Friends and neighbors,
It has been a busy week in the Senate, with long floor sessions each day and committees scrambling to process their final bills. Here are a few notable items I wanted to share with you:
Carter’s Law: First, we passed an important bill to protect kids from online predators. Carter’s Law strengthens criminal penalties sextortion (tricking people into providing private images and then blackmailing them) when those crimes result in serious harm or death.
The bill was inspired by the death of Carter Bremseth, a 16-year-old from Olivia who died by suicide in December 2021 after being targeted by scammers posing as a teenage girl on Instagram. The criminals threatened to expose a private photo unless Carter sent money. He died less than an hour after sending it.
His parents, Jaime and Dan Bremseth, were in the Senate chamber when the bill passed. The Bremseth family turned unimaginable loss into action, and I am grateful this bill is now one step closer to becoming law.
Recovering your stolen fraud dollars: On the fraud front, the Senate Taxes Committee approved the Take It Back Act on Thursday. I am a proud co-sponsor of this bill, which imposes a 100% tax on money obtained through fraud against public programs, on top of any criminal penalties already imposed. The Department of Revenue would also have the tools and authority to pursue and recover money hidden in shell companies or sent overseas.
Any revenue collected from this tax would be deposited in an account to be used for income tax relief for Minnesota taxpayers. This is a great bill and I am glad it has such strong bipartisan support.
Democrats pass rent control again: It wasn’t all good news this week. Senate Democrats approved a bill that would impose rent control in manufactured home parks, capping lot rent increases at 3% per year. I share the concerns raised by many during the long debate about this bill. Namely, rent control has a long, long track record of failure. If it were to become law, this bill would cause real harm to one of the last affordable housing options available to Minnesota families. Thankfully, under the leadership of Lisa Demuth and House Republicans, the chances of it passing are slim to none.
As always, thank you for taking the time to stay informed about what is happening at the Capitol. If you have questions about any of these issues or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me. I’m here to serve you!
Have a great weekend,