Senate Democrats are once again playing games at the Capitol. The most recent example is the Bonding Bill debacle that took place a couple weeks back. Though I’m not surprised by their behavior, I find it incredibly disappointing that they are choosing to disregard the voices and concerns of greater Minnesota.  

A few weeks ago, Democrats brought forward a bonding bill, knowing full well that Senate Republicans would not be voting for it. We have taken a strong stance: tax relief before bonding, because there is simply no logical reason that we should be borrowing billions for metro projects, when we have a $17.5. billion surplus and refuse to provide tax relief. Democrats instead seem content to saddle bonding debt to future generations, because that allows them to use the surplus to expand government, fund new social justice equity programs, and focus on funding far-left pet projects. So when Democrats brought forward an extreme bonding bill that focuses heavily on metro projects, Democrats acted shocked by the outcome. We have been fully transparent on the issue—no bonding without tax relief.

To make matters worse, they decided to bring forward a social security bill, but refused to vote on it. What good does that do for anyone? Why bring a bill forward if you aren’t going to take the vote on it? Because they are hoping to fool Minnesotans into believing that they will act on their campaign promises. Their actions clearly say otherwise. On multiple occasions, Senate Republicans have attempted to bring forward a bill that eliminates the tax on social security income, just for every Democrat to vote against it. So when they brought forward their own bill, but still refused to give it a vote, that should tell you all you need to know: they are using our seniors and their needs as a pawn for their political reindeer games.

Later that day, Democrats tried to bully Republicans by “punishing” us for our actions. The Capital Investment committee, which is in charge of the bonding bills, pulled every Republican bill off of the schedule for that afternoon. The Chair of the committee even admitted it was done because Republicans didn’t support her bill. The following week, the chair decided to only hear Democrat bills. They are silencing the needs and voices of greater Minnesota, and it’s wrong.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the games… As I’ve discussed in previous columns, they are beginning to once again circulate far-left gun policies that completely disregard Second Amendment rights. A number of these bills are on upcoming committee agendas. They also have a paid family leave bill that creates a one-size-fits-all mandate for every business in the state. It’s laughable how out of touch these policies are, and I intend to work against these ridiculous bills. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to make your opinion known on legislation, please reach out to my office at Sen.Steve.Green@senate.mn