welcome to Minnesota legislative report our Region's longest running public affairs program lawmakers from nor Eastern Minnesota are joining us today for a recap of the week's activities at the state capital this is your opportunity to call or email your legislative questions and have them answered live on the air Minnesota legislative report starts now hello and welcome to Minnesota legislative report I'm your host Tony ceric a little over three weeks are left for legislators to get their work done with many of the biggest issues left to be resolved it might be a busy few weeks at the capital tonight you can join in the conversation email or call in with questions for the lawmakers that represent you to ask a question dial the phone number on your screen or you can also email your questions to ask pbsn north.org joining us in studio today is Senator Jason rck a republican from City represented District 11 and also with us tonight is representative Natalie znar also a republican from fredenberg Township representing District 3B welcome to both of you thank you thank you so uh probably uh the biggest issue that hit the legislature this last week had nothing to do with what happened inside the capital a state senator uh was arrested for first-degree burglary now none of us are lawyers and that is happening outside the walls but it's impacting with what's happened inside the building things kind of ground to a standstill this week so I don't want to talk about the details of this arrest but I know that some legislators are calling on her to resign others there's an Ethics uh committee that's going to meet to look at this there is no law actually pertaining to what can happen to a legislator when they get arrested and there's actually six legislators in the legislature serving right now who have been arrested in various ways from DWIs to trespassing drunken disorderly conduct and so Senator Ric an uncomfortable conversation but I'll start with you uh what do you think uh should be done in this instance and then more broadly how does that impact the other six or five legislators who were also arrested for something yeah you know I think uh some of the details on this one are um maybe a little bit more disturbing as the 911 transcripts came out than what some of the others but yet you know I mean a DWI is also pretty serious so um discussions to be had I know I support the getting to the eics uh hearing sooner rather than later um there's a lot of debate uh as to whether she should be allowed to vote um right now or not uh I think that'll be the discussion of these first next couple of days um without her it's a 3333 tie which puts things in a kind of a precarious situation in the Senate um but you know I I think we need to get some more of the details uh from the police report and and get some of that information um but it is is it's one of those touchy areas you know you your first reaction is you know I think to call for her resignation then you you step back and you think okay she she gets due process um she should be able to have that but I think we should try to get to it as soon as we can so the public trust is there um when she's casting a deciding vote she has a court hearing coming up in early June which is of course after the legislative session and once a ethics complaint gets filed to the Ethics Committee they have 30 days to meet and start their resolution in that process represent Lesnar I know this is in the other legislative chamber but it definitely impacts the session and as I said before there are legislators from both political sides of the aisle and both the house and the Senate that are serving that have not just been charged as the senator has but have been charged and convicted so how do you see once again not maybe directly to this situation but how do you draw a line by saying this is grounds for some punishment and maybe in other instances we haven't seen much I think in my entire career anybody that's a licensed professional we've had scope and severity in licensing for professionals and I think there's a Cod of just ethics called to this chamber in the house and in the Senate and when I listen to the 911 transcript and listen to what's been just public knowledge and record it this is a burglary so this is a a different scope than the other offenses that you've mentioned to my knowledge I don't believe they were felonies or potential felonies and so this is a really serious situation and I think that's why it's has a very heightened uh question to the public of what's going to happen and so I think we're wait we're all waiting to see I hope there will be a ethics uh process that happens for the Public's best interest sooner than later all right anything else on this topic Senator R um from what I understand I believe uh m 7th is when the first uh proceedings are going to happen on the E for the Ethics Committee all right thank you so please uh call in and WR in with your questions and we already have one and this goes to Senator rck uh the principal a principal from clo Elementary School writes in to talk about the Northern Lights academy uh which is uh looking for funding to either build or renovate their building to provide Equitable space for their current students and expand their capacity to provide special Education Services and so it was just checking in with you Senator Ric they they're saying you're supportive of the bill they're asking what is the status and the likelihood it be included in our capital investment or bonding bill yeah so you know I've been very uh vocal about that this bonding bill should be focused on infrastructure uh roads Bridges water and uh asset preservation and I do uh put this into the category of asset preservation um I've been at uh both of the sites in the one in clo and the one in Carlton um we have 11 school districts that have kids with special needs um that go to one of these two sites but the the rooms that they're in are just you know what's kind of left over and available um in the two schools uh that does not meet their needs at all and when you hear the stories of the families um I was just at Carlton tonight on my way here to meet with three families uh with kids in the program and and what it does uh for these kids um just it it gets them many of these kids they're not they can't be in the regular classroom and they end up being homeschooled and away from contact with other kids and so this really helps the parents it it gets these kids with uh teachers who are specifically trained uh to help them and what they really need is a space that's designed specifically for their needs and and that's what this bill would do it's uh