The University of Minnesota is receiving well-deserved criticism for offering paid summer internships to only “non-white” students. The taxpayer-funded school was offering a $6,000 stipend to those who were accepted into the program.

According to New York Post, the intern application previously stated that the 10-week summer program "prepare[s] students of color and Native Americans for graduate school.”

As of writing, it appears the discriminatory language has been removed from their application website. This follows a complaint to the Department of Education from a Cornell Law Professor. Dr. Jacobson, who filed the complaint, told New York Post that “there is an increasing trend where people think it’s OK to discriminate on the basis of race as long as the discrimination is against whites or Asians or others, and we don’t accept that.”

The University of Minnesota is engaging in racist, anti-white discrimination with these kinds of programs. They only changed their tune because they were caught red-handed by the public. With successful boycotts of Bud Light and Target for similarly woke shenanigans, it is clear that pressure from the public works.

If conservatives want to see victories on the culture war front, they must be willing to turn up the heat. That includes encouraging our friends, neighbors, and children to stay far away from anything related to the University of Minnesota. This is the only way we change the culture and win.

The Legislative session has finally come to an end! While there is nothing to celebrate as far as legislation is concerned, we should all be very happy that the Legislature can no longer pass Socialist bills that destroy our state. The Dems and RINOs worked all session long to make our lives harder, more expensive, and less free.

Yesterday, on the final day of session, crony politicians were sure to push a socialist bonding bill that puts our state in debt to benefit the lobbyists and special interests that fund their campaigns. Two bills were discussed as it relates to bonding, one of them being an actual bonding bill (HF669) and the other being a cash only (HF670) (Surplus spending) bill. A bonding bill requires 3/5ths support from the House and Senate in order to pass while the cash bill only needed a majority.

We previously reported that the Senate GOP was withholding their support for the bonding bill in order to get tax cuts. Action 4 Liberty commended their efforts and suggested that they do not sign onto a bonding bill until three conditions are met:

1. Complete Return of the Surplus to taxpayers
2. No gun control passed in session
3. Tax cuts and elimination of Social Security tax

The vote was party line on the bonding bill back in March (with exception to Pappas who voted no just so she could reintroduce it). Then Pappas admitted the ‘Pay to Play’ scheme she was running and cried about it in committee! Since that point, the Democrats did not concede on a single issue and continued their tyrannical agenda. However, the Senate GOP caved!

Fiscal conservatism was nowhere to be found in the MN Capitol building this session and the backbones of the Senate GOP disappeared. In what could have been a sign of strength by Republicans on the very last day turned out to be a sign of their weakness. Our state is now subject to debt for projects that corrupt politicians snuck into a massive omnibus bill.

Below, you can see how your State Representative voted on the bonding bill in a vote of 97-35:

Below is the vote for the bonding bill in the State Senate with a vote of 56-11:

Politicians cannot be trusted with our money and they especially cannot be trusted with a massive Surplus of our overtaxed dollars. We need conservatives to stand up and fight the crony nature of our political system. Taxpayers across our state should not be responsible for the debt that comes from politicians’ pet projects!

Now that all of the Democrat's omnibus bills have been pushed through the legislature, voters get to know exactly how much politicians are raising their taxes. To nobody's surprise, Democrats have really outdone themselves this year. New taxes and fees will bring the state BILLIONS in new revenue. Here's a list of the Democrat's new policies passed in both the tax and transportation omnibus bills.

Rebate Checks

The budget surplus is about $21 Billion. This means that each taxpayer is owed up to $8,000 (if divided equally). Democrat's final agreement on how much they will give back of OUR money is an insulting $260 per tax filer, and $260 for dependent children up to 3 total dependents. So the most a family in Minnesota will see of their money is $1,300. The total rebate program accounts for $1.1 Billion or a mere 5% of the total money that they overtaxed us by. The rest will go to funding all the Democrat's radical agenda and paybacks to their Special Interests.

Household Delivery Tax

The delivery tax is now a reality. Minnesota Democrats will successfully charge you 50 cents per Amazon package. This will hit the poorest Minnesotans the hardest, who need every dime they can get. Remember, Democrats say they only want to tax "the wealthy." What a LIE!

