In the Know

Minnesota DFL
Aug. 4, 2014
 
Mark your calendars and spread the word!

• Early voting for the Aug. 12 primary is open. Stop by your county election office and cast your vote or click here to request an absentee ballot and vote by mail. Please support your DFL-endorsed candidates!

• 8 days until the Aug. 12 primary and our first opportunity to vote for DFL endorsed candidates

• 46 days until Sept. 19 and people can begin to vote by no excuse absentee ballot for the Nov. 4election
• 91 days until the Nov. 4 election

 
2014 election
Minnesota absentee ballot requests jump, Pioneer Press
Despite new law, absentee voting trails 2010 pace, MPR
EDITORIAL: Don’t let history repeat itself, Hutchison Leader
Talking Points: Aug. 12 primary elections in Minnesota, WCCO

Vote for our Democratic congressional candidates this November!

Legislature
No. 2 House Republican on ropes over marriage vote, Southernmn.com
Loon releases TV ad, politics mn
The Noor-Kahn race and the definition of representation, Star Tribune
Will same-sex marriage vote cost Minnesota GOP a leader? MPR
Political Quarry Blog: 14B hopefuls spar over spending, St. Cloud Times
Somali candidate eyes milestone in Minnesota House race, Pioneer Press

(more…)

daily brief · issues · news

I thought Erik Paulsen was about as low as the GOP could reach when he began his horrible representation of women in his district by voting against the Lilly Ledbetter bill which would have remedied a common situation and attempted to make up for a longstanding discrimination. Now Jenifer Loon is following suit.

The Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA), recently signed into law by Gov. [Mark] Dayton, makes huge steps towards erasing the barriers that keep Minnesotan women from achieving economic success, so it’s shocking Rep. Jenifer Loon voted against this landmark set of measures.

HD48B · House District 48B · Jenifer Loon · Rep. Loon · WESA · women's economic security act

State Rep. Jenifer Loon, R-Eden Prairie, and other Republican lawmakers discuss the newly concluded 2014 state legislative session Monday at St. Cloud Regional Airport.
(Photo: Mark Sommerhauser, [email protected])

Both Senate Minority Leader (and SD48 Senator) David Hann and House Assistant Minority Leader Jenifer Loon (HD48B) are doing a state flyaround to do their best to spin how bad this legislative session was for everyone.

One of the biggest talking points (which Sen. Hann has already been caught stretching the truth) is MNSure/Obamacare.

But, what’s really worrying regular folks?  According to Henry Decker with the National Memo with a May 20, 2014, post, it’s not Obamacare.

Why does Mr. Decker think this?  A recent Gallup poll shows it (and, Gallup isn’t noted for it’s liberal bent). What did the survey find?

“The survey finds that a 20% plurality think that unemployment and jobs are the most important problem facing the country, up 6% from April; 19% cite the dysfunctional government, while 17% say the economy in general.  Health care and the federal budget deficit — two issues on which Republican candidates have focused in the midterm election campaigns — lag behind at 11% and 8% respectively.

This article provides even more “slicing and dicing” of the data. You can read the full post here.

David Hann · dysfunctional government · economy · HD48B · House District 48B · Jenifer Loon · jobs · MNsure · Obamacare · Rep. Loon · Representative Loon · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48 · unemployment

Last month, the Minnesota Legislature passed an increase in the state’s minimum wage that was decades in the making (of course, Rep. Loon and Sen. Hann didn’t support that measure).  Jeff Van Wychen, Fellow and Director of Tax Policy and Analysis at Minnesota 202o has written a post discussing the impact of this increase.  They’ve produced an interactive map showing how many residents in each district and the collective monetary impact of that increase.

What are the numbers? Here they are:

You can read the full post here.

HD48A · HD48B · House District 48A · House District 48B

On Sunday, May 11, 2014, Gov. Mary Dayton signed into law the bill that will provide more workplace protection and equal pay for women.

The bill was called the Women’s Economic Security Act. Now that it’s become law, it will:

• increase unpaid pregnancy and parenting leave from 6 to 12 weeks
• allow sick leave to be used to care for sick grandchildren
• provide a private space for a woman to nurse other than bathrooms
• require businesses that are awarded large state contracts to certify they pay men and women equal salaries for similar jobs, and
• bar employers from discriminating against
  • pregnant women and
  • parents with small children at home

Seems to be common sense and something we’d want to have in place considering that we have a large number of working women in Eden Prairie and Minnetonka.

How did our representatives in the Minnesota House and Senate vote?

Sen. David Hann, Senate District 48, Republican — voted against

 
Rep. Jenifer Loon, House District 48B, Republican — voted against

 
Rep. Yvonne Selcer, House District 48A, Democrat — voted for

David Hann · gender inequality · income inequality · Jenifer Loon · Rep. Loon · Rep. Selcer · Sen. Hann · women's economic security act · Yvonne Selcer