Early this morning, Senate Democrats passed the first two bills on their public safety agenda:

• Senate File 26 gives convicted felons on probation the right to vote earlier than they currently are able to, no matter their crime

• House file 4 allows non-citizens the right to a driver’s license with no protections for our elections or national security.  

Senator Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake) issued the following statement following the passage of the two bills:

Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Immigrants:

This bill is far more expansive than simply being a fix for public safety. It’s a seriously flawed bill that poses a real national security threat due to REAL ID gaps, and the lack of transparency and reporting requirements jeopardizes the integrity of our elections. One simple fix would be to clearly denote on the license that it is for driving purposes only. Unfortunately, Democrats rejected that.

Felon Voting:

Minnesota has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country in large part because we let people onto parole early. But parole is still an important part of an offender’s sentence, and an important part of repaying their debt to society for the crimes they have committed. It should not be taken lightly or tossed aside. An offender’s rights should be restored only after they have completed their entire sentence.