coupled with one also for Northwestern min inota a facility um over in their area as well um you know we we hear more and more especially you know coming out of Co how um difficult uh whether it's a autism um issues or just some behavioral issues that students have and just being able to get um kind of out of that classroom setting into a a one-on-one situation or a very uh limited uh situation with limited other students can be very beneficial uh for for these students to to calm down and actually get back to learning and I think that needs to be our Focus uh for kids education is what's important and so I I absolutely support this uh project I I think it would be fabulous and when it almost double their capacity um I believe they said they're at 48 students right now and this would allow them to get up to 90 students um would be very beneficial for the 11 school districts from this immediate area that uh participate and so uh it is a proposal that's uh going to be considered for the capital investment or bonding bill now both of you been on the show but for viewers who maybe missed those shows this is the major piece of legislation that generally happens this session um when you're last year was a budget year this year is this is the main piece and it's when the state borrow some money uh at low interest rates to invest in these sorts of infrastructure type projects and so before I get to your represent zelesnikar uh the other half of that question was what do you think the likelihood that this specific proposal is included in that final package oh yeah I forgot about that um um we're at that stage right now where um those uh negotiations and kind of conversations are really starting to pick up um that i' I've told the people and I'll continue to tell my caucus uh this is my number one priority for my district which I hope will help uh get it across the Finish Line this year um I just believe it is very worthy um and so as these negotiations happened the stories that they shared with me today really help I I think con convince other legislators that this is a project worth including and generally this bill is one of the last Bills to get passed and there's a lot of negotiation going on because it takes a super majority to pass this bill for the state to borrow money instead of just spend tax dollars and so it will take bipartisan votes to get this done we talked about this last time repr Lesnar can you give an update in the house on where we're at in this process and I know you talked about some Proctor projects last time or is there anything else on your wish list that you're hoping to see included in a capital investment Bill thank you and I appreciate Senator Ric's leadership on the special ed project that needs to happen for these 11 districts I've spent time with our superintendents in Proctor and Hermantown and we have students that desperately need this and I was able to to see it with um representative doth and so I fully support that project it has an instrumental role and as far as the other projects I agree with uh Senator Ric you know right now it's going to be the process that you all know that will be with uh where they're going to be reviewing everything but as far as the projects we have in this area with some great projects Rice Lake has a a u I just was at the fire hall yesterday for the pancake breakfast and they want to have an expansion there for training for EMTs which is I'm on the EMS the ambulance service for the Emergency Medical Service task force and that's a big issue and so where we train people an efficient way for all the townships we operate on a volunteer system system and that's a big concern and then having a place for emergency evacuation for the area for federal code and for other uh needs that we could have in this area that would be a great project and so that's that's an important thing Hermantown has Gap funding from the one from last year to get that to the Finish Line it was on a bonding uh list for a few years and so there's there was so many delays the construction cost with just supply issues have have been hurting many projects and then um we're trying to get Proctor utility expansion across the Finish Line too so we have some great projects for uh the Northland and hope to get some of them finished and both of you were cautiously optimistic last time you joined us that we would see a bonding bill pass by the end of session because the other piece of information is this doesn't have to be done there's no law requiring it to be done and you could actually go home this year and not do anything and the world won't stop but you were both cautiously optimistic are you still in that position yeah I would I would still say I I think it can get done um I know the governor supports getting one done I think most people want to see one get done it depends on what's going to be included in it still optimistic as well represent car yes 100% okay next issue uh we got a few questions coming in the door already uh one viewer wants to know is it true that a sheriff has the power to activate the National Guard to shut down Trails anybody familiar with that I am not aware uh if that is true or not okay any any idea on that one represent there's a first for everything and this is a first for me I've not had anybody ask me this question so all right and neither of you serve on the committee where this would probably come through we'll try to get an answer uh maybe next week as well to the viewer at home next up uh viewer asks where is the Human Rights Act in regards to compelling faith-based organizations to operate outside of what their faith recognizes that is the gist of the question are either of you familiar with a human rights act uh very much so that that is one of the hot button issues uh facing us this year um it is very important uh as of right now um many of the the religious organizations are really worried this was kind of taken away from them in a few areas uh with what happened last year and they want to make sure that they're able to have that right to practice their religious beliefs when it comes to hiring um there are a lot of negotiations behind the scenes um I believe we can get a fix done on this one this year it sounds like there is a willingness to um but again this is this is another one it's probably going to take right Till The Bitter End to get it done but I I think it's the right thing to do and I fully support it represent lesard that's a great question in fact I've been meeting with congregations of all faiths it's a number one topic for the faith community and to Senator Ric's point we absolutely have to make sure religion is part of