Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the state of Minnesota, receives your tax money every year for its operations. Although politicians will tell you the money doesn't go directly to funding abortion, its quite obvious that if the taxpayer revenue stream fell, Planned Parenthood would have less money to conduct the heinous procedure because other programs would require the remaining funding sources

A recent MCCL news release stated "In 2017, Planned Parenthood took in a record-high $560,895 in taxpayer money by performing a record-high 2,560 tax-funded abortions—a record-high 59 percent of all tax-funded abortions in the state. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, a record-high 44 percent of total abortions occurring in Minnesota in 2017 were publicly funded."

Here's the interesting part. How is Planned Parenthood getting record taxpayer funding when Republicans were in control of both the House and Senate in Minnesota?

It turns out that the funding source comes from the massive Health & Human Services Omnibus Bill that your legislator most likely never read and was told to vote for by Republican leadership. In 2017, this bill passed with mostly Republican support in the two chambers (DFL legislator oppositions was due to them believing the spending bills were not big enough). Republican Reps Bahr, Drazkowski, Scott and Lucero voted against the bill.

Here's the Minnesota House vote:

And here's the Senate vote:

The 2017 HHS Omnibus bill (SF2) funded the Medical Assistance program which is the vehicle for Planned Parenthood to receive your tax money. Of course stripping this program out of the omnibus bill or adding a provision that restricted money going to Planned Parenthood would have created quite a heated battle with Governor Dayton. But can you think of a more worthy battle for your pro-life legislator to take on?

All heads now turn to Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and Senate Republicans this session. Will they fight to stop our tax money from going to fund the state's largest abortion provider or will they once again keep the status quo like they did in 2017?

Action 4 Liberty opposes using taxpayer money to fund abortion provider Planned Parenthood. PP is a hyper-political organization that spends millions of dollars each election year to get Democrats elected. 

Contact your legislator today and tell them to stop funding Planned Parenthood!

WHO REPRESENTS ME

A bill that would create a new government council and tax. HF400 establishes an Opioid Stewardship Fund in the state. The fund’s revenue would come from fees on manufacturers and wholesalers of opioid medication. Fees will be determined by the board of the Opioid Stewardship Fund based on its $20 Million annual budget.

HF 400 dictates how much opioid pain medication can be prescribed to patients following major trauma or surgery. The bill states “when used for the treatment of acute pain associated with a major trauma or surgical procedure, initial prescriptions for opiate or narcotic pain relievers listed in Schedules II through IV of section 152.02shall not exceed a seven-day supply.”

The bill also adds another mandated coverage to Minnesota health insurance plans. According to the bill, all “health plans must cover acupuncture services for the treatment of pain and ongoing pain management.”

The new tax was voted overwhelmingly by Republicans in the Minnesota Senate. It passed 59 - 6. Here's the vote:

Action 4 Liberty opposes this bill for several reasons. With rising health care costs in this country, this bill adds more costs that will inevitably pass on to consumers. Action 4 Liberty seeks to reduce mandates on health insurance plan coverage, but this bill increases mandates. Lastly, government should not get involved in the decision-making of prescribing pain medication from medical professionals.

As March comes to an end, we finally know (sort of) where all the major players at the Capitol fall when it comes to the size and scope of government. On one end, Governor Walz who carries an incredible amount of weight in the negotiation battle that is soon to ensue, believes that our state government should grow to over $49.3 Billion and spend an additional $1.2 Billion in bonding debt. That budget only works by taxing us more, which is why he proposed keeping the sick tax and increasing the state gasoline tax.

Here's the STATE BUDGET COMPARISON

On the other end of the field are the four renegade Republicans who left the old Republican House Caucus to form the New House Republican Caucus (NHRC). Their budget actually shrinks spending by $300 Million, eliminates the tax on social security benefits and repeals the estate tax.

Here's where the major players are on the State Spending Football Field.

