Capitol Letter for March 7, 2022
The Capitol Letter™ is a recurring publication that provides reports from LWV Minnesota volunteer Observer Corps and Lobby Corps members on what is happening in the current legislative session.
Bipartisan Support for Teacher Reform
Last week in the House Education Policy Committee there was a bipartisan call for supporting teachers and making it easier for districts to fill substitute positions. HF2950 was proposed by Rep. Hassan (DFL–Minneapolis) that would outline how districts could conduct classes for students who don’t have reliable internet access, how they would provide meals for families when schools are closed, and make it easier for qualified individuals to get a temporary teaching license and substitute license.
Deb Henton, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, says the bill does not go far enough, and says they need some sort of incentives for prospective teachers and more flexibility with licensures. These concerns are echoed by Republican lawmakers who have proposed their own bill, HF3124, goes further than the DFL-proposed bill as it would require state licensing boards to give out licenses to short-call substitute applicants who meet the requirements laid out by Rep. Hassan, but would mandate the licenses be given out more quickly.
Audits on the Southwest Light Rail Project
There are talks in the House to pass a bill that would require a special audit of the Southwest light rail project. This is just one of many audits—nearly four dozen—that have come across Legislative Auditor Judy Randall’s desk. Some accuse these audits of being politically motivated instead of with an intention of true, honorable oversight.
Rep. Steve Elkins (DFL–Bloomington) has called the light rail project an “epidemic of finger pointing”. The project is the largest infrastructure project in the state’s history, and the project has gotten a lot of criticism with delays, cost overruns, and “potential management issues”.
Farmers Still Suffer Following Drought
Gridlock has stalled packages to support farmers who were impacted by last year’s drought. Over three-fourths of the state suffered a drought, and cattle farmers claim to be hit the hardest as they could not fall back on crop insurance for commodity crops.
The DFL has merged the agriculture relief funds with a separate drought proposal of $13.3 million. Included in that is $5.5 million dedicated to reforestation efforts and seedlings killed by the drought on tribal, county, and private lands. An additional $4.5 million would be allocated to local governments and tribes to plant and care for trees. This merger was not met with bipartisan enthusiasm.
Rep. Dale Lueck (R–Aitkin) said that this process is already taking too long for the farmers who need the money most and questioned if the proposed merger would take money away from these farmers.
Climate Change
UN climate report
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented a report this week that demonstrates the dire nature of the climate crisis. In their report, they find that if “human-caused” climate change isn’t reduced by just some tenths of a degree, our planet will face deadly heat, fire, floods, and droughts that have the potential to be irreversible. Billions of lives and trillions of dollars are at risk unless we elect climate leaders and hear the perspective of all countries in adaptation measures.
It paints a grim picture of our current generation’s children: in 2100, they will experience four times more climate extremes than we do now. If temperatures increase only 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit, they will see five times as many floods, storms, droughts, and heat waves. The report concludes that more people will continue to die from heat waves, diseases, extreme weather, air pollution, and starvation due to global warming.
While the report is alarming, there is still a lot we can do to curb the crisis. The report suggests that richer countries need to do a better job at financially helping poorer countries that are disproportionately affected by the developing world. As a South African co-chair member said in the Monday press conference, “This has to be a whole of society response. Not a single individual, community, city, or government can opt out. While action is happening, it’s not rapid enough and it’s uneven.”
UN creates treaty to fight plastic pollution
Countries in the UN have agreed to a global treaty to address plastic pollution with international negotiations to create the treaty by 2024. Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s minister for environment and climate, describes plastic pollution as an “epidemic”, but with this agreement we are on our way “for a cure”.
Plastic pollution in our oceans was one of the top concerns, and the treaty would cover plastic’s entire lifecycle, from production to disposal. Every year, 11 million metric tons of plastic are disposed of in our oceans. Until the treaty is signed, many climate advocates said they will continue to pressure local governments and push for a plastic-free world.
House bill proposes study of statewide emission reduction strategy
HF3431, authored by Rep. Patty Acomb (DFL–Minnetonka), proposes for money to be funded and appropriated to addressing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Adapted from Project Drawdown, the proposal would utilize current technologies and help the state get back on track to reach its emission reduction goals to curtail climate change. Recent reports find that the state’s current statute of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 is currently not on the right track. The bill would require the reports to “quantify reductions” and estimate the costs necessary to achieve these reductions in sectors including agriculture, transportation, and resident and commercial buildings.
The bill was laid over by the House Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee for a possible omnibus bill inclusion; there is currently no Senate companion bill.
Defeating Putin with renewable energy
Russia’s economy is highly reliant on oil and gas, as they make up over 60% of their global exports. For a long time, their power over oil and gas has been used as a bargaining chip in western Europe, threatening to turn it off across the continent. The Biden administration has imposed sanctions across Russia and has made it clear that the US doesn’t want to interrupt the flow of Russian oil.
This has climate change advocates raising their voices for renewable energy, if not at the cost of our global health then as a way to seclude Russia even more from the global market. The cost of solar and wind power has dropped in recent years, making it an affordable alternative. Western countries can further limit Putin’s power by not relying on their oil and gas. By prioritizing solar and wind power, we can implement cheap and secure power to not only effectively sanction Russia, but also combat climate change.
Racial Justice
New office would address missing and murdered Black women
Cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls stay unsolved four times longer than other cases. Rep. Ruth Richardson (DFL–Mendota Heights) is proposing HF2849 that would establish the Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. In a hearing on Thursday, Rep. Richardson outlined how cases of missing Black women and girls are handled differently than others; Amber Alerts are less likely to be issued for Black girls and they are more likely to be classified as “runaways” as investigators dismiss the possibility of foul play. “The data is clear, unacceptable, and speaks to the urgency of the crisis,” Richardson said, defending her bill.
HF2849 would appropriate $500,000 to establish the office, which would be managed by the Office of Justice Programs as a part of the Department of Public Safety. The purpose of the office would build accountability, leverage responsibility, and facilitate resources and services to reduce and prevent violence against Black women and girls. Additionally, there would be resources for conducting reviews of cold cases and death investigation reviews for cases ruled as suicide or overdose under suspicous cirumstances.
The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill 18-0 and has been sent to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee.
House passes bill banning hair discrimination
The CROWN Act was passed with bipartisan support 104-25 on Monday. CROWN—Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair)—adds a definition of race that is inclusive of natural hairstyles and textures to the Minnesota Human Rights Act. It hopes to aid an effort to break down barriers that Black Minnesotans face at work, school, and other public spaces for wearing natural hairstyles like braids, locs, and twists.
The bill’s chances in the Republican-controlled Senate are uncertain. If the proposal passes in the Senate, Minnesota will join more than a dozen states with similar measures.