Today the Minnesota Senate passed a bill that takes $100 million from the Minnesota Forward Fund --- a fund intended to attract new businesses to Minnesota --- to offer zero-interest loans to businesses that claim they were harmed by protests and boycotts related to federal immigration enforcement.

Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) issued the following statement:

"I was deeply saddened by what we did with this bill today. The Minnesota Forward Fund exists to bring high-impact, high-paying jobs to our state, and we raided it to send $100 million to the metro area. I know many of us are frustrated by how the immigration enforcement operation was conducted earlier this year, but this bill represents the wrong priorities. With so many Minnesotans struggling to afford Minnesota’s high cost of living, with hospitals struggling to stay afloat, with schools and local governments buried under unfunded mandates, there are so many better ways we could have used this $100 million.”