Responding to Governor Walz’s Request for a Safety Fund for Minneapolis
Yesterday I joined Majority Leader Gazelka to preview a bill I am introducing to hold cities accountable to pay their mutual aid agreements. The legislation also prevents Governor Walz from diverting funds from education and healthcare to cover cities’ public safety costs while defunding the police.
This week, Governor Walz requested $35 million to fund an account for public safety in anticipation of Minneapolis’s Chauvin trial. A significant concern with the governor’s funding plan is that while crime is rising to record levels in Minneapolis, the city council is actively looking for more ways to reduce police funding. Additionally, the disparaging attitude about police from the council has led to more than 100 officers leaving the force. The perception is Minneapolis will get to rely on statewide funds to provide for their public safety needs while other areas rely on tax revenues for public safety. It is essentially a bailout for defunding their police budget.
We still want to encourage mutual aid to keep Minnesotans safe. But after the riots this past summer, neighboring cities are less willing to return. This is in part because cities have been left on the hook for the costs of personnel and material from their helpful response. Additionally, neighboring law enforcement is hesitant because of the negative sentiment their officers have received from the activists and leadership in Minneapolis despite their efforts to help.
My legislation allows cities that provided mutual aid but haven’t been reimbursed for it yet to apply to have their Local Government Aid (LGA) adjusted to match the amount owed. The funds would be provided by lowering the LGA from the city that owes the mutual aid payment.
Local Government Aid is a tool we already have funds for. Part of the $4.5 billion in new spending in Governor’s Walz’s proposed budget is this special fund to protect Minneapolis. Respectfully, we have to balance our state budget, and Minneapolis has the money for public safety. If they aren’t paying their bills or need more mutual aid than they can afford after defunding their own police by $8 million, we’re not going to ask taxpayers to foot that bill.” Weber continued, “This process is fair, it encourages law enforcement to be fully funded by cities, and it doesn’t take money away from the education or healthcare needs in the budget.
Seniors 1st Vaccination Plan
On Monday, we released our “Seniors 1st” plan, and we urged Governor Walz to place seniors as the first priority in his updated vaccination plans. The governor announced that 35,000 doses of the COVID vaccine would be sent to 100 additional sites across the state, allocated specifically for seniors. It was also announced the nine pilot sites throughout the state would be decreased to three under the governor’s updated plan.
We want our seniors to know that when it comes to COVID vaccinations, we believe they should come first. We know our seniors are at the highest risk for hospitalization, illness, and death from COVID, so why hasn’t this administration made them the focus? Rather than continue to change the goalposts. We need Governor Walz to deliver an effective plan that prioritizes on making the vaccine accessible to all our seniors until we have substantially more doses.
As of February 1, there have been over 6,000 COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota. Of those, 90% have been attributed to seniors 65 and older. The state has distributed more than 444,000 vaccines, yet only 25% have been allocated to Minnesotans 65 and older. The “Seniors 1st” plan proposed by Sen. Housley would move towards blanketing the entire states with vaccine sites through community pharmacies already equipped to store, schedule, and administer vaccinations.
Reopening Minnesota Schools
On Wednesday, we heard legislation that will protect students’ right to an excellent education at all times. The new legislation, Senate File 2, removes any governor’s authority to close schools or alter school schedules via executive order. Decisions about opening and closing will be left in the hands of individual school districts moving forward, where local officials have firsthand knowledge of their students’ needs.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Minnesota never should have adopted a statewide mandate forcing all of our districts to use the same criteria and protocols for each individual school. We know that all of our schools are unique and should have empowered local authorities the flexibility to do what is best for their communities and students. Now, with the data clearly saying it’s safe for schools to reopen, it is time for the governor to relinquish this authority.
The bill says the governor may not use executive order authority to issue any order or to authorize the commissioner of education to alter school schedules, curtail school activities, or order schools closed.
The legislation does not remove the Governor mask mandate on student-athletes, which has been a point of contention with Governor Walz despite many health experts that such mask wearing poses risks.
Gov. Walz’s executive orders closing schools have been among his most questioned and controversial orders of the outbreak.
There is mounting evidence, including research from the CDC, that schools pose a minimal risk of spreading the coronavirus. A fall Reuters report that studied 191 countries also found no clear link between school reopenings and coronavirus surges. In addition, Axios looked at several studies and found schools are not Covid hotspots, and the Atlantic Magazine wrote that kids are not superspreaders and that it’s time to reopen schools. The New York Times reported on evidence that schools, especially elementary schools, are not “stoking community transmission.”
There is also agreement about the impact distance learning is having on students:
- The American Association of Pediatrics has said, “The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with the goal of having students physically present in school. The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.”
- UNICEF has warned of a ‘lost generation’ and found that school closures are ineffective. “Even with the promise of a vaccine on the horizon, a new report by UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, warned that “the future of an entire generation is at risk,” with the threat to children “increasing”. Studies cited in the report showed “no consistent association between school reopening status and COVID-19 infection rates.
- The Sahan Journal found the pandemic has had a “devastating” impact on communities of color in St. Paul Public Schools.
- CBS reported on a U.K. education watchdog that found kids have seriously regressed due to Covid-19.