The 2011 legislative session was supposed to be strictly about the budget. Republicans did nearly anything but work on the budget. As the last day of the session ground to a halt and GOP legislators sat idly by, I reflected upon what they tried to pass this session instead of the budget.
Obviously, the marriage discrimination constitutional amendment comes to mind. So does the Voter ID constitutional amendment as well as the new stadium for billionaire Vikings owner Zygi Wilf.
But that barely scratches the surface and much of it was totally insane:
- Repeal the smoking ban
- Eliminate background checks for gun purchases
- Designate English as the official language
- Bike tax
- remove the ban on increasing carbon dioxide emissions by utilities
- Ban state funding of abortions
- Eliminate 8 state agencies including Depts of Employment & Econ Dev, Health, Human Rights, Labor & Industry, Revenue, MNDOT, Vet Affairs and the Office of Mgmt & Budget
- Further weaken a woman’s right to choose with yet another abortion bill
- Repeal the Next Generation Energy Act which was signed by Pawlenty
- Prevent welfare recipients from having more than $20 cash in their pockets
- Prohibit anyone from suing a company if you get fat from their food
- Drug testing for welfare recipients
- Racist immigration laws
- End pay equity for women
- A second bill to end pay equity for women
- Bail-outs for schools in Republican areas as well as small budget increases yet they dramatically slash budgets for the large cities
- Yet another abortion bill, require parental consent for teens to get healthcare
- Logging in our state parks
- Ban federal funding of family planning
- Eliminate Meals on Wheels
- Ban human cloning and end life-saving and job creating research in MN
- An amendment to Health & Human Services bill to exempt MN from health care reform
- Prevent animal welfare activists from filming animal cruelty at factory farms
- Ban state payments to nonprofits
- Amendment to the HHS bill to use baby monitors instead of nurses
- Another abortion bill, this one a gag rule which prevents any organization that receive state funds to council about abortion services
- Shoot first, show Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card later bill
- MN should print its own money
- Make it easier to violate licensing laws
Did I miss anything?
29 < 32
More seriously, how are you defining worked on? Approved? Held hearings on? Had introduced by at least one Republican?
I will concede that there is case to be made for more nuclear. I’m not sold, but a rational person could hold that view.
That reminds me, they tried (succeeded?) to force the Minneapolis Park Board to give in to Crown Hydro.
They never touched the governor’s bonding bill, nor did a thing to address unemployment.
HF 94
Saving the sacred incandescent light bulb! So critical. It’s got some tenther nut job overtones to it too!!
HF 1717 Telling doctors what they can, and cannot ask patients.
HF 1594
A useless peacock move urging the U.S. congress to encourage more oil drilling.
A bill that increased the number of signatures on a citizen petition to prompt the MN Environmental Quality Board to consider requiring an environmental assessment worksheet for development projects. The number was increased from 25 to 100 signatures effectively taking lay people out of the environmental process.
HF402: U.S. Senate urged to oppose ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
194 UN members have ratified the Convention. The only two UN member hold-outs are the US and Somalia.
Lets not forget the idiot who wanted to pass legislation that would make it mandatory for Roman Catholic dioceses to have voting on their decisions. That one was not only stupid, it was illegal – not that the GOP much cares about legality.
I think this is one of the best things I’ve read in ages, at the local, state, regional OR national level. Well done! I’ve posed about this over on Penigma, expanding on your point a bit.
http://penigma.blogspot.com/20…
The GOP and conservatives are a disaster for this state. Too bad we don’t have a recall option; maybe we can get that introduced in the special session of the legislature.
The only good non-budget action I saw so far was one that would define a person as a human being not a corporate fiction. Want to bet that doesn’t make the ballot in 2012?
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