The Progressive Caucus is emerging, and really cool. There is an annual meeting in June, and you should go. Run for a Director position!
Click here to visit the Progressive Caucus web page! Fill out the Membership form for more information. or REGISTER here.
The annual meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 9⋅6:00 – 9:00pm
If you have questions about what positions are open, or how the caucus works, contact Barb Crow.
DFLEC Resolutions Committee co-chair (and Caucus Vice Chair) Matt Doll took a run at our resolutions, to see where they stand in relation to this year’s legislative session. Here are Matt’s preliminary notes:
Planning is still underway, but this is the current setup for May 22:
Join the DFLEC for our end-of-session legislative wrap-up
Amanda Koehler of the Land Stewardship Project, Scott Beauchamp of Friends of the BWCA, and DFL Environmental Caucus Directors and friends including Libby Bent, Susan Schubert, and others will discuss a diversity of issues including this year’s legislative wins, a few losses, and issues we will be addressing in the future such as ATV use and regulation across the state.
Agenda:
6:30 early sign on and open discussion
7:00 Start of Forum
7:45 Transition to DFLEC meeting, all welcome
The omnibus bill for agriculture, known as HF2278, is being conferences in the conference committee, ie, it is being tweaked and changed here and there to make it into the law it will eventually become, if the House and Senate can stay up late enough to ever vote on it.
Please contact your House Representative and Senator to encourage them to support the following points:
Thirty percent of Minnesota's GDP is generated from agriculture. But the initial agricultural budget of $100 million that Governor Walz proposed to the legislature was reduced to $48 million when budget targets were announced last week. This is far less than what agriculture, food systems and beginning and emerging farmer groups were calling for, given the need for funding and the $17.5 billion surplus. This lower budget reduces support for family farmers, wild rice programs, critical research, and farmers
markets.
We ask all DFL Rural Caucus members to contact Governor Tim Walz, House Speaker Hortman and Senate Leader Dziedzic, and the House and Senate leadership and tell them to put the governor's Ag target of $100 million back in place!
These funds are needed to support the priorities in the DFL platform for family farmers, beginning and emerging farmers, meat processing, conservation and soil health, farm to school and farmers market programs – essential to a strong agricultural and local foods economy that keeps our family farmers and rural communities viable.
Governor Tim Walz 651-201-3400
Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic 651-296-7809 S
Sen. Liz Bolden, Ass’t Sen. Majority Leader 651-296-3903
Sen. Nick Frentz, Ass’t Sen. Majority Leader 651-296-6153
Sen. Foung Hawj, Ass’t Sen. Majority Leader 651-296-5285
Sen. Mary Kunesh, Ass’t Sen. Majority Leader 651-296-4334
Sen. Kelly Morrison, Ass’t Sen. Majority Leader 651-296-6612
Sen. Erin Murphy, Ass’t Sen. Majority Leader 651-296-5931
Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman 651-296-4280
House Majority Leader Jamie Long 651-296-5375
Rep. Dan Wolgemont, Speaker Pro Tempore 651-296-6612
Rep. Athena Hollins, House Majority Whip 651-296-4224
Rep. Esther Albage, Ass’t House Majority Leader 651-296-8659
Rep. Kaela Berg, Ass’t House Majority Leader 651-296-5387
Rep. Luke Frederick, Ass’t House Majority Leader 651-296-3248
Rep. Sydney Jordan, Ass’t House Majority Leader 651-296-4219
Rep. Liz Lee, Ass’t House Majority Leader 651-296-4277
Rep. Brad Tabke, Ass’t House Majority Leader 651-296-8872
Sen. Aric Putnam, Senate Agriculture Policy and Finance Chairperson 651-296-6455
Sen. Rob Kupec, Senate Agriculture Policy and Finance Vice Chairperson 651-296-3205
Rep. Samantha Vang, House Agriculture Policy and Finance Chairperson 651-296-6455
Rep. Kristi Pursell, House Agriculture Policy and Finance Vice Chairperson 651-296-0171
First, have you considered joining the Environmental Caucus? Or making a donation? Now’s your chance!
Now, on to business.
We have assembled information and calls to action for you to invest some of your activist mojo.
Clean Water action is organizing an event. Contact your house representative and urge a yes vote! Details here
Unfortunately, the Next Generation Climate Act is missing from the Senate’s omnibus energy bill, SF2847. The climate crisis can’t wait – Take Action: tell your Senator to pass these updated climate targets this session. Your advocacy could help make the difference. CLICK HERE
The wolf and her pack need you to take action and email a message to your state senator and representative. Please personalize it with a few sentences at the beginning! The pre-written letter asks them to vote “yes” to remove wolf hunting and trapping seasons now allowed under state law. After more than a decade of our dedicated work to stop wolf hunting and trapping in Minnesota and to implement wolf protection laws — we now have the opportunity to get it done! Please take action today. CLICK HERE
Tell your legislators to support the Mississippi River this session. We just need few pieces of information to connect you with your legislators.
