Minnesota has an annual anti-tax tradition, thanks to talk show host Jason Lewis, who founded the Tax Cut Coalition and organized the annual Tax Cut Rally at the state Capitol. Last year, despite freezing temperatures and snow, thousands of people turned out for the rally in St. Paul. This year’s rally is scheduled for May 2^nd and is expected to be the biggest ever. Multiple organizations are participating in the event, which will take on a fair-like atmosphere. Besides the usual speeches from policy leaders and America’s Mr. Right, Jason Lewis, there will be family-friendly entertainment on the stage and numerous non-profit organizations will have exhibits. Food and beverages will also be available.

 

This year, another tax protest had bubbled up from the grassroots: The Tax Day Tea Party. This national event is set to take place in Minnesota at the Capitol at 5:00 PM on the date personal income tax returns are due, April 15^th. Protestors in out-state Minnesota may find local Tea Party events getting organized in their localities, too. Tea Party anti-tax demonstrations have popped up all around the nation. The trend began spontaneously in isolated cities, but became an organized national movement almost overnight.

 

For frustrated Minnesotans, one tax rally just isn’t sufficient this year. The people are restless and angry over gross fiscal mismanagement by lawmakers at both the federal and state levels.

 

• Attend the Budget Hawks Jam & Bash at Trocadero's on Thursday April 2nd
• Participate in the national Tea Party Movement at the State Capitol on Wednesday, April 15th
•  Attend the annual Jason Lewis Tax Cut Rally at the state Capitol on Saturday, May 2nd 

Senator John Marty (DFL – Roseville) has introduced a bill to make Minnesota’s marriage laws gender-neutral, replacing the words “man and woman” with “two people” in all marriage references in Minnesota law. The bill is ironically named the “Marriage and Family Protection Act (SF 3880).

 

On the other side of the debate, Representative Dan Severson (R – Sauk Rapids) along with other members of his caucus in the House are planning to introduce a constitutional amendment that would actually protect the traditional definition of marriage. In a national environment marked by activist courts with a history of throwing out traditional marriage definitions, against the will of the people, many believe that the only path to defending the institution of marriage is to codify the definition of it in the constitution. Making the definition so explicit in the highest law of the state would remove any justification courts might use to overturn traditional marriage laws and prevent the legislature from enacting laws like the “Marriage and Family Protection Act.”

 

Gay activists have long attempted to make the case that they are not receiving equal treatment under the law and that a narrow, traditional definition of marriage is discriminatory. A simple analysis of that logic breaks it apart, however. No one is denied the right to marry. Marriage has a specific meaning we all understand and have understood for thousands of years. People who identify themselves as gay have the same right to marriage – to a member of the opposite gender – as anyone else. It is equal treatment. The supporters of gay marriage actually seek to create a new right to enter into a new kind of institution. Just because a person chooses not to engage in the institution of marriage as it now exists does not mean their rights have been violated, nor does that non-participation entitle them to an alternative more to their liking. Marriage is what it is and people either choose to partake in its ups and downs, or they choose not to. The people of Minnesota are under no obligation to create a new special set of privileges for people who have decided that marriage isn’t for them.

 

Take Action: Sign the Minnesota Marriage Protection Petition. 

HF 1011 will be heard in the House State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee on Tuesday, March 17^th at 8:30 AM. This bill has the to potential to better enable voter fraud by obscuring election documents.

 

The ability of the public to inspect election records is one of the few safeguards against errors and abuse corrupting our election system. HF 1011 intends to shut down a portion of that protection by making it impossible for anyone to inspect voter registrations. The all-encompassing language reads simply, “No voter registration application may be inspected.” Currently, these materials are held as confidential until they have been entered into the statewide voter registration system, after which time, any interested party is entitled to examine them. Should this bill be enacted, no one would ever be permitted to see these election-related documents. Documents such as these are among the tens of thousands of documents that Minnesota Majority has requested, and examined during our investigation into election integrity issues.

 

The bill also prohibits taking pictures or video inside a polling place. This appears to be a reaction to a movement underway during the 2008 election in which participants were encouraged to take a picture of their own ballot. Concerns about incorrect ballots being distributed, faulty voting machines and other election irregularities, combined with a distrust of paperless electronic voting machines used in some states led to this movement for individuals to document their Election Day experiences. Citizen-organized evidence gathering of this kind seems to greatly disturb election officials. Reports from different precincts in Minnesota demonstrated inconsistent handling of voters bringing cameras into the polls. Some voters were simply told not to photograph anyone else’s ballot, while others were told they could not bring a camera into the polling place at all. State law is currently silent on the use of cameras in the polling place. One good reason offered for the addition of this language is to prevent "vote selling." If a person can provide evidence of how they voted, the possibility of bribery and coercion could be opened up.

 

In addition to the measures already mentioned that will serve to make Minnesota’s elections less transparent, this bill hands extraordinary power to the chairpersons of the major political parties under crisis circumstances. The “Continuity of Congress” portion of the bill deals with what is apparently envisioned as a possible catastrophe that would result in 100 or more vacancies in the US House of Representatives. It provides for speedy special elections to fill vacancies in such a situation, within 49 days of the announcement of the vacancies. It gives 10 days following the announcement for the chairpersons of major political parties to announce their party’s nominee to the Secretary of State. This process bypasses primary elections, and doesn’t seem to require any endorsing conventions.

