Why on earth are Republicans in the Senate willing to pass a single piece of legislation with the Democrat House while Walz' is still unilaterally ordering businesses to be closed?! The Minnesota House voted down the resolution to end Walz' emergency powers on Friday following the successful vote in the Senate. So Gazelka should either refuse to take up a bill or adjourn Sine Die.

But here's the agenda that just got posted for the day that includes hearing a bill from the MN House! 

Paul Gazelka tweeted over the weekend that the Senate Republicans "will introduce sweeping criminal justice reform measures supported by the People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus of the Minnesota House of Representatives".

Also, on Friday Gazelka mentioned that Republicans' new target on the bonding debt bill is $1.3 Billion, an additional $300 Million from where they were one month before. That's money you will be on the hook to pay so that Democrats can fund their pork projects.

Why is Gazelka cutting deals with the far left Democrats in St Paul instead of holding firm on ending Walz' illegal powers???

Last year when Gazelka and Senate Republicans "cut deals" with the Democrats, we got a tax increase. The sick tax that was due to expire, was renewed by the Senate Republicans indefinitely. What a shame!

This is what the real priority should be of Gazelka and Senate Republicans...

1. Don't pass a single piece of legislation in this Special Session unless the House votes to end Walz' illegal emergency powers
2. Stop cutting deals with the Democrats while hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans are out of work and business owners are watching their dreams get squashed

Please take a moment now to contact Senator Gazelka and your state senator.

Senator Paul Gazelka

Phone: 651-296-4875

Email: sen.paul.gazelka@senate.mn

SEE WHO REPRESENTS ME

The Minnesota Senate just joined the growing momentum in the state to end Walz' emergency powers and open back up for business. Action 4 Liberty has championed the issue since March and got all Republicans on board with the Munson Resolution back in late April. However, the Republican controlled Senate refused to bring a vote on the resolution before adjourning in May.

Governor Walz declared an extension of his illegal emergency powers for another 30 days this week, which required the legislature to come back for a Special Session. Due to the thousands of calls and emails from Action 4 Liberty supporters, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka finally authored the resolution and brought it to the floor for a vote.

After over 2 hours of debate and one minor amendment, the bill passed 38-29 with unanimous Republican support and three DFL senators joining: Eken, Franzen, and Hoffman. The resolution now heads to the Democrat controlled House where 9 Democrats need to join the Republicans to pass it. If successful, the emergency powers that Walz' has used to shutdown our economy and infringe on Minnesotan's rights, will be terminated.

This is a huge victory for Minnesotans today and it could not have been done without the support of activists and donors around the state. The House is a big obstacle, but we will do everything we can to get the vote. Please consider donating to help Action 4 Liberty put the pressure on vulnerable Democrats.

Also, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Politicians might fail us at the Capitol, but the people can recall Walz! Sign the Recall Walz Petition.

One of the biggest hurdles Action 4 Liberty encountered in the battle to end Walz' illegal emergency powers appears to have been overcome. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka mentioned in a press conference this morning that the Senate will vote on a resolution to end Walz' emergency powers. Thousands of Action 4 Liberty supporters have called and emailed their Senators in the past month to end the shutdown. It appears those calls have finally paid off.

If the Senate does pass a resolution, like the Rep Munson resolution in the House, the Democrat held House would have to pass it in order for Walz' powers to be taken away. All Republicans in the Minnesota House have voted in favor of removing Walz' powers. 

At this point, the Minnesota Senate website does not show a resolution authored today that would end the emergency powers. Stay tuned to our facebook page early this afternoon when we bring live coverage of the Senate floor.

Update: Speaker of the House, Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park), stated that they do not plan on voting to end Walz' powers. However, House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Spectacle Lake) has made numerous statements that House Republicans won't give the Democrats the needed votes to pass a debt bill unless they end Walz' powers. Bonding debt bills require 60% support for passage.

The Senate Resolution is SC1, posted late this morning.

SIGN THE RECALL WALZ PETITION

Governor Walz made the unprecedented move of extending his illegal powers of shutting down Minnesota by issuing a new emergency powers declaration. This move requires him by statute to call the legislature back to the Capitol for a Special Session. Walz is in new territory. This is the longest emergency declaration since WWII.

In the press conference, Walz alluded to the potential of turning the dials on the shutdown back up if there's an increase in COVID cases. Despite Minnesota's closest neighbors all experiencing flattened curves with full reopens, Walz appears to believe Minnesota will be different.