that Doctrine and as of right now that piece has been removed and it is going to be problematic for religious schools and for hiring practices for people to follow their faith across the board for every denomination and so we want to make sure we're continuing to support the faith communities and we will we will work hard to the to the last day to get this done next up a question on Social Security taxes and uh this question comes from a viewer from the Iron Range since property taxes in Chisum Hibbing area have gone up 100% in the last 3 years and no relief in sight what is the status of not taxing Social Security and I know last year a lot of work was done and and a vast majority I want to say 80 some percent now of minnesotans are are not tax of Social Security but has there been any proposals uh and any progress on furthering that this year we'll start with you represent lesna cart I'm 100% for eliminating the Social Security tax for everybody and so the The Way It Was Written last year was that it was set at income levels so basically about $105,000 right now is is uh not taxed for a married couple and it's around I believe 85,000 for a single that's not taxed and so so those are the considered the upper rung of anybody above that is wealthy and so I think there's a lot of people that are arguing that's that's not the Benchmark they've already paid their taxes and so I'm in of the opinion that they should be fully eliminated like several other states across the country have done and this is this has an impact to the state budget of course uh to the tune of millions of dollars uh if you adjust this uh and so uh any proposals this year this is a non-budget year are we going to be seeing any any action on this um there have been proposals uh made um but when you look at the Target that was given to the tax committee um it can't be done this year with with and meeting that Target so um it'll be a discussion that has to U happen next year when it's a budget year again um I think it was unfortunate with the Surplus we had last year that it wasn't done last year but but next year it'll it'll be back there's no question okay though though just to be clear last year something was passed yes it wasn't the full but a correct a big portion but not the full repeal okay so what what you said represents Les a car if if individuals are making 85,000 or less or couples 105 or less they would they do not pay taxes on the Social Security correct all right next question from the viewer uh is the legislature doing anything in regards to anti-Semitism facing both Jewish people and those who support is Israel is there any legislation addressing these issues uh Senator Eric we're going to start with you so um yes there has been a lot of discussion around this as well and I know um we have some different resolutions uh you know there's no legislation as such to be put in place but a resolution is some a statement that you make in support um but one of the things um talking with uh jcrc the the group that represents the Jewish Community um they're also a little bit nervous about some of that as well they don't want a lot of attention uh drawn uh because of some of the fear that they have in some of their communities and things that have been happening so we're we're listening to them uh very closely um I think they know that uh many of us uh support them and uh we try to do everything we can um I know a number of us have gotten the the combination that us and Israel flag lapel pins that we wear to show our support um uh number of of us have uh the Israeli flags that we display at our offices now to show our support um behind the scenes we are always making sure that the the Jewish members know that we support them um so we're trying to do things in in the right way so that we're not actually stirring the pot and maybe making things worse than they need to be we saw this in the Northland where actually the city of duth had a ceasefire um resolution come up and it was voted down with the majority of the council stating that this wasn't a city issue this was more of a national or federal issue represent Lesnar uh I'll I'll just ask for your reaction to What Senator Ric said and then maybe bigger picture is this something that should be addressed by the state legislature you know I think Senator Ric made perfect uh commentary on it where we are as legislators I mean we stand with Israel and we're standing with you know our Jewish uh legislative body too to let them know that we support this and you know unfortunately we're seeing events go on around the country and in our state and across the world and and they're unfortunate so you know hopefully um we'll find whether it's a resolution that that's uh the best path to go but I think the people that we serve with know that um we stand with them too well please keep those uh questions coming in by phone or by email um a couple other issues I want to tackle right out the front here is uh permitting uh we've talked about this with all of the guests sitting at this desk Northeastern Minnesota and there is a permitting streamlining bill that it's making its way through the legislature it passed the Senate and uh is uh being debated in the house as well Senator rck you voted against the streamlining of Permitting can you tell us why uh you did so yeah this is uh I've been served on a number of uh legislative panels over this last year because of uh the role I've played in the energy committee and I was uh pretty clear all the way through that uh I wanted to see a permitting Reform Bill that was much more expansive um this focused primarily on two sectors that was for the transmission lines uh for solar and wind generation um there was an amendment that was put on um that would give some help uh for the mining operations um but as we talked about uh and I was working with the chief author trying to say this can be a bipartisan Bill if we include more uh reform get more agencies involved and work this through um and I will say things I got a little bit emotional a little bit heated on the floor as this uh came up our our president even pulled me aside and uh later said I've never seen you quite that uh animated and worked up um but what we saw instead of trying to have the bill become more bipartisan and maybe incorporate some of that um a an amendment was adopted to um kind of alleviate the fears of some of the far-left environmental groups which to me took it the exact opposite the wrong direction of where we should be going with this um you know I want permitting reform but I want it for all sectors in Minnesota we're seeing so many uh expansions of businesses move to North