Metro Sales Tax Increase

Democrats successfully passed their metro sales tax increase, which will tag on another .75% to the already high sales taxes of the 7 county metro area. Current tax rates range from 7.125% to 8.025%. 

This bill also allows many cities to increase their local sales taxes, which vary across the metro.

Gas Tax Increase

The gas tax, currently 28.5 cents/gallon, will now be tied to inflation. Experts estimate that this will add an additional 5 cents per gallon by 2027, though the official price will be put at the discretion of Walz’ Commissioner of Transportation. Senator Judy Seeberger, a swing-district Democrat, voted for this increase despite making explicit promises not to in 2022. 

Tab Fee Increase

In the past, the fee for license tab renewal has been $10 + 1.25% of the vehicle's value. Now, that fee will be increased to $10 + 1.915% for vehicle's purchased before November 2020, and 1.95% for vehicle's purchased afterwards. With skyrocketing vehicle prices, you'd better bet that this yearly fee will be expensive. As the pattern proves, this will also hit lower-income Minnesotans hard.

Social Security Tax Stays for Many

There will be a total tax elimination of social security income for Minnesotans who have a Federal Adjusted Gross Income of $100k or lower. Tax filers between $100k and $140k will have a reduction in taxes. And those above, will still pay taxes. Way to stick up for our seniors!

Again, this is another broken campaign promise by swing-district democrats like Judy Seeberger and Aric Putnam.

Democrats in our state have utilized their trifecta power to steamroll the most immoral, unconstitutional, power-hungry, taxpayer-hating, and Socialist legislation we have ever seen in Minnesota. This session has been led by the Radical Left and they continue to destroy every shred of common sense we have left. Now, the death of Uber is at our doorsteps.

Yesterday in the Senate, they passed the Uber/Lyft Socialist Takeover Bill (HF2369). We previously reported on this bill, which was being led by Communist legislators like Omar Fateh. Democrats had threats from Fateh and other far-left legislators who suggested that they would withhold their votes from budget bills (which could be decided by a single vote in the Senate) unless this bill passed. It appears, as usual, that the Democrats cater to their most radical members and will vote in lockstep to push whatever they want. 

The Democrat controlled House passed the bill on May 18th.

This bill would, among other terrible things, mandate how much Uber/Lyft must pay their drivers per mile and per minute. This is being posed as a measure to help the drivers with these companies but in reality, these Socialist Senators and Representatives may be costing these drivers their jobs. Minnesota may become the only state in the nation that does not have these ride share services because of bureaucratic regulations. See text of bill below:

The Car Share companies have stated that the bill will likely double the cost of rides for Uber/Lyft and cost 50% more than major cities like New York City or San Francisco. This bill will destroy Uber and Lyft in our state and we may see them pack up their bags and leave! The Socialist Takeover of Uber/Lyft will hurt drivers because at the very least, they will lose customers. At worst, they will lose their jobs.

However, it is not just Democrats to blame for this. RINO Senator Jim Abeler (SD35) was the only GOP vote for this Socialist bill that will kill Uber and Lyft. The vote was 35-32. See below:

Uber and Lyft have both put out statements that say that they may be forced to leave Minnesota due to these unbelievable regulations and unaffordable cost of operations. There are no examples of businesses who are benefitted when the government gets involved, they often get worse or go out of business.

Uber said the following in a statement: “Since March, we have asked legislators to work with us to pass a bill that raises rates for drivers without doubling the cost for riders. We have worked directly with drivers to negotiate a deal that increases their rates, adds additional insurance and protects their status as independent contractors. Unfortunately, that is not what we see in the bills going through the legislature.”

Lyft issued the following statement: "Fair pay for drivers is an important topic, but it needs to be done in a way that doesn't jeopardize the service for the majority of Minnesotans," They continued "Instead of forcing a bill that would destroy the service for many of the communities who depend on it, we should continue to work together on a solution that benefits all."

A baby born from an unsuccessful abortion attempt will no longer have the right to receive care to protect its life according to language snuck into the massive 845 page Democrat Health & Human Services Omnibus bill (SF2995) that became publicly available just before midnight last night. They are rushing the bill to the floor today before their constitutionally required adjournment at the end of the day.