Here's where things get complicated. The Minnesota DFL House released their numbers but the devil is in the detail. Their total spending adds up to $47.8 Billion, which is the same amount as the GOP Senate and $1.5 Billion less than Governor Walz. However, they show a negative number on transportation and the elements of their tax bill are not known. The DFL House also plans to spend $1.6 Billion in debt spending. This could be where transportation spending is made up.

The Senate Republicans yesterday released their budget numbers which grow government from current spending of $45.5 Billion to $47.8 Billion. Surprisingly, they spend more on Health & Human Services than the DFL House. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka has made several statements that the Republican Senate is not raising any taxes in their budget, which contrasts them to both Walz and the DFL House. Although, their numbers show that they are eating up a large portion of the projected budget surplus with new spending.

Action 4 Liberty believes that state government is too large already. We've learned recently that a massive amount of fraud is carried out in the Dept of Human Services and politicians keep using more taxpayer money to pay for government health care programs.  The correct course for Minnesota is to reduce the budget like the New House Republican Caucus suggests and let citizens keep their own money. If we want to shed our title as the "Least Tax Friendly State" in the county, we need to move in a different direction. It's time we become a Sanctuary State for Business!

Three Democrat legislators introduced a bill (HF 2587) in the Minnesota House that would create a task force on islamaphobia and antisemitism. According to the bill it would be establish "a task force on the consequences of islamophobia and antisemitism [...] to analyze the impact of islamophobia and antisemitism, recommend actions to improve the safety of Minnesota's Muslim and Jewish communities, increase participation by the Muslim and Jewish communities in civic life, and recommend possible legislative action."

Membership of the task force would include the Attorney General, the Hennepin Co sheriff, the executive director of CAIR, the executive director of ISAIAH, a muslim state representative and a jewish state senator, amongst its long list of members.

The bill appropriates money for the task force, but as of the publication of this article, the dollar amount is not disclosed.

Action 4 Liberty opposes using taxpayer money for task forces, especially ones that seek to cater to a particular political agenda. 

(Photo Credit: CBS)

The Republican led Minnesota Senate yesterday passed a bill (HF 50) to ban cell phone use in vehicles without a hands free device. This bill previous passed overwhelmingly in the Minnesota House. The bill aims to solve the problem of distracted driving according to its authors. But main opposition to the hands-free bill assert that distracted driving is already illegal and that the bill would not solve the underlying problem.

An interesting amendment authored by Bobby Joe Champion (DFL - Minneapolis) added language that provided an additional exception to using a phone while driving a vehicle. According to the amendment "the use of a scarf or hijab or other item​ of clothing to hold a device in a hands-free manner" is allowed under the new law.

Here's the vote for the amendment:

Here's the vote for the entire bill (which included the above amendment):

Action 4 Liberty opposes this bill because it limits individual freedom and increases government control. It’s not clear how the tens of thousands of Minnesotans who rely on mobile devices for commerce everyday will be able to continue activities such as ride-share services. The bill also seems to unequally harm lower income folks who do not drive vehicles with hands-free features. Adding language that excludes enforcement for people using a clothing device like a hijab, undermines the bill's intent to reduce distracted driving.

There's a bi-partisan bill up for a floor vote today authored by Rep Chris Swedzinski (R-16A) that would expand regulations for sports agents. The bill is a rewritten version of current state statutes that adds more requirements for agents looking to be licensed by the state of Minnesota, while also providing more reasons for the Commissioner to refuse to issue a license.

HF2363is on the House of Representatives Calendar for the day and currently has two DFL co-authors. The companion Senate bill has no Republican authors.

Action 4 Liberty believes that industry regulations should primarily be done in the private sector, not by government statutes. Licensing is a form of creating barriers-to-entry that discourages competition and protects those already in the business. We oppose this bill and will score this vote on mnscorecard.com.

SEE OUR WATCHLIST

The Republican Senate Caucus today released their budget proposal that grows government by over $2 Billion, coming in slightly smaller than the number proposed by the Minnesota DFL House. Although the budget does not raise taxes, it does keep current tax levels elevated and spends the majority of the budget surplus.

How It Compares?