OH, and Earth Day is coming up!
This is a report from MPR on efforts by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and other groups to chose water over nickel.
The initiative, called Water over Nickel, aims to raise awareness of the risks associated with the proposed Tamarack Mine. It would be an underground nickel mine that Talon Metals wants to build near the tiny town of Tamarack, about 50 miles west of Duluth.
Talon has positioned the project as a major link in a domestic supply chain to build batteries for electric vehicles, a key component of broader strategies to develop a carbon-free economy to combat climate change.
But the Mille Lacs Band, along with its allies, including the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, argue a mine would endanger water resources in the Mississippi and St. Croix River watersheds, along with drinking water for Band members who live only about a mile away from the proposed mine site.
Please join our allies with Friends of the Boundary Waters for a Lobby Day at the Minnesota State Capitol. Here is the announcement, details, and RSVP info:
Join the Friends of the Boundary Waters and our allies in the environmental and indigenous communities to rally for clean water at the Capitol.
On April 4th, we are headed to the Minnesota state capitol for a day of action. (And this year we’ll be in-person & indoors!) Join other clean water supporters to stand up for the Boundary Waters and make sure our elected leaders understand the true importance of clean water.
SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY:
Minnesota’s environmental laws are outdated and inadequate. Let’s change them! In addition to the Prove It First Bill, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness has drafted a suite of laws designed to update our laws and allow agencies to better serve Minnesotans and the water and wilderness we’re so famous for. Find out more about legislative action on our website, and find your legislator to set up a meeting.
Thank you for your continued support of protecting Minnesota’s clean water!
(Note that not everything that is slated for a particular committee meeting happens on schedule!)
Please contact your Senator or House Rep if they are a member of any of these committees, and consider contacting the chair, to express your support for these bills. You should contact your Senator and House Representative to support these bills as well, assuming they move forward (they likely will).
Monday, March 13, 2023 12:30 PM
Energy, Utilities, Environment, and Climate Committee
Location: 1150 Minnesota Senate Bldg.
Chair: Senator Nick A. Frentz
Monday, March 13, 2023 4:30 PM
Meeting Time Note: Ways and Means will convene approximately 15 minutes after session adjourns.
Ways and Means Committee
Location: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Liz Olson
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 3:00 PM
Meeting Time Note: The committee will recess at 4:30pm and reconvene at 6:30pm in Room 10 of the State Office Building.
Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee
Location: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Rick Hansen
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 3:00 PM
Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee
Location: 1150 Minnesota Senate Bldg.
Chair: Senator Foung Hawj
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 8:30 AM
Finance Committee
Location: 1200 Minnesota Senate Bldg.
Chair: Senator John Marty
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 12:30 PM
Energy, Utilities, Environment, and Climate Committee
Location: 1150 Minnesota Senate Bldg.
Chair: Senator Nick A. Frentz
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 3:00 PM
Meeting Time Note: The meeting is scheduled until 5:30pm.
Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy
Location: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Rick Hansen
This is from MN 350, and accords with DFLEC policy:
For decades, low income and BIPOC communities have faced a disproportionate burden of pollution. Polluting facilities get concentrated in communities which are often treated as “sacrifice zones,” leading to environmental, health, social, and economic consequences that can span generations. Despite having little to no say in whether or not a facility can be sited in their community, frontline communities are forced to take on a disproportionate burden of pollution. That is why we are working to pass the Frontline Communities Protection Act (FCPA).
When multiple sources of pollution are located in a community, they have a cumulative effect on the health and environment of the community including asthma, heart disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and more. These effects can be particularly harmful for young children and pregnant people. This increased likelihood of health issues only exacerbates other social and economic issues plaguing our communities.
This bill will give power back to the people, and provide essential and necessary protections against pollution. As we shift away from fossil fuels and work to tackle the roots of systemic injustice, this bill will be an important tool to ensure that no community gets left behind. Can you send a message asking your legislators to support the FCPA?
We must stand in solidarity with our most overburdened communities, and show decision makers that this is an essential bill to pass this session. This is a crucial opportunity to begin addressing decades of systemic injustice. Thank you for taking action to advance environmental justice in Minnesota.
In solidarity,
Noelle Cirisan
MN350 Action Political Manager