On Monday, MinnPost's Peter Callaghan tweeted:
MN GOP lawmakers seek to add "political affiliation" to state human rights protections that now cover race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation,
— Peter Callaghan (@CallaghanPeter) February 15, 2021
and age. https://t.co/WqpRti2SfY
Sponsors are Reps. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria and Greg Boe, R-Chaska.
— Peter Callaghan (@CallaghanPeter) February 15, 2021
Language of bill raises question about where it originated because it refers to "voter's affidavit of registration." Minnesota doesn't register voters by party so it sounds like it was written in a state that does.
— Peter Callaghan (@CallaghanPeter) February 15, 2021
Well, there's that. We're not sure whose can this bill came out of, but whatever it takes for Franson to overcome authorship security in a time of pandemic.
UPDATE 2/16: A reader sent us this screenshot from Representative Franson's personal page, where she asks who requested that she draft legislation on a gun bill. We tweeted it, leaving out the response by her constituent, who is not a public figure:
Here's the link to HF1112 "Statutory definitions regarding firearms eliminated." No co-authors, no Senate companion. 2/2 #mnhouse #mnleghttps://t.co/GD4VtiBbPU
— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) February 16, 2021
[End update
Last week, a couple of readers pointed out that the chief author of the bill was wearing a campaign sweatshirt during a meeting of the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee. We've posted a screenshot from the Minnesota House Information Services YouTube of that hearing.
One of our tipsters sent a copy of Representative Franson's campaign logo so we'd know what was on her shirt:
We've asked the nonpartisan House Research office whether using a House zoom meeting qualifies under a section foind on page 4 of a 2018 Legislative Ethics outline:
An employee or member of the House may not use House equipment for campaign activities. An employee of the House may not participate in campaign activity during working hoursor be obliged to participate in campaign activities as a condition of employment.
House Rule 9.05; House Campaign Activity Policy C-4
Is Franson campaigning? Is this allowed? We'll let readers know what House Research tells us.
Were the bill to become law, would it free her from such questions? Would she get unlimited time for her questions in hearings?
Screengrab: Mary Franson during Thursday's hearing.
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