You may have heard about the Senate’s power-sharing agreement which allowed us to continue operating under a 33-33 tie. Unfortunately, that agreement was ended last week on a straight party-line vote. Frankly, it’s disappointing to see every Democrat vote to end the bipartisan work we've been able to accomplish to put Minnesotans first, especially at a time when House Democrats were refusing to show up and represent the people we serve.
While many committees were sharing power well under both a Republican co-chair and a Democrat co-chair, other committees did not run as smoothly. Democrats chose to block our attempts to discuss permitting reform at every turn in the environment committee, and they even went as far as refusing to accept our offer to hear a Democrat's permitting reform bill. One thing is clear: their agenda is controlled by extreme activists and environmental special interests.
Reforming our permitting process is my top priority this session, so we can finally unleash our economic engine in Minnesota and cut the red tape that remains a huge roadblock to job growth and investment in our state. This week, we were able to bring much needed attention to the issue.
Permitting reform press conference
I had the opportunity to join a broad coalition of business and labor advocates to push for action on our bipartisan permitting reform proposal in the Senate to get bureaucratic red tape out of the way and get the wheels of industry turning again.
After all of the excessive, wasteful spending we’ve seen the last two years and the looming $5 billion budget deficit, we need to have a real conversation about the regulatory environment that exists in Minnesota and how we can make our government a better partner in job creation and economic expansion.
If you have any questions or comments about the issues we are working on, please contact me anytime. My email is [email protected], or you can call me at 651-296-7079.
It is a privilege to serve you!
