Minnesota Independent

Senate passes voter ID bill

By Andy Birkey | 04.28.11 | 1:48 pm

The Minnesota Senate passed a sweeping voter identification bill Thursday that would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID card in order to vote in the state. Republicans said the measure is intended to prevent voter fraud, which they say has disenfranchised legitimate voters, while Democrats countered that it would be a travesty to democracy if even one voter was disenfranchised because they didn’t have an ID.

Minnesota Capitol. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

House committee votes down domestic partner benefits

By Andy Birkey | 04.28.11 | 9:31 am

Rep. Ryan Winkler offered an amendment in the Government Operations and Elections Commmittee on Wednesday that would have allowed local governments to offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples, but Republican members opposed the measure. A 1995 court case struck down the ability of local governments to offer domestic partner benefits, and instead communities across the state have enacted domestic partner registries that currently cover 1 million Minnesota residents.

Vaccine researcher brings anti-abortion advocacy to House hearing

By Andy Birkey | 04.27.11 | 1:12 pm

On Thursday, the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee will hear a presentation on vaccine safety by a researcher who asserts that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine may not be safe for children — and part of the basis for the concern appears to stem from her religious opposition to the use of human cells in the vaccine. The testimony of Dr. Theresa Deisher is part of an official informational hearing, but Deisher’s assertions regarding autism and vaccines have been debunked by many researchers. Deisher — who is the hearing’s only testifier — has earned praise for her work from both the anti-vaccine and anti–abortion rights movements.

Minnesota Capitol. Photo: Paul Weimer, Flickr

GOP files bill to block health insurance exchanges

By Andy Birkey | 04.26.11 | 2:00 pm

Republicans in the Minnesota House introduced a bill on Tuesday that would ban the state from implementing health insurance exchanges as part of the Affordable Care Act. The new bill is one of several that would ban some or all aspects of federal health insurance reform in the state. It’s also at odds with a GOP bill that would create those health exchanges.

Dayton pressures GOP on redistricting plan

By Andy Birkey | 04.26.11 | 8:14 am

Gov. Mark Dayton sent a letter Monday to Rep. Sarah Anderson, R-Plymouth, head of the House redistricting committee, wondering why the bill outlining the guiding principles for the process of redrawing political district lines hasn’t hit his desk yet. Dayton noted that the current bills being offered by the GOP are lacking in terms of ensuring minority representation and other principles that have traditionally been a part of the process. In 2001, he reminded, those bills had already been passed by May 1.

Minnesota GOP moves to ban funding for Planned Parenthood

By Andy Birkey | 04.18.11 | 3:42 pm

Minnesota legislators introduced a bill on Monday that would ban state family planning money from going to any organization that offers abortion services, advocates for the right to choose an abortion, counsels pregnant women that abortion is an option or is affiliated with any organization that engages in those activities. In fact, under the bill, family planning dollars cannot be used to refer women to abortion services even if they are explicitly seeking those services. The bill introduced on Monday is the twelfth anti-abortion rights bill introduced so far this session.

Kiffmeyer wants voter ID on the ballot in 2012

By Andy Birkey | 04.15.11 | 9:18 am

Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, told Minnesota Public Radio on Thursday that if Gov. Mark Dayton vetoes a controversial voter ID bill, she will seek to put it on the ballot in 2012. The bill, which is currently winding its way through the Legislature, would require photo ID of all voters. Dayton hasn’t indicated whether he’ll veto such a measure, but election integrity advocates say the proposal could run into constitutional problems.

‘Make My Day’ law proposed in Minnesota House

By Andy Birkey | 04.15.11 | 8:26 am

Legislators in the Minnesota House introduced legislation on Thursday that would allow for the use of deadly force when a perpetrator is committing a felony in someone’s home, yard, boat or tent or when there’s a threat of “substantial” physical harm. Often called the “castle doctrine” or a “make my day” law, the bill would extend current “retreat first” law that says if a person has access to a safe retreat, they are required to take the retreat as opposed to using deadly force.

Abortion bills pass committee, could trigger Supreme Court challenge

By Andy Birkey | 04.13.11 | 1:29 pm

A pair of anti-abortion rights bill are moving through the Minnesota House and Senate this week. On Tuesday, a Senate committee passed a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks gestation. And in the House and Senate a bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortion was passed out of committee. It was clear from testimony on both sides of the debate that Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life and Republican lawmakers are seeking a high-profile lawsuit on the issue of abortion, and the bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortion is structured so that a challenge would go directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

GOP pushes tenther amendment to ban ‘Obamacare,’ DFLers call it the Southern Strategy

By Andy Birkey | 04.08.11 | 8:35 am

Republicans in the Minnesota House have included an amendment to the health and human services omnibus bill that would ban the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the state of Minnesota because legislators believe it to be in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. On Wednesday night, Republicans argued that “Obamacare” would “eviscerate” state sovereignty, while DFLers made comparisons to the Confederacy and the arguments used by secessionists during the Civil War. One legislator even proposed changing the state song to “Dixie.”