Capitol Letter for April 28, 2023

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.

LWVMN Advocacy

• The Democracy for the People Act has passed the MN Senate! The bill establishes secure automatic voter registration, pre-registration for 16 & 17 year olds, and permanent absentee ballot lists. Bill authors along with community and state leaders spoke before the vote about this monumental expansion of democracy. AVR affects about 400,000 potential voters, and this bill increases engagement in our elections. We joined partners in the We Choose Us coalition for this exciting day at the Capitol.

• MN Senate Approves National Popular Vote for President and LWV Duluth Explains How NPV is Essential to Representative Government

Observer Reports

Senate Elections - Tuesday, April 25

LWVMN Observer Corps Member Cathy Thom

• SF3230, Senator Westlin (DFL - Plymouth) - Requires that state party chairs must certify candidates for a primary ballot if they either earn the party endorsement or receive 30% or more of the party endorsement vote. The candidates would then be put on the ballot in the order of the votes they earned, with the endorsed candidate listed first. The bill also still allows for those who don't wish to go through the endorsement process to earn a spot on the primary ballot by meeting the petition requirements already in statute. The bill is meant to help rein in rogue candidates who run falsely under a party banner to serve as a spoiler for another candidate. This bill applies only to the primary election, not the general election. Senator Westlin also said that the bill would help to encourage the smaller major parties to develop party structures and true endorsement processes. The bill remains in place that anyone can still pay the filing fee and file, they just cannot run under a party banner. In her closing comments, Senator Westlin expressed disappointment that there didn't seem to be bipartisan support for the bill, and reiterated that she was open to more discussion to reach a consensus. The bill was laid over without a vote and could be included in the Elections Omnibus bill. Coverage from MinnPost

  • Public Testimony: Chip Tagen - Libertarian Party of Minnesota - Testified that he liked the provision that eliminated the legal-size paper requirement for petitions. He said that the two-week petition window is still too short, especially in greater MN. Senator Westlin replied that she would like to have a conversation with him about perhaps widening the two-week window. Travis “Bull” Johnson, Constitutional Republic Party, via Zoom - Thanked Senator Westlin for actually listening to the testifiers in previous committees. Said that he strongly supports the bill, particularly within the context of ranked choice voting. It will help to weed out the often excessive number of two-party candidates when ranked choice voting is adopted. That excessive number of Democrats and Republicans crowds out the debate stage for third party candidates. He echoed that the petition window was still too small, particularly for greater MN. He said that he would like to see some protections for those who sign petitions from harassment by two major parties, who sometimes obtain photographs taken of petition lists.

House Floor Debate - Wednesday, April 26

LWVMN Observer Corps Member Marti Micks

• SF2909 - Rep. Becker-Finn and Moller, Judiciary and Public Safety bill. I observed about 7 hours of debate from afternoon until required closing time (after 10pm). The bill was laid over to the next day. Over 20 amendments offered and over 20 amendments to the amendments were debated. The bill was passed by the House the next day. Universal background checks and Extreme Risk Protection Orders (red flag laws) are in the House approved bill but not in the Senate bill. SF2909 will go to Conference Committee on Mon, May 1st at 10 am.

Minnesota House News & Related Coverage

• LWV Rochester Presents: Hot Topics with Cool Leaders

• House Week in Review: April 24-28

• Latest Push for ERA Blocked by US Senate Republicans

• Understanding the DFL Tax Plans  

• Months of Advocacy on Guns Still Unclear in MN Senate

• MN Bans Conversion Therapy, Protects Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

• Rod Adams Describes the Effects of Expungement included in the Bill to Legalize Marijuana Passed by the MN Senate

• Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and formerly incarcerated community member Sandy Yancy Jr. wrote how Automatic Voter Registration Makes Restoration of Voting Rights More Effective:

“Exercising the right to vote is an act of inclusion in our community and our government. If we want people who are no longer in custody to successfully reintegrate into the community, we should make a place for them — and their voice — in our civic society. Denying them the right to vote does nothing to improve public safety — it only reinforces the sense that they aren’t being given a fair shot at their second chance. Minnesota can lead the way to a better place. Combining restored voting rights with a secure and streamlined automatic voter registration process will promote election participation by all eligible voters. When all voices are fairly represented through the vote, public officials and agencies can be more responsive to the challenges that all citizens face. And our democracy will be stronger, better serving every Minnesotan.”

Please learn more at our 2023 Legislative Session Webpage.