The most interesting aspect of the press conference is Walz' call to have the Special Session last indefinitely so that the legislature can pass policing reforms in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy. This stands in contrast to the messaging out of the Republican controlled Senate. 

Stay tuned to Action 4 Liberty for more details on what to expect when legislators reconvene in St Paul this Friday.

Governor Walz broke several of his own orders while attending the highly politicized Memorial Service for George Floyd on Thursday. According to Walz's numerous press conferences on extending his illegal orders, his administration is using "science" to protect the health of Minnesotans by reducing the spread of COVID when ordering social distancing, the use of facemarks, reduced capacity, etc. Many of these orders were broken on Thursday and according to Walz' own statements, "endanger the public".

According to the Pioneer Press, Walz' order of 250 person maximum capacity was violated as they counted around 500 people in attendance for the service. The image provided by the Star Tribune shows Walz not adhering to the six feet social distancing rules, which is the basis of the capacity rule. 

Walz Executive Order that was announced by his administration on May 23rd states:

Walz states in the executive order that he continues "to urge all Minnesotans to limit their in-person interactions with people outside of their households. And, as I have emphasized in previous Executive Orders, I strongly urge Minnesotans at heightened risk to stay home except for essential activities, and I urge faith communities to continue to provide remote services to the maximum extent possible."

Although not part of the executive order, Walz made an infamous statement when extending his orders in May that people should not sing in church. Floyd's Memorial Service was filled with singing. His Dept of Health has this recommendation on its website:

All of this occurred while Walz is keeping Minnesota restaurants, bars, camping/resorts and fitness clubs partially or fully closed for the exact reasons as stated above. Meanwhile, Wisconsin has had no spike in COVID related deaths in the three weeks since it reopened.

Action 4 Liberty has spoken to hundreds of Minnesota businesses in the past two weeks who are on the cusp of failure if they don't reopen immediately. Yesterday, Walz slapped those businesses in the face by ordering only a partial reopening on June 10th, costing them another weekend of revenue (we only get so many nice summer weekends here). 

At this point, why would anyone follow Walz' illegal orders if he won't do it himself? The orders are clearly not based on well established science. All of the modeling data they used for policy-making has been overblown. And we know now that the virus mostly kills people who are already passed the life expectancy age, with few exceptions that are based on other underlying health issues.

Sure, the killing of George Floyd is tragic and we certainly aren't arguing against his family holding a funeral service. But all Minnesota families who have lost a loved one in the past couple months also deserve the same treatment by Governor Walz, even if it doesn't get him social browny points with voters.

Walz broke his own rules - it's time we break them as well.

This afternoon, Governor Walz partially opened up Minnesota by turning the dials, as they say in St Paul. Meaning Walz is continuing to exercise his illegal emergency powers which he believes allow him to move the metaphorical "open or close" dial for Minnesota businesses and citizens. 

Despite the massive evidence suggesting that the COVID pandemic is extremely overblown, Walz refused to open up restaurants, bars, gyms, resorts and churches fully. Instead they are capped at 50% capacity (gyms are 25%). And...get this, the new loosening of restrictions doesn't take effect until June 10th. Minnesota restaurants and bars will have to suffer another beautiful Minnesota summer weekend with no cash flow.

Action 4 Liberty has chatted to hundreds of businesses in the last couple weeks who are affected by Walz' illegal orders. One of those businesses made headlines when they planned opening up early. Walz sent Attorney General Ellison to the scene who threaten a lawsuit and massive fines for disobeying the order.

By our count, at least 50 business secretly opened up last Friday throughout the state. More are expected to open up this weekend in defiance of Governor Walz. Businesses in Greater Minnesota just can't survive another weekend with their doors closed. 

In the press conference, Walz stated that his partial reopening leaves uncertainty on the impact of spreading the Coronavirus in the state. However, our neighbors to the East have now been reopened for over three weeks without a spike in COVID related deaths. On top of that, South Dakota never closed and remains in good shape.

Action 4 Liberty believes Governor Walz has clearly shown he is violating the oath of office by trampling on our rights. We encourage people to sign the petition to Recall Walz.

SIGN THE PETITION

The Liberate Hanover Resolution was passed last night by the Hanover City Council that nullifies the illegal orders by Governor Walz. According to the resolution, "city resources, whether physical, financial or otherwise, including but not limited to city staff and personnel, city contractors and subcontractors, or assistance of any kind tied to the city, or any cooperation to any other governments including federal, state, or county, shall not be used to enforce any of Governor Walz’ COVID-19 Emergency Executive Orders."