Dakota or South Dakota um they all need that uh whether it's in the construction industry whether it's mining whether it's the pipelines they all deserve this same uh permitting reform form to know that when they start a process what the process is approximately how long it's going to take and uh to have the agencies kind of working in coordination and and not just picking you know a couple of sectors that get it because the political headwinds are in their favor right now so B business sector Chambers of Commerce and others supportive of this legislation and so it received support from many in the business sector and labor unions and otherwise uh some would say uh isn't half a loaf better than no loaf at all at this point and what would you say to that um again I do appreciate that some permitting reform is going to happen what what I fear is that because uh I and this is part of what got me worked up on the floor it was claimed that you know it was the fear of this uh not getting it good enough to stop it from happening um my belief is it's the far-left environmental groups that have stop this from happening in the past and they've picked a couple of little sectors that uh have their favor and once these pass no one else is going to get it and that's that's my issue with the bill and and why I want more encompassed with the bill to make sure it it happens for uh everyone or at Le I had even told the chief author that if it Incorporated something in the bill that showed us there was a a process that was going to begin if we were going to put together some type of grp group you know study groups to look at these other sectors that could get my support and and none of that was incorporated in the bill what's the view in the house on this bill represent Les the car I think there's more to be uh discussed as we go to the end of session but from my perspective you know building a strong commercial tax base is essential for northern Minnesota and that permitting process is part of it and so this process is is literally for one section and there will always be a section that needs to have permitting and this one is wind and solar in the transmitter lines but we have housing issues we have building businesses we have companies looking if they're going to come to Minnesota or not and when we have North Dakota South Dakota Wisconsin and Iowa having different permitting process we can't afford to be a flyover State anymore and so I think it's a very valid question the chambers's done tremendous great uh great work and said look we need permitting reform and this isn't something we've heard new so I think to the people that have uh for good reason questions they're asking why are we all of a sudden able to expedite the permitting process for one section for solar and wind when we've been fighting for decades to get permitting reform why now is it able to FastTrack we have companies that have been waiting for 20 years to get something done in Minnesota so I think it's a valid question and I'm hopeful we're going to find a compromise where we can get get it done in solar and wind and also all the other really critical manufacturing jobs and IND industry and across the board so that we can have a thriving commercial tax base for northern Minnesota represent Lon car you brought up housing and so that'll take us to that topic as well and Regulation and there was a bill once again that received broad support from different sectors that normally aren't at the table once again labor and business and and other folks around affordable housing to look at some reform there which would really say that uh local communities they would disallow any sort of zoning requirements at the local community level to make sure that folks could build different types of housing in local communities and and so where did you stand on that and what is what is your sense about uh allowing for different zoning changes and having the state come in and say we're going to make sure that you can build multi-unit housing all across the state in different communities regardless of the local potential restrictions when that bill first came out I signed on to that bill you know I I was I'm excited like everybody to try to help have housing move forward we have a significant housing shortage in the state and with high interest rates of 8% it's not helping for us to be able to have uh housing expand farther but in the sense of this what it came down to when I found out the details of the bill the reason I withdrew my name from it is I had serious concerns over local control and when I talk to the cities and I talk to you know the local uh for zoning not having that local control at a zoning level to me was really problematic and so I think it's got to we have to come at it from an angle where we're you know the communities are doing strategic planning with a comprehensive plan with the cities and the schools and the counties and and and to not have local control when you're dealing with housing you know you have to have the infrastructure and so without it it we could really have a debacle and I didn't want to see that happen you know the cities know what's happening and to not have local control I felt was the wrong move to go so I'm looking forward to seeing revisions Senator Ric your position on this and anything else that might be happening around housing issues this year yeah um for the most part I'm supportive um I as I look at some of the ordinances that have been put out there um the ones that I struggle with are the ones that are the aesthetic uh ordinances where you have to have a brick front or you have you know when we're doing things to try to protect people's property values who are already there and already established um and it prevents people in lower incomes from being able to get into homes those are the things I struggle with I hear from some of the very people it was one of the things that got me involved with uh in politics to begin with at my Township level uh folks who in the 70s had a trailer house on the lake and came up you know from the metro area to for the weekend and over time they mo removed the trailer they brought in a little cabin or something and then in later in life they bought the next door lot and they've built a very nice house and then they're trying to put in ordinances to prevent people from following that very same path and that's what I believe we need to uh get away from do should a local area be able to do uh zoning and stuff to say here's the area where we would want to do multif family housing and here's an area um where would be single family housing or duplexes things like that absolutely I I support