Recently, Governor Walz renewed his calls to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota directing agencies ranging from the Department of Human Services and the Department of Public Safety to implement the necessary building blocks to prepare for a smooth legislative rollout.

Following the announcement, Senator Howe (R-Rockville) issued the following statement:

“Governor Walz’s new legislative priority once again shows that this governor is not considering the priorities of the people of my district and the residents of Minnesota,” said Senator Howe. “At the moment, this administration is experiencing one of the worst managerial crises inherited from the previous Governor’s office with the continued turmoil at DHS.  As the state comes to terms with multiple resignations, rampant fraud, and multiple million-dollar mistakes, residents deserve answers and reform, but instead, Governor Walz is directing critical resources to a proposed new law, without substantial vetting and massive administrative hurdles. It is not responsible and will further perpetuate administrative failure in Minnesota.”

“The focus of our state’s resources should go towards solving problems that we already have,” continued Senator Howe. “We should enforce our current laws and crackdown on fraud and waste before ever prioritizing laws that are not even in place. If anything, we should be looking at new proposals that fix our broken system and restore confidence to Minnesotans.”