 

The authors of HF 1011 are Representatives Hilty and Kalin, both Democrats who serve on the House Government Operations committee. Both voted against the voter photo ID bill recently heard in the Government Ops committee. 

House File 1011 has a companion bill in the Senate authored by Senators Sieben and Marty. It’s been referred to the Senate’s Government Operations committee.

Update: HF 1011 has been amended in the Government Operations Committee and passed out to the House floor by an acclaimation vote. The amendments that were adopted eliminated the most objectionable aspects of the bill. The language that would have concealed election records from the public has been stripped out.

Additional Resources: Listen to the Dan Conry Show on Tuesday, March 17th for a discussion of HF1011.

Twila Brase Explains the Newborn DNA Privacy Situation (8:28)

The Minnesota Department of Health is fast-tracking a bill to eliminate our genetic privacy rights. State officials have been violating the 2006 Minnesota Genetic Privacy law for three years - collecting, storing, analyzing and sharing newborn DNA (and family bloodlines) without the consent or knowledge of parents.
 
The State of Minnesota now owns and warehouses the DNA of more than 819,000 children. More than 52,000 children have been the subjects of genetic research without parent consent.   On March 11th, nine families filed a law suit against the Department of Health. In response, health officials are pushing for the rapid passage of a new law that would exempt newborn genetic testing from the state genetic privacy law, eliminate written informed consent requirements and the legal options of parents (see HF1341/SF1478).
 
Thanks to your calls to Governor Pawlenty, he vetoed this legislaion last year, telling lawmakers in his veto letter that while screening for medical disorders is a laudable goal, maintaining the database without parental permission - and in some cases, over the stated objections of the parents - "is concerning."  But since then the Governor has come under intense pressure from the special interests seeking passage of this bill.
 
The new bill could land on the Governor's desk by as early as Monday, March 23. To protect children and families from unwelcome government intrusion, and to protect the genetic privacy and DNA property rights of all citizens, please contact Governor Pawlenty as soon as possible.
 
Take Action: Send a message to Governor Pawlenty asking him to veto bill number HF1341/SF1478.

Additional Resources

• Citizens' Council on Health Care
• Listen to the Dan Conry Show on Tuesday, March 17th for a discussion of this issue with Twila Brase.
• Listen to a podcast of the Sue Jeffers Show from March 7th for more from Twila Brase on baby DNA.

Last year, the state legislature put together a whopping billion-dollar bonding bill, that was laden with predictable pork barrel projects. The governor line-item vetoed many of the most frivolous appropriations. This session, despite a far worse budget situation, a lot of last year’s cut pork is coming back for another go at our wallets, and our children’s future incomes.

 

The state Senate is currently considering $367 million in bonding. Didn’t they get the memo? The state is broke. Worse than broke. We’re in the hole $6 billion and they want to increase our debt load? Well then, these bond-worthy projects must be very important, one might think.  

Projects like a $5 million expansion to Rochester’s volleyball court facility, $11 million worth of improvements to Como Zoo’s gorilla cages, another $5 million to the Minnesota Zoo, $90 million for MNSCU classroom renovations and expansions, $24 million to build another natural history museum and $5 million towards a new high-speed rail line to Chicago are just some of the critical projects legislators want to borrow more money for.

Take Action: Contact your elected officials. Tell them to close the checkbook AND cut up the credit cards. We can’t afford any more state spending.

Visit MinnesotaBudgetSolutions.com for more information about Minnesota's budget situation.

So-called “card check” legislation has been the focal point of much heated debate over the past several months. Union organizers have been pushing hard for legislation that would eliminate the option to organize unions by a secret ballot. Currently, employers can chose to recognize a “card check” vote by employees, or to require a secret ballot administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on efforts to unionize labor at their business.

 

There are two competing pieces of legislation moving through congress on this subject. The ironically named “Employee Free Choice Act” pushed by union leaders would outlaw secret ballots. The “Secret Ballot Protection Act” requires a secret ballot on a vote to unionize. President Obama has offered his assurances that the former will pass and he intends to sign it into law.

 

Most Americans will readily recognize the importance of secret ballots. It’s how we elect all of our public officials. Secrecy keeps us free from coercion, pressure, intimidation, threats, bribery or blackmail. Every American knows that they can freely vote according to their conscience with confidence that nothing ill will befall them for their choice of candidates.

Unions despise the secret ballot process, because when given the choice free from pressure by union organizers, more often than not, workers vote not to be represented by a labor union. Currently, only 8% of the nation’s workforce is unionized. This is the lowest union membership in modern history. This appears to be a large part of the reason unions are pushing to eliminate secret ballots on the question of unionizing.

Polls in state after state demonstrate that Americans believe in protecting secret ballots. The issue garners 75% - 80% support for preserving secret ballots. Even the majority of union members favor a secret ballot. Why, then would elected legislators, and the president of the United States decide to proceed with “card check” legislation, defying the will of the people? Is this payback to union leaders for election year support?

A growing group of US representatives have signed on to the Secret Ballot Protection Act to try to preserve the right of workers to chose whether to unionize or not by secret ballot. 

Take Action: Minnesota’s congressional delegation breaks down party lines on this issue. Contact your US representative, and let him or her know how you feel about protecting secret ballots.