Friends and neighbors,

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Senate passed its first bill of the 2026 session, a bill providing $40 million in payments to individuals, including illegal immigrants, so they can pay their rent and utilities. I want to take a few minutes to give you an explanation of what was in it and how I voted.

Senate File 3596 provided $40 million in one-time emergency rental assistance to help renters cover unpaid rent, utility bills, and related fees. Democrats framed this as a response to an eviction crisis that developed over the last couple of months, but what they aren’t mentioning is that to the extent we have an eviction crisis, it was one of their own making.

Federal agents came to Minnesota to enforce immigration law and deport violent criminals. Leading Democrats like Governor Walz, Attorney General Ellison, and Minneapolis Mayor Frey compared them to Nazis and the Gestapo, invoked Anne Frank, and told agents to "get the f*** out."

I said it many times, but that kind of rhetoric creates danger for the public. They stoked fear and inflamed tensions, and when they were encouraged to turn down the temperature, they pushed on.

Democrats’ words and their actions convinced people to stay home from work. Now they want to take $40 million of your tax dollars to clean up the mess they made.

My opposition to the bill is one of principle, but I am glad that Republicans were able to successfully add amendments to add guardrails against fraud and abuse in this bill, including better oversight and verification requirements, and using some of the funding for fraud prevention.

Despite these improvements, the policy decision driving the bill itself remains misguided. I voted no.

Thank you for staying informed. As always, I'm here if you have questions or want to share your thoughts.

Sincerely,
Keri Heintzeman
Minnesota Senate, District 6