Hanover's mayor, Chris Kauffman, signed the resolution into law. The City Council recognized the individual rights of its citizens and their oath to uphold the protected rights in the Constitution. Here's a copy of the Resolution:

Minnesotans have endured nearly three months of horribly misguided public policymaking by Governor Walz. Not only has the COVID-19 modeling been completely wrong, but Walz has taken unprecedented steps in usurping his constitutional powers by mandating the closures of a large segment of our economy. For this reason, we joined the effort to Recall Walz.

But the time has come for Walz to realize his mistakes and remove his illegal orders so we can start dining at restaurants, have a drink at our favorite restaurants, get our haircut by our barber or, for God's sake, go camping in northern Minnesota! Even Michigan has opened back up!

Afraid that a sudden reopening of bars/restaurants will lead to countless deaths? Well, where's the body count in our neighbors to the East. It's been 3 weeks since the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Evers shutdown orders, and there's been no spike in deaths in Wisconsin and no drastic spike in cases. In fact, newly reported deaths (highlighted in light blue) have remained relatively flat since the 5/13 reopening.

The data in Minnesota, just like in Wisconsin, suggests that the deaths due to COVID are overwhelmingly experienced in our older populations. The average age of COVID related death is higher than the average life expectancy. Let that sink in.

If Walz was really concerned about mass gathering leading to deaths, then certainly the protestors he empathizes with flooding the streets of the Twin Cities will have blood on their hands. Look at the crowds outside his mansion yesterday.

Minnesota's greatest joys like summer parades, county fairs and the Great Minnesota Get-Together are all now cancelled for the summer based on Walz' orders. Think of the jobs and businesses connected to those events that are now facing serious financial turmoil. 

Enough is enough. Walz needs to own up to his mistake and end the shutdown now. Minnesota has suffered greatly this year and we're at a boiling point. Are we going to continue down the path of Walz' failed leadership and illegal policies, or are we going to work together to safely open our state back up? The time has come to reopen Minnesota!

Bonfire Restaurants, a popular chain throughout the metro area, just announced that they are permanently closing doors, citing the uncertain business environment during the COVID pandemic.

Here's the message from the owners on the company's website:

We're under 72 hours left of the 2020 Legislative Session and the chances of terminating Walz' Emergency Powers are deteriorating because some Republican legislators are more concerned about passing a large debt bill than opening all of Minnesota. Rep Jeremy Munson and members of the New House Republican Caucus have brought a vote to the House floor twice on the Resolution to End Walz' Emergency Powers, but the Senate Republicans refuse to do the same in their chamber. Republicans have a three person majority and could pass it immediately.

Action 4 Liberty has discussed the resolution with several Republican state senators and all of them have told us that senate "leadership" does not support it. Instead, Sen Paul Gazelka (R-East Gull Lake) put energy into a fake open bill that would require the Governor's signature (the Munson Resolution only requires the Legislature). Gazelka continues to tell the press that a large debt bill (aka bonding bill) will be a priority of the legislature before the session ends. 

The Senate Republicans appear to be blind to the gloomy fiscal realities in Minnesota. Last week we learned that the state is projected to run a $2.4 Billion budget deficit in the next year, so a debt bill at this point would be fiscally irresponsible.

Even more concerning is the tone deaf Democrat majority in the Minnesota House. On Wednesday they passed a bill that gave state employees pay raises while the private sector is experiencing catastrophe. The pay raise bill would add another $440 Million cost to Minnesota taxpayers. While all Republicans in the House are now on board to Ending Walz' Emergency Powers, not a single Democrat voted for it.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Spectacle Lake) has made numerous statements lately that House Republicans won't help pass a bonding bill unless Walz' powers are terminated. Democrats need six Republicans on board in order to hit the required 60% needed for a debt bill's passage. Sources at the Capitol tell us that Daudt is cutting a deal behind the scenes with Democrat leadership to deliver the six votes needed. Most likely, the bargaining chip will be some pork projects that help Republican members. Daudt may also ask Democrat leadership to drop the ethics investigation into his employment with a D.C. lobbying firm.

Action 4 Liberty continues to call for an end to Walz' Emergency Powers. Passing a debt bill is not a valid compromise for the pain and suffering business owners and families across Minnesota are feeling. SIGN THE PETITION!