Here's how Democrats are allowing born babies to be killed:

Democrats are modifying current Minnesota law (Minnesota Statutes 2022, Section 145.423) by removing the language "preserve the life and health of the born alive infant" and replacing it with just "care for the infant." 

Then they repeal the rest of Section 145.423 which requires a physician to "take all reasonable measures [...] to preserve the life and health of any born alive infant that is the result of the abortion."

Here's a snapshot of the Repealer in the Democrat's Health & Human Services Omnibus Bill:

This move is just plain evil. How can anyone in their right mind argue for this legislation? But based on how every other radical, omnibus bill vote has gone, this is most likely going to receive complete Democrat support and will be signed by Governor Tim Walz.

Make no mistake about it - these Democrats have devalued life so much that even a born baby is no longer awarded protection.

The Minnesota House and Senate have just passed one of the most extreme paid family leave programs in the nation. This proposal would impose a .7% tax on businesses, which would fund a statewide pool to pay for up to a whopping 20 weeks of time off of work.

At least half of the tax must be paid for by the employer, while the remainder can be paid for by the employee. This will hit small businesses the hardest, which cannot afford to lose an employee for 40% of the year. Big businesses like Target already have a paid family leave program in place, which lets them be exempt from this program.

Under this Paid Family Leave proposal, employees qualify if they have a “serious health condition,” which includes:

• Mental illness
• Injury
• Impairment
• “Conditions”
• Substance use disorders

Washington State has a similar program, which began in 2020. They cap their time off at 12 weeks, instead of Minnesota’s 20. Three years later, they had to raise their payroll tax from .6% to .8% to cover the program. There’s no doubt Minnesota will follow a similar path.

Minnesota is already hostile to small business, and this program could be the final nail in the coffin. Why would anyone live here when they could do their business in South Dakota, Iowa, or Wisconsin?

Thankfully, there is time to stop this madness. The program will not be implemented until 2026, which gives Minnesotans time to call their legislators – demanding they put a stop to this. If they won’t listen, Minnesotans have an opportunity to vote for more sane legislators in 2024.

On the campaign trail last fall, Governor Walz and several swing district Democrats, like Sen Judy Seeberger, ran on an agenda of less taxes. Walz himself proudly boasted, "I've never raised taxes as governor." And they made multiple promises to eliminate the Social Security tax on seniors and return a substantial portion of the massive budget surplus.

Walz even tweeted four days before the election that he wanted to return $2,000 of overtaxed surplus money back to individuals.

Turns out, Walz and Flanagan had no intention of pushing to "get this done." With full Democrat control of the Minnesota government, putting money back in your pocket is not the objective of the Democrats. Here's a breakdown of what appears will be passed in the final days of the session.

Rebate Checks

The budget surplus is about $21 Billion. Which means that each taxpayer is owed up to $8,000 (if divided equally). Democrats final agreement on how much they will give back of OUR money is an insulting $260 per tax filer, and $260 for dependent children up to 3 total dependents. So the most a family in Minnesota will see of their money is $1,300. The total rebate program accounts for $1.1 Billion or a mere 5% of the total money that they overtaxed us by. The rest will go to funding all the Democrat's radical agenda and paybacks to their Special Interests.

Household Delivery Tax

For every package or food delivery sent to your home, Democrats want to add 75 cents. Even if the item is returned to the vendor, you will still be charged. Sound crazy? This tax has already passed in the Minnesota House. Luckily, it hasn't been fully embraced by the Senate, but that could change in any hour and rushed to the floor for a vote. Remember, Democrats say they only want to tax "the wealthy." What a LIE!

Metro Sales Tax Increase

Democrats also put a metro sales tax increase in their transportation bill which received support in the House and will likely be in the final omnibus bill that passes the Senate as well. This would tag on another .75% to the already high sales taxes of the 7 county metro area. Current tax rates range from 7.125% to 8.025%. 

