending lacks accountability, needs explanations

My colleague Senator Jason Rarick (R- Pine City) released the following statement responding to Governor Walz’s and Senate Democrats’ education spending proposals:

“The Democrats’ education spending proposals are really a public relations stunt to send even more money into struggling schools without any accountability to parents or student achievement.

“Providing free lunches for every student ignores the already available funding for families who need financial assistance. Neither Senate Democrats nor Governor Walz explain the impact eliminating these programs will have on other funding that is tied to free and reduced meals.

“Secondly, tying education funding to inflation removes all accountability from the state’s leaders to demand better of our education systems. Reading scores continues to drop, and the achievement gap persists. Automatically increasing the funding for every school and every student eliminates our ability to target funding to the students that need it the most – it certainly guarantees a future tax hike to maintain this exploding funding in the future.

“Finally, a new state agency in the Governor’s budget is another guaranteed explosion in spending that we don’t need. Senate Republicans will continue to prioritize the special education cross-subsidy, proven programs to improve academic outcomes, and getting kids back on track, without raising taxes on their parents or imposing mandates on schools.”

The 2021 bipartisan state education budget included historic funding for students and schools, in addition to billions of dollars in federal COVID funding.

Sen. Rarick is the Education Finance Committee Lead for the Senate Republicans.

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Thank you,