The New House Republican Caucus' budget actually shrinks government and gives back billions of dollars in tax cuts, including a one year holiday on license tabs and fees. Their budget's total price tag is $45.2 Billion, which is over a $300 Million cut from current spending.

Governor Walz' budget proposal spends $49.3 Billion and adds $1.2 Billion of debt. To pay for his budget, Walz raises taxes on gasoline and keeps the health provider tax on the sick.

House Democrats released a budget proposal early this week, but their numbers are hard to properly score. The best estimate we have is that they plan to spend a total of $47.8 Billion, keep $600 Million on hand and issue $1.6 Billion of debt.

Below is how the key players look on the State Spending Football Field. The numbers released by both the Minnesota Republican Caucus and the DFL House are questionable. We used more conservative estimates of their spending numbers to calculate their positions on the field. Both the DFL House and Senate Republicans want a debt spending bill on top of general funds spending. Neither caucus gives back the surplus to taxpayers.

Action 4 Liberty stands with the New House Republican Caucus budget that is more in line with a conservative vision of state government. If Governor Walz is trying to massively expand state spending, the logical approach to negotiations is to start on the opposite side. A4L also believes every dime of the budget surplus should be returned to taxpayers.

A group of legislators led by Rep Steve Drazkowski (R - Mazeppa) introduced a billin the legislature to eliminate the state's portion of the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). This program is under public scrutiny for massive fraud that could amount to almost half of the state's $250 Million portion of funding. A whistleblower from the DHS alleges that money from this program is going to Somali daycare centers then wired overseas to potentially fund terrorism.

UPDATE. Sen Mark Koran (R - Chisago) introduced the companion billin the Minnesota Senate. Republicans hold the majority in the chamber and have yet to release their budget proposal, which could include defunding CCAP.

The Legislative Auditor completed his investigation last week and presented the findings to the legislature. Although the Auditor could not substantiate the claim of over $100 Millions in fraud, he did find that massive fraud existed and might be difficult to determine the actual amount. On top of that, the report states that the average beneficiary of the program receives $27,000.

Action 4 Liberty believes we need to eliminate CCAP. Half of the program is going to fraud and the other half is a massive welfare program. All the generations that came before us did not rely on government to pay for childcare. We are solving nothing by making Minnesotans depend on a government program. Meanwhile, we are taxing people to death. Kiplinger ranks us as the least taxpayer friendly state in the country.

The Minnesota House and Senate passed the MNLARS fix bill (SF 3133) today without the language from the GOP House bill that would have made the Dayton Administration take $10 Million from it's budget to pay for the fix. Instead the bill adopted the Senate location that gets the money from a reserve account from the Department of Driver and Vehicle Services.

We encouraged that Republicans stand strong with the House language, but the conference committee took it out this morning.

The bill that passed did have provisions that required auditing and accountability of the money and process of the MNLARS fix.

Roll call vote

Legislators passed a bill in the Minnesota House late Monday night that would make it illegal to use a cell phone while operating a vehicle unless using a hands-free device. The bill (HF 50) aims to solve the problem of distracted driving according to its authors. But main opposition to the hands-free bill assert that distracted driving is already illegal and that the bill would not solve the underlying problem.

The bill states when a motor vehicle is in motion or part of traffic, the person operating the vehicle is prohibited from using a wireless communications device, which "includes but is not limited to: 1) initiating, composing, send, retrieving or reading and electric message and 2) engaging in a cellular phone call, including initiating a call, talking or listening, and participating in video calling." Exception: if a wireless communications device is used "solely in a voice-activated or hands-free mode." Violators of the hands-free law would face a $225 fine for their second infraction.

Exempt from the bill are law enforcement officers and emergency vehicles. An amendment offered by Rep Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) would have removed this exemption, but was defeated decisively on the House floor.

Action 4 Liberty opposes this bill because it limits individual freedom and increases government control. It's not clear how the tens of thousands of Minnesotans who rely on mobile devices for commerce everyday will be able to continue activities such as ride-share services. The bill also seems to unequally harm lower income folks who do not drive vehicles with hands-free features.

The vote was 106 to 21.