Gas Tax Increase

In another attempt by the Democrats to "tax the wealthy," a proposal to increase our tax on gasoline has resurfaced at the Capitol in the final days of the legislative session. If it's not already bad enough that gas prices are high due to politicians inflating our money supply, Walz and Democrat Party bosses want to increase the current 28.5 cent state gas tax and tie it to inflation. 

Social Security Tax Stays for Some

There will be a total tax elimination of social security income for Minnesotans who have a Federal Adjusted Gross Income of $100k or lower. Tax filers between $100k and $140k will have a reduction in taxes. And those above, will still pay taxes. Way to stick up for our seniors!

$2.2 Billion Tax Increase Over Next Four Years for Business Owners

Minnesota is losing small business owners every year. There's a net decrease of high income earners leaving for states like Florida, according to data from the IRS. And now Democrats want to expedite that process by focusing a $2.2 Billion tax increase on job producing citizens. Here's a list of their potential revenue streams:

Minnesota Democrats surprised everyone on Wednesday when they revived legislation that would provide constitutional protections for transgender athletes. 

The Minnesota Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ballot initiative on Wednesday afternoon. If passed by the House, Minnesota voters would vote on whether or not the Minnesota Constitution gets its own version of the ERA.

SF 37 passed 43-23 with all Democrats, and Republican Senators Coleman, Draheim, Duckworth, Housley, Jasinski, and Miller. Senator Abler did not vote. This is nothing but bad news for conservatives.

This legislation, if passed, would ask voters in 2024: "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended by adding a specific guarantee that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this state or any of its cities, counties, or other political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry, or national origin?”

Notice the provision on “gender identity or expression?” That means that under the Minnesota Constitution, biological men would be allowed to compete with biological women in high school sports, drag queens could perform shows in front of kids, and talks of gender ideology could not be stopped in the classroom.

Watch SF 37’s bill author tell the Senate that her bill will let men compete with women in high school sports.

While these things already happen in Minnesota, they may soon be protected by the constitution – which is incredibly difficult to repeal. If conservatives want to prevent this from happening, they must contact their state representatives. Call your state representatives now.

As of writing, Minnesota’s average price for gas is $3.45. However, this could quickly change with Democrats in charge of state government.

Despite plans to wrap up the legislative session early, Governor Walz made a public statement saying that he is now open to an increase in Minnesota’s gas tax – which currently sits at 28.5 cents per gallon.

No number has been proposed for this increase as of writing, though the public will likely know in the coming days. 

Remember that Tim Walz was gun-hoe about a 5-cent increase in 2019, which would increase by an additional 5 cents per year. If Walz had his way back then, the gas tax would currently be a whopping 48.5 cents per gallon!

This is exactly what Democrat Senator Ann Rest has said, Democrats have an “insatiable appetite for raising taxes.”

Thankfully, one Senate Democrat publicly stated that she would oppose a gas tax increase last October. In reference to the prospect of a gas tax increase, now-Senator Judy Seeberger states at a forum in Hastings that “I want to go on record as saying that I don’t, uh, support that at all.”

If @JudySeeberger is an honest person, this proposal should be DOA. At this point, that seems like a BIG "if." https://t.co/EeWjmfCyjf pic.twitter.com/NmPZSCkpRW

— Action 4 Liberty (@action_liberty) May 17, 2023

Of course, Seeberger also claimed that she was a moderate on the campaign trail. Now, voters in her district can see that she is a far-left extremist. They should also not be surprised if she goes back on her word to stop a gas tax increase.

Senator Ann Rest made a big admission last Friday, May 10th in the conference committee for HF 1938 – the Tax Policy Omnibus Bill. She told the committee that Democrats have an “insatiable appetite for raising taxes.”

WATCH HERE

To anyone who has been paying attention the last few months, this sounds like an obvious fact. Democrats have already passed crazy tax increases in 2023, including the metro sales tax increase and the proposed delivery tax.

Senator Ann “put me to” Rest’s sleepy admission comes at the peril of her own party, which campaigned on tax cuts. In fact, Democrats were bragging about “historic tax cuts” earlier this year. The final version of HF 1938 has yet to be seen, but it is likely that it will not be meeting the “historic” tax cut claim that Democrats have been making.