At Minnesota Public Radio, Tim Pugmire reported in MN House sends preemption bill to be vetoed:
Legislation preventing Minnesota cities from enacting local labor requirements that deviate from state law is on its way to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, who has promised a veto.
The Minnesota House passed the so-called preemption measure Thursday on a vote of 75-48. The Senate passed it a day earlier.
It would block minimum wage and paid sick time ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Republicans combined the measure with other labor issues that Democrats support, including a paid family leave benefit for state employees.
Dayton criticized the move earlier this week, saying it pitted “the earned financial security of hardworking state employees and retirees against the rights of local officials to make the decisions for which they were elected by their citizens.” Dayton added that he was standing by his veto threat. . . .
In the House floor debate, DFL representatives spoke out against the divide-and-conquer-working-people, then voted no.
But one state representative refused to vote, asking and receiving the body's permission to refrain, based on the conflict that the bill created for his conscience as a Roman Catholic. Citing the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching, Peter Fischer, DFL-St. Paul, gave a passionate floor speech in defense of those values, concluding his remarks with the words: "I will not play the game to divide, and I will not vote on this bill":
For those who might say that the metro DFL has no place for Christian men, we'll suggest that one place is in the state House, along with a broad chorus of Minnesota voices.
Here's another voice in that chorus, Apple Valley DFL representative Erin May Quade, a graduate of the University of St. Thomas' political science and justice and peace studies programs, a woman of color who speaks to the effects the bill's divisive politics will have on members of communities of color in Minnesota. Unlike Fischer, she chose to vote no:
There's no one face or voice for the DFL on this one, but they do unite in defense of Minnesota values. Nor are these voices unpopular outliers. As Joe Loveland at Wry Wing Politics pointed out in Strib Poll Uncovers Dark Clouds For Republicans:
Loving Local Control. By a whopping 34-point margin (60% oppose, 26% support), Minnesotans oppose the GOP-backed proposal to prevent Minnesota towns and cities from passing work-rule ordinances, such as minimum wage increases. In every region of Minnesota, a majority oppose limiting local control.
- Implication: This is another loser issue for Republicans. How in the world did the party that constantly preaches about the need for “local control” end up on this side of the issue?
Good question. Nor is support for local control one of those "evil metro" only concerns, as St. Cloud Times columnist Patrick Henry explains in Don't let corporations (via state) trample local control.
We're curious what our fellow Minnesotans will think as they learn more about the cruel choices forced in the bill.
Here's one more video from the floor, of Minority Leader Hortman on one particular cruelty:
We'll be writing more about the session and special session over the course of the next few days, but now we must go fulfill the destiny of Adam's curse, and labor to make our garden both free of thistles and beautiful. As a man once said, "It’s certain there is no fine thing since Adam’s fall but needs much laboring."
Photo: Peter Fischer during his floor speech explaining his refusal to vote on the bill.
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