Friends and neighbors,
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting our state’s Northwest Angle. It’s the chimney-like chunk of Minnesota that juts into Canada and is separated by Lake of the Woods from the rest of the state. The area that relies heavily on tourism has been unreachable by road because Canada shut its border to visitors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the main route through Manitoba off limits to visitors, this caused severe hardships for the summer resort business and for the winter season as well.
So, to try and save their winter season, the resort owners built a 22-mile ice road. It stretches from Warroad to the Angle’s south end across frozen Big Traverse Bay and is called the Northwest Angle Guest Ice Road.
- While ice roads are common on Minnesota lakes, including those that connect the Angle’s mainland to nearby island resorts, very few, if any, have been as long or built over such a wide expanse of frozen water
Travelling the Guest Ice Road was a very neat experience! And it is a wonderful testament to the ingenuity, resiliency and “can-do” spirit of the people and resort owners who call the Northwest Angle home.
LEGISLATIVE RECAP
Senate File 1 – On Thursday, the Minnesota Senate passed SF 1. It is legislation that would give businesses individual authority to create and implement safety preparedness plans for re-opening their doors safely. Businesses across the state have different needs, and a one-size-fits-all mandate is not a solution. This legislation seeks to prevent future mass closures of businesses.
Basically, it’s a bill that is meant to safely reopen businesses. We have been under Governor Walz’s emergency orders for a whole year, and:
- Vaccines are out
- Cases are down
- Hospitalizations are down
The next logical step is to unwind executive orders and let businesses re-open. Emergency orders were, possibly, necessary at the start of the pandemic and we obviously needed and wanted to keep people safe. But businesses have suffered immeasurable losses this year, and one-size-fits-all mandates don’t work for ALL businesses.
VACCINE
In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about the MN Department of Health’s new COVID-19 Vaccine Connector. It’s a tool that allows registrants to enter demographic/employment info, which can be used to determine their vaccine eligibility.
Since then, the Senate’s Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care convened on Wednesday February 24, to discuss concerns over the Minnesota Vaccine Connector website, and the lack of transparency regarding the Governor’s decision-making process for vaccine distribution.
It was brought up that some of the questions a registrant is asked to complete on this connector are:
• Are you Overweight?
• Are you Depressed?
• What is your sexual orientation?
• What is your race?
• What is your gender identity?
These questions have nothing to do with health and they are making it particularly challenging for seniors to get through the questionnaires. Also, these questions literally have nothing to do with a COVID vaccine…These questions ask things that the government has NO REASON to know—these things should stay between a doctor and their patients.
When the Department of Health was asked about these intrusive and non-sensical questions, their response was:
- “We are gathering demographic data so we can target vaccine messages to specific groups that have been traditionally underserved. Questions about race, gender identity and sexual orientation will help us track and measure our goals for equity and fairness.”
People that want to get vaccinated shouldn’t have to divulge personal information to the government. Also, COVID affects everyone, regardless of your “sexual orientation” or “race” or “gender Identity.”
LET’S GET GOVERNMENT OUT OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION! BECAUSE HAVING THE GOVERNMENT COLLECT THIS DATA MAKES NO SENSE
Fun stuff to break up the doom & gloom
- February 21-27, 2021 was School Bus Driver Appreciation Week. Please remember to thank all our wonderful bus drivers for the “above and beyond” job they do getting our kids to & from school safely!
- Sunday February 28th is National Chili Day…Bon Appetit
That’s all for this week’s update. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to share any thoughts, concerns, or questions you may have. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-9651 or by email at sen.paul.utke@senate.mn.
Have a great week,
Paul