that but when you get into the aesthetic parts and and other Provisions where they're trying to create certain wealth within certain communities and protect that that's where I struggle I think that diversity among neighborhoods can be very good and when you're preventing people from getting into that starter Market um it's very difficult and and uh you know I also serve on the board for Habitat for Humanity for my five count area and it's you know that's exactly what we build is a simple uh onlevel house that gets people in and starts building that uh generational wealth uh by having Equity build and that's being prevented in a lot of these cities right now with the ordinances that they put in place so uh some revision around that I believe absolutely has to be done I want to talk about an issue where maybe on its face doesn't seem like it's related but I think it is and actually represent Lesnar you brought this up at the very end of the last time you were here Uber and Lyft and so this may not impact all of the districts in northeastern Minnesota but uh the City of Minneapolis uh passed locally uh in their City uh some pay requirements and and other requirements uh for drivers of ride share and Uber and Lyft have said they're going to leave the community and in some instances maybe the state uh if these going to affect and there's been some delays by the city council in implementing that and now the state legislature is potentially getting involved in overriding what the City of Minneapolis did and so uh directly to representes Lesnar um do you believe in local control for the City of Minneapolis to allow them to pass ordinances uh just as you were talking about your desire to see local control on housing ordinances you know I think this Uber lift thing is such a complicated piece but to the piece of Public Safety and public health there are so many people that have reached out to me that their employer is paying for them to get to work through Uber andyt they don't drive and so they're very afraid of what's going to happen I've had people reach out to me that are disabled they need Uber and lift we have people that uh you know for so many situations and and the business Community moving in uh coming in for conferences and I've also had several parents call me and say you know what's the plan we had so much efforts on reducing DWIs and driving you know under the influence and what's the their kids are in college in the in the M Minneapolis St Paul area and people rely on Uber andyt for our Public Safety and so I I have great concerns with that of what the backup plan will be for for for kids going to college and people getting to work and then just it's not even just the recreation of if you get want to go to a Vikings game or a baseball game or people fly into the airports and need a ride or you know are traveling it it impacts our tourism market for not just Minneapolis St Paul people flying and then maybe they they need a you know an Uber lift to get where they're going and maybe they're going to be coming up the norshore or whatever they're going to be doing but I think it impedes many things and so I think that that preempt of Peace makes sense at the legislator I think it's going to affect people's uh ability the the infrastructure has been based in on Uber andyt for quite a while and it was set up as a 1099 and I think that we have a lot to discuss so we'll see if it comes to us on the house floor but as a legislator from North Eastern Minnesota uh and a strong believer in local control uh do you not think the City of Minneapolis can do what they want for their community and that the state should respect that I think the local control you're talking about is setting wages and no I don't think that that they have any business uh setting wage levels for a business and as a city and whose responsibility is that then I think it's the owner it's it's whoever the private businesses that's their that's their business model and so whatever that is is between the business and and and the employee but the state has a minimum wage the federal government has set a minimum wage so that we have a precedent there that units of government set minimum wages right correct and my understanding is that uh minimum wage happens in those cases so what the request is is is not about minimum wage it's about setting a different Benchmark and so that's going into I would say a private sector Market Senator bur yeah I think you know this has been a a difficult conversation I remember when uh Uber and lift first were starting and I kind of talked about it's like well why aren't they having to follow the same regulations that taxi cab companies have to follow and because they didn't have to meet those same requirements we've seen the taxi cab industry decimated and it's virtually gone I believe somebody said that something or 60 some uh taxi cabs remain in the entire metro area and so they can't pick up the slack um if Uber and Lyft shut down even for a little while and so you know I see that as this this has a Statewide impact and when we when we talk about the minimum wage and some of these uh other you know things that we're going to do to business requirements we put on businesses um if we start doing it City by city by City you're going to have a lot of uh companies especially you know contractors that are very mobile and move around from jurisdiction to jurisdiction they're just going to be like put their hands up in the air and say I have no way of knowing what and keeping up with what my requirements are in all of these different cities and so in cases like that that's where I believe it is uh good to do it on a Statewide level if there's going to be anything that's done uh for these requirements whether like licensing and um minimum wage things like that all right well keep your questions coming in we have quite a few here uh first one up a retired firefighter from duth is asking fire and police pensions have been frozen at 1% for several years over the past three years the pensions have fallen behind inflation by over 13% is there anything being proposed that can be done to address the pensions of our Frontline service members police and firefighter pensions are any of you familiar with uh any work being done on this issue um I know there were some proposals last year um and once again uh those uh pensions and then also uh the teacher pensions were uh big issues that came up and when we saw again the Target that was given to the pension commission there was no way to address those um with that dollar amount that was given and can we just explain to the viewers back home you know setting targets and and and committees I'm a little bit familiar with this from my past job but each committee uh gets decided here's the amount of money that you have available to you this year to spend in those specific topic areas of committees and it being not a budget year those are smaller numbers yeah so yeah last year when we had the 17 to1 19 billion do Surplus you know a certain dollar amount was given to each of the the different committee areas is to he would be your portion of of that uh Surplus and the pensions Commission was not given a very big Target to deal with I know of the discussions are continuing um there's also a number of discussions um this whole the EMS uh situation that we're in the lack of people going into it the for rural areas you know how do we keep these afloat there are uh talks about is is pension an issue that could if we increase the pensions could that drive people into those areas so uh a lot of discussions around that those are usually things that take a few years to get done and emss our ambulance drivers Emergency Medical Service represent Lesar it sounds like not something that's going to happen this year because of budgetary constraints unfortunately to the points that Senator Ric made that is what it appears to be I did sign on bills that would support the police and the firefighters and also supported you know looking at a pathway for teachers to have uh retirement at 62 after 30 years of you know work time and so I know that those are important issues to many of our members in our community so we were trying to look at Pathways forward the targets were set and so it's a wait and see right now but I think there's going to be ongoing discussions for sure all right got a few questions around property taxes I'm going a bunch them all together uh Roberta uh asks and it's really in Grand View stating there are so many uh people building Mega houses that the property valuation and taxes are rising so much it's forcing people out local zoning control would limit this and then another viewer is asking why can't we follow the lead of other states and freeze property taxes for seniors and retirees to prevent them from being taxed out of their homes and so to remind the viewers back home uh your property taxes are generally Set uh by your counties your cities and your local school districts to and townships to fund those core government services at that level though the state legislature does play roles in property taxes in different ways and so how would you reply to either of these viewers who are concerned about their property taxes what if if anything this year uh is the state doing to address these issues represent Lesnar we'll start with you that's those are great questions and and questions I get from many many of my constituents and I would say two of the things that I've signed on to one is to do that for senior citizens to do a cap that would allow to the point of the uh caller to address the senior citizens because many people feel like just the price valuations are going so high and their social security income is is not and so they're really concerned that they're going to get priced out not being able to pay their property taxes so we've looked at a percentage base uh for senior citizens and I did sign on a bill for that and then I also looked at a bill and I signed on one that would look at a four-year period of of property valuations because these big spikes that have been happening with the market the way it is right now have been very problematic for people because they've seen their neighbors's house sell for uh prices that are just unheard of and they didn't have anything done to their house but now they're seeing huge valuations and that's just the way the laws are written it's going by the the sale price and so in this situation where we have really high interest rates for people uh buying homes and then selling homes this whole issue of not having enough new homes entering into the marketplace is driving that too and so I looked at that is probably a fair way to do it so I hope we'll have discussion I don't anticipate we're going to see it happen this year it's but I do look forward to it next year because we really have to find some solutions to the property tax issue uh for seniors and really people of all ages I'm getting calls from everybody about their property taxes yeah this is uh one you know it it's complicated just like you said the the legislature sets the formulas uh but it's your local you know County City Township School District that uh Drive what the the local property taxes would be um one of the things we are seeing that I hear a lot about uh because of the property values uh going up so much uh people you know we have what we call the homestead exclusion that up to a certain level typically about $300,000 is um you know maybe not taxed or tax lower especially I know for veterans uh that's the threshold for them and now their property values are going up so high that that exclusion is very small um and it it's just not helping anymore so those are things I think at the state legislature that would be something we would set um where those uh numbers would be for those exclusions um and then there could also be things that we could do um if we're going to freeze property taxes that would take um State dollars going to the counties and to all these entities um to replace what would be uh generated from the property taxes so once and just in context that would could potentially be billions of dollars okay yes so that's why this year that wouldn't be a discussion so your point of billions that would have been a last year great topic to deal with property taxes when we had almost a 20 billion Surplus and now that Surplus is gone so we're not in a position to be looking at property tax reform in the way that I think the public is looking for us to do but it's it's still a big priority and we need to address it and I think we will be looking at options next year though it looks like yes so not something for the viewers at home this year yes all right continuing to get questions coming in uh another question here it's from reviewer asking and and it's brief and I'm not familiar with the issue any comment on uh representative doth proposal to ground flights are either of you familiar with uh anything that represent doth is doing around grounding Airline I'm guessing plane flights familiar with I have not heard that bill okay yeah and usually uh as as the senator from his district that might have been something he approached me about uh to carry in the Senate and so I I but I don't know what that bill is okay and just for the viewers at home legislators sit on certain committees and there are topic topics that they wouldn't see until things progress in the process so I'm assuming that this isn't making any progress this year or else we would have heard about it by now is that correct correct correct all right next up uh we have a question back to the uh back to the uh resolution of support for Israelis and a viewer wants to know why would a resolution support Israelis and not Palestinians is there any proposal to support the Palestinian um folks as well uh not that I'm aware of but I know as far as the the Palestinian people um I think most everybody again agrees the supporting them it's it's Hamas that uh is where people are saying this is where the problem is they're the the ones creating the issue and and part of what the the tricky part of this is is that Hamas is the ruling um governing body in Palestine right now they were elected a few years ago and now have taken control and the Palestinian people are being ruled by Hamas and that's I think where part of the problem uh comes in doing a resolution to support Palestine it is also supporting Hamas and so that's I think we're we're seeing some hesitation to to do that but I I do believe um most people you know want to support and believe in making sure the Palestinian people um are we always make sure we know their plight and during this whole conflict that they are allowed to be taken care of as well and so we are getting into Foreign Affairs here on the Minnesota report however uh you know certainly we are seeing on our TV screens thousands of women and children Palestinian women and children in particular getting uh killed uh in in in this part of the world and so uh represent Lesnar back to the question of supporting Israelis and not Palestinians is that what we're seeing you know I don't think I have anything more to add than Senator Ric said I mean we all see the unfortunate events taking place and um you know my bobber is looking at Northeastern Minnesota right now and trying to get us through the end of the legislature on the things that I can affect uh which are the issues that we're talking about with bonding and child care and Emergency Medical Services and make sure we have 911 calls coming to peam and you know clo and all the areas so while you know I understand the question is just not a piece of our jurisdiction you know it we're about equal to everybody who's calling in you know of just being concerned about it and hoping for the best that we can get through this and in peaceful ways looks like we have uh some more details representive do Seth's Bill we've got viewers that are calling in uh which is great thank you for doing so and this is uh the the the doet bill uh is a proposal to have County Sheriff's shut down airspace for suspected cloud seeding or government manipulation of the environment and chemtrails and so um are you does that ring a bell for anybody as a proposal I I'm I'm hearing you what you're reading but I have not heard that bill I mean we haven't heard it I'm I sit on children and Workforce and health and human services so it's not something we've talked about at caucus or been ready to prepare to vote on for the house floor so uh this is I don't see this going anywhere no it might be something that uh somebody in the local community brought to him as a concern and he submitted it uh to show them support but it is not it's not something that's probably even had a committee here to have because I I haven't heard about it at all okay uh we're getting some some more questions around Social Security and and pensions and some more details that I'll share with you all offline because this looks more like a not a question but uh a comment with some more background um we've got a viewer uh from the Chisum Hibbing area uh who is wondering why there are not always Democratic and Republican Representatives at the table at the same time and so actually this is more probably a question for us at PBS north than the legislators we invite all legislators from nor Eastern Minnesota onto the show uh and when they're available they come so sometimes you see two Republicans sometimes you see two dflers and sometimes it mixed it up it's really based on what their schedule allows to do but uh all legislators from Northeastern Minnesota are invited and I try to gently push back when we have two of the same team on here as hopefully you've seen me do today I can say over the years I've been here with representative sundine and uh representative Liz Olen a number of times all right great so uh another question U as we're heading in here to the last three weeks things are funneled down now and that's really what happens here is not all the issues as we were just discussing a a a a state reps bill that's probably not in consideration here uh what do you hope if if there if the legislature could prioritize in these last three weeks what are you hoping to see for sure get done here because as we said before uh there's nothing that you have to do con tionally this year so what are what are your hopes of maybe your biggest one or two things that you feel need to get done before the end of this legislative session that realistically have a chance to get done representes Lesnar will start with you I think that the emergency medical system has to be addressed that is something that is affecting all of Greater Minnesota in a very high level and we are Holding On by a thread in many of the townships and it's across the state and so while the Metro Works a little differently with the hospital systems and the ambulance services I think that you know regardless of zip code the expectation is people are going to have an ambulance arrive and so we have to find a way and I've been serving on that task force you know Senator hu or Senator seberger and then uh representative huitt were uh selected as the chairs by the governor for that task force and I was selected to be on that too and it's been interesting because 70% of the ambulance calls are non-emergency transportation and really lacking non-emergency transportation so we talked about Uber and lift for the cities that's probably why I'm so concerned about that for seniors that are aging disab disability uh lanes that is just the same issue that we have in Greater Minnesota is non-emergency transportation and the number that everybody remembers when they're aging even with dementia and Alzheimer's they remember 911 that's the long-term memory and so when we're moving to a model of having everybody live at home for as long as possible which is a great and what plan that everybody wants we need to make sure we have non-emergency transportation taken care of so I've been working on initiatives for that and then looking at how we it's not just a stop Gap with money we've I've talked to the townships they know exactly how much money they're losing and so we have to grow this e this volunteer program and then grow our EMT program I wrote a bill it's in the workforce committee uh I sit on that committee and it made it through it's going to end up in the in the Omnibus for Workforce for 100,00 000 for for Two Harbors to do a pilot project for an EMT program and I was in Health occupation class in 10th Grade so this is a program where you get the training in 11th and 12th grade you graduate you're going to get your take your test and so I think that will help the NorthShore uh Cook County and Lake County and we can then take that to other places but I think we need to get the ambulance uh piece taken care of and for me you know knowing that we had 17.5 billion it's it's hard to see that we have such low targets to deal with a bipartisan issue that's been noted as a problem since 2002 so we can't leave this session without dealing with Emergency Medical Services because it's not going to have a good ending if we if we don't address it for the people I most say uh that though whatever is addressed this year is merely a Band-Aid I think most people agree on that as well this is just a stop Gap to get us to next year and you're talking about a few pilot projects but longer term what needs to be done within this system of emergency services and ambulance services across the state what needs to change either at the local state or federal level uh in order to fix this well I signed on a bill that allows them in during the pandemic we had different rules for who could drive the ambulance and townships are asking for that and so that's an easy fix for us to change to put those those pandemic rules back in we're in a in a a healing moment for many pieces education is is moving through issues following the pandemic we've got issues with our uh Ems for for growing our teams again so that would be a a solution and then looking at uh opportunities to grow and give uh stips for our volunteers a lot of these people are very low paid hardly anything and so giving some compensation you know paying for their tabs in their license if you're in the volunteer firefighters and you are the first responder before the ambulance just simple things like that that don't have a big fiscal note but starts appreciating the people and and then growing our program and the EMTs I think are essential to get those in the in the Career Technical education in the school systems and then have us pay for that up front that's going to help take the load off and then we know how many runs that they're doing and so finding a way to fiscally reimburse them we know we've been underfunding them the medical assistance rates are very low and they have been for years so it's not new news and so we know how many runs they're doing and we can look at Greater Minnesota and give them the relief they need and continue looking at Solutions but just creating a new board to me I'm not I'm not for that I understand I've seen a lot of Task Force and and boards be created but it's not going to change who's showing up for that call it's not going to change that at all not in Greater Minnesota we have to financially uh incentivize these people and uh give them what they need and and that's what they're asking for Senator Ric your top priorities that you want to see get done before the end of the session you know I I think uh one of the most realistic things to focus on is going to be the infrastructure uh investment um most people think that is you know through bonding um I think there is potentially a path to readjust our targets and do a cash um Bill instead of borrowing money um when you look at the situation the Senate is in right now potentially being a 3333 that could be one uh path that we could take but I do think addressing our infrastructure is uh we we we can't ignore it because it just keeps getting in worse condition so and you saying cash that would be taking what is projected as a surplus this year and using that instead of borrowing correct okay so a couple other questions here as we're uh running short on time but a lot of questions from viewers uh sports betting uh folks are wondering uh is this is an issue that's certainly been discussed about for years and it has made its way probably as far as it's ever gotten in the legislature uh are we going to be seeing sports betting ped this year Senator Eric you know um last time I was on here I think this came up and I said yes I think there was a good path um today I'm a little less uh I I think it's a little smaller chance this year um when we look at what happened with the sports commission um and allowing the racetracks to do this um the historic uh horse betting um and that really upset the tribes and now it is created a a big fight between the tracks and the tribes and I think a lot of uh legislators who were leaning towards voting yes were saying we need to make sure both of these groups um as well as the charitable gambling folks are are uh taken care of and I think uh this potentially put a wrench in that for this year I'm I'm not saying it can't happen but uh I think that decision uh by the racing commission um really potentially put some doubt in this getting done view from the house represent Lesnar I would concur with what Senator Ric said I think with the multiple issues that are facing that lane of the gambling topic of adding sports betting it's also looking at the charitable gambling the horse tracks all of it so I think with everything else that's on our plate with a short rest of the session I don't see it happening this year I I'm open to listening uh to that conversation if it comes to the house floor but I will be surprised if it's on if it comes to the house floor because we only have so many days left I could be wrong and we only have a few minutes left and it's hard to bring up an issue like this with just a few minutes but if you could touch on uh there are some gun gun control legislation that's going to be discussed I believe in the house uh starting this week sometime represent Lesnar can you talk about what those proposals might be if you're aware of them and if you support them I think it's an interesting time for those gun bills because the Senate author of those bills is is the senator that's been charged or not charged but arrested um and so there's a lot of uh questions about that we have them on the floor tomorrow so we'll have I think there's three gun bills tomorrow that are going to be on the house floