TO THE EDITOR:
Whether renting or owning, the cost of housing continues to sharply rise. Ensuring stability in housing is so important because stable housing (or lack thereof) directly impacts nearly every other sphere of our lives. As the Republican Lead on the Senate Housing Committee, one of the priorities I’ve been fighting for this legislative session is solving the root cause of rising prices to bring stability back to housing. Minnesota is short 80,000 – 100,000 housing units, (i.e., homes of all types). Unfortunately, the Democrat majority in the Senate Housing Committee recently passed their omnibus bill which does little to address the root cause of high housing costs or increase the supply through construction of new housing. Instead of removing government barriers, slashing burdensome over-regulation, and rolling back government overreach, the Democrat majority is simply throwing more than $1 billion in tax surplus dollars at subsidizing high rent, providing down payment assistance to targeted groups, and more through new or existing government programs. These actions will NOT solve the housing crisis long term.If the lack of solutions in the Democrat bill were not bad enough, Democrats are demanding even more taxpayer money. The Democrat Housing bill initially included a new metro-area sales tax to funnel to government housing programs around the state. The Housing Chair removed the sales tax hike provision but signaled a plan of re-introducing the provision in the near future – perhaps the same tax increase, but expanded to encompass the entire state. In a time of record tax surplus, Democrats are demanding even more of your hard-earned tax dollars. It is nothing short of absolutely outrageous. Democrats owe it to hardworking Minnesotans to abandon their demands for tax increases and misguided spending proposals and instead finally put real effort into fixing the root causes of our housing crisis.
Eric Lucero
State Senator
District 30
TO THE EDITOR:
We have a one party-controlled government with its priorities to take away our rights. They are doing/giving the following:
1). Abortion up to birth and no parental rights for their juveniles; 2). Felons’ right to vote without having to complete their prison and probation terms; 3). Drivers’ licenses for illegals, with no regard to the fact 911 happened due to illegals having drivers’ licenses. They will also use licenses to vote illegally; 4). 80% carbon free electricity by 2030, with no regard to lack of power to prevent power failures; 5). Sanctuary state for sex change mutilization of youth and no regard for parental right of their parents; 6). No parental rights for parents to have input on their child’s curriculum and kick out of schools and school board meetings those parents who do object. These are a start to what they want to do. We need to stop this one party-controlled government or lose everything. Please contact your legislators and tell them your opinion.
Barry VanBuren
Clearwater, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
The foremost promoter of ‘funny money’ (crypto) in Congress is Rep. Tom Emmer. I recently read that scammers of the elderly love to steer their victims to deposit money into crypto ATMs because the funds are then impossible for police investigators to trace or recover. In fact, crypto is the currency of choice for organized crime (including human and drug trafficking), tax evaders and scammers of every ilk. And, because of fraudulent business practices at some major crypto companies (FTX Trading, etc.) investors have lost massive amounts of money. So why does Congressman Emmer praise and promote crypto and, more importantly, protect it from regulation?
Anthony Thompson
Big Lake, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
Spring is here, incredibly.
Home owners are already getting to their spring cleaning tasks. Trying to remove 6 months of winter debris. I wish businesses would have the same vigor to clean their properties as private homeowners have. Local businesses need to clean up their trash, sidewalks, parking lots and retention ponds. Clear debris in their shrubs and dumpster areas. This is especially important along Hwy. 10. Visitors, potential business investments and Big Lake residents desire it. If merchants can’t take the time to clean up their properties I would hope City officials take note as vigorously as they do toward private homeowners.
George Quinn
Big Lake, MN
TO THE EDITOR:
On Friday April 14th, 2023, three individuals made a choice to break into and proceed to steal the ATM machine from the Briggs Lake General Store in Palmer. The Sheriff’s Office located the vehicle and attempted to stop the vehicle; the suspects made a choice to flee from law enforcement without a care for the safety of others. Eventually the suspects were apprehended by law enforcement and brought to jail. Certainly, we would all believe that after breaking into a local business, stealing property from that business, and then fleeing from law enforcement, that these individuals would be held accountable. All three of these individuals appeared in court and received a bail amount of $5,000 with the conditions of not returning to the Briggs Lake General Store. With such a low bail amount these three individuals were easily able to post bond. Generally, most bond companies charge 10% of the bail amount as a fee to bond a person out of jail. Essentially $500 and these three people are released from jail and back into the community they put at risk, the same day. This is not what citizens of Sherburne County should expect from their judicial system. Our judicial system should hold these individuals accountable. Our judicial system should protect our community and business owners from those that make choices to put everyone else at risk. How do we expect our citizens and business owners to respond to these actions? How do we expect our local law enforcement officers to handle themselves in these situations? Should law enforcement continue to put their careers and lives on the line when criminals are not being held accountable for their actions? Most importantly, what are our local courts and judges doing to ensure that individuals are not released the same day who willingly choose to make extremely reckless choices? Our law enforcement officers and their actions in these high-risk situations are currently scrutinized to the highest degree. It’s past time we scrutinize the actions of judges making decisions on behalf of everyone’s safety, remember they too are elected.
Felix Schmiesing
Clear Lake, MN
