Friends and neighbors,
This week, Senate Democrats forced a vote on a bonding bill that they knew would not pass instead of working with us to figure out a bipartisan solution to both bonding and taxes.
I voted against the bonding bill because I have been very clear that our most urgent priority must be providing tax relief to Minnesotans. I talk to folks every single day who are still being squeezed by expensive daily life and high inflation. They are desperate for relief. With a $19 billion surplus, this should be our top priority.
I am a strong advocate for our local projects, including water infrastructure proposals in Blue Earth, Elysian, and Lewisville. It was especially frustrating these urgent projects were not included in the fake Democrats’ bill, which made it that much easier to vote against. I will keep fighting to make sure they are included in the real bonding bill when it passes later in session – after we do tax relief.
Unfortunately, almost immediately Democrats began exercising political retribution. They deleted several Republican projects that had been scheduled for a committee hearing shortly after the floor vote. When pressed on the reason, the chair of the committee essentially acknowledged it was payback.
If Democrats are willing to work with us in good faith, I believe we can get both a tax relief bill and a bonding bill done quickly. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.
More Feeding our Future indictments
This week, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger announced 10 additional indictments against individuals engaged in fraud in the Feeding our Future scheme. Luger did not provide an additional dollar amount on the new indictments but indicated it was now more than $250 million from 60 individuals. He also indicated there could be more indictments in the future
This fraud was able to happen so easily because of the Walz Administration’s lazy oversight. As if that wasn’t enough, his administration failed to report the fraud, and once it came to light he failed to take any serious action to prevent it from ever happening again. Instead of focusing on good governance and making sure state agencies can operate effectively, the governor is focused on passing his divisive, extreme, hyper-partisan agenda.
It is unacceptable. Minnesotans deserve detailed answers from the governor on precisely what steps he is taking to address fraud and make sure it never happens again.
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.
.