Monday, February 11, 2013
The Senate Judiciary chairman and local legislator said his five-point plan to keep guns from people who shouldn’t have them would sail through if it weren’t for the larger debate on guns.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Ron Latz (DFL-District 46) said gun control proposals like his are only generating controversy because of the larger debate about how to regulate firearms in the wake of the Newtown, CT shooting. In an interview with Senate Media Service’s Capitol Report last week, Latz pitched his five-part package as a commonsense approach that’s simply intended to keep gun from people who shouldn’t have them. “This is not an attack on gun rights,” Latz said. “That’s already well established in the Constitution and by the Supreme Court. This is simply what form of regulation we should use for a lawful but dangerous product.” Latz, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and St. Paul Rep. John Lesch (DFL-District 66B) are pushing …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The District 46B legislator reflects on what Minnesotans want and what his priorities are.
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Wednesday, January 30
Editor’s Note: The following update comes from Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 46B). Dear friends, For the first time in 22 years, one political party controls the Governorship, the House, and the Senate in Minnesota. That arrangement brings an opportunity to minimize gridlock at the Capitol, but also the need to govern in a responsible way. If the party in control does too much too fast, voters could seek a “course-correction” at the next election. But if the party in control is too timid about taking on big challenges, voters will also take note. For me, this means setting expectations and priorities for the current legislative session. What Minnesotans Expect It seems to me that Minnesotans generally want: My Own Priorities As …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Legislative Clerk David Surdez places the names of the 2013-2014 House members on the voting board in the House Chamber. The legislative session begins Jan. 8.
Legislative Clerk David Surdez places the names of the 2013-2014 House members on the voting board in the House Chamber. The 134 name plates have to be adjusted by hand at least every two years. The legislative session begins Jan. 8. Despite redistricting and the 2012 Election, Hopkins will not see any change among those who represent it in the Minnesota Legislature. Sen. Ron Latz continues to represent the community in the Senate, while Rep. Steve Simon will represent Hopkins in the House.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
"Expanded light rail service is a vital part of supporting the thousands of new jobs that will come to our area in the next twenty years," said State Rep. Steve Simon.
(The following editorial was submitted by the House DFL caucus.) With as little as two weeks remaining in session and the Legislature wrapping up a 10-day break, members of the House DFL Caucus, along with state and local officials, and area business leaders, called today for a bipartisan bonding bill that includes funding for the Southwest Light Rail Transit Project at a press conference at Supervalu corporate headquarters in Eden Prairie. “Leaders of both parties said before session that jobs were the priority and the Southwest Light Rail project is an opportunity to ensure our actions match our words,” said House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL – Minneapolis). “This is the type of project that will benefit the businesses and people …
Friday, March 2, 2012
Latz and Simon are exploring all the details of Thursday’s proposal, but Winkler says he is opposed to it.
Local legislators are still digesting the details of a $975 million Vikings stadium proposal introduced Thursday. “I would say that the reception so far in the House is cautious,” Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) wrote in an e-mail interview. “I think most legislators (like me) want to digest the details.” Under the plan, the state would pay for $398 of the project, or 41 percent, through charitable electronic pulltabs. Minneapolis would pay $150 million, or 15 percent, through Convention Center sales and hospitality taxes. And the Vikings would pay $427 million, or 44 percent. That’s a smaller team contribution than Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) would like. At a town hall Feb. 8, he said he’d prefer that the team pick up half the …
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The next step will be a conference committee.
The Minnesota House on Tuesday afternoon passed its omnibus liquor bill, 127-5, which for now keeps the "Four Firkins bill" alive. That legislation would allow Minnesota liquor stores to sell store-branded merchandise, such as T-shirts. The House version of the bill was authored by Hopkins Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) earlier this year after he spoke with Jason Alvey, owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins. Alvey, who has said he simply wants to be able to better market his store by selling Four Firkins merchandise to loyal customers, was pleased by Tuesday's news. "It's good that it passed," he said. But the proposal is not yet law. A Senate version of the bill, authored by Hopkins Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44…
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Local legislators aren't among those whose districts would be redrawn together.
Hopkins’ legislators are not among the 20 state representatives and six state senators redrawn into the same districts under a Republican redistricting plan. But that doesn’t mean the plan would leave their districts unchanged. Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) and Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) would represent slightly altered districts—christened districts 47 and 47A, respectively. Of course, the plan still must survive a redistricting process. Republicans and DFLers are already arguing about whether it’s reasonable or unfairly benefits the GOP. The courts will step in if the governor and the Legislature can’t agree on a plan by Feb. 21, 2012.
Nancy E Gertner
10:29 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
I do not have any children in school, but I have been to the funeral and burial of my friend's child that was murdered in her classroom, so I appreciate that Senator Latz is looking out for the children of Minnesota that are too young to vote, and are unlikely to contribute to his campaign for re-election. Support for background checks is reported to be around 90 percent of the population, and … more ›