Friends and neighbors,

The legislative session wrapped up on May 22. Democrats have been falling all over themselves to call the legislation they passed “transformational.” They are right, but not in the way they think. While Democrat allies and activist groups rejoiced over the legislative session, it will be etched in history as a betrayal of regular, working Minnesotans who were shamefully disregarded by the Democrat trifecta.

TAXES AND ATTACKS ON MAIN STREET BUSINESSES

The Democrat budget included more than $9 billion in tax increases on working families, low-income and middle-class Minnesotans, and mom-and-pop businesses. These taxes run the gamut from simply outrageous (gas tax increases tied to inflation, license tab fee increases, retail delivery taxes) to well-intentioned but ultimately wrong (paid leave payroll tax).

We had a $19 billion surplus to work with this session. Republicans and Democrats both campaigned on returning the surplus to taxpayers. And though Republicans have always been more enthusiastic, Gov. Tim Walz proposed rebate checks of up to $2,600. In the end, Democrats spent the entire surplus, increased government spending by a staggering 40%, raised billions in taxes, and allowed a single filer to receive a rebate of a mere $260 dollars.

They did find time to provide health care and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

The nation’s leading advocate for small businesses, the National Federation of Independent Business, had a good roundup of how some of these new taxes will impact main street shops and ultimately consumers. Read it here.

ATTACKS ON LOCAL CHARITIES, YOUTH SPORTS, AND VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS

The final tax bill agreement included one particularly harmful provision that will decimate local charities, youth sports groups, and veterans organizations across the state. It makes a change to Minnesota’s e-pull tab program by eliminating something called the “open-all” feature on Minnesota e-pull tabs. It is a feature that has been allowed by the Gaming Control Board since 2012. 

The e-pull tab program has greatly benefited local charities, youth sports groups, VFWs, American Legions, and other hospitality businesses. These organizations rely on this funding to support our local communities, and virtually every local charitable organization across Minnesota has informed us the change that Democrats made will be devastating to their fundraising ability. Unfortunately, Democrat leaders cared more about appeasing their influential political allies and supporters than they do the thousands of local charities that populate cities and towns across the state.

THE MOST EXTREME ABORTION LAWS IN THE COUNTRY

The Democrat abortion agenda is gruesome and beyond extreme. This year alone, they approved a bill allowing abortion up to the moment of birth, through all nine months of pregnancy, repealed basic protections for babies who survive an abortion – including simple and compassionate things, like comfort care, stripped funding for pregnancy resource centers, purged reporting requirements for abortion centers, expanded taxpayer-funded abortions, repealed the informed consent law for mothers, and more.

The Democrats’ abortion agenda was far, far beyond what they indicated when they ran for office. The result was a heartbreakingly bad year for life, for mothers, and for babies.

TRANSGENDER AGENDA TAKES PRECEDENCE

Minnesota built a state surplus on the backs of working families who are struggling to make ends meet – a task made more difficult by high taxes and high inflation. But instead of focusing their energy on helping those low-income and middle-class Minnesotans, Democrats spent their energy this year catering to their liberal activist allies and prioritizing a divisive transgender agenda.

Among the laws they passed this year:

• They made Minnesota a sanctuary state for people, including children, seeking sex changes – even if a parent does not approve.
• They restricted private counseling conversations for people struggling with gender dysphoria
• They removed language from the state’s Human Rights Act that clearly states pedophilia is not a protected “sexual orientation” class

There are also countless smaller changes prioritizing gender identity and the activist agenda scattered throughout many of their budget bills. For example, their early childhood education bill makes changes to “indicators of progress” that include the following description: “The indicators for preschoolers focus on how children show confidence and self-direction, identify gender and self as part of a family, community, and culture…” 

We should be protecting children from these sorts of things, not imposing it upon them in schools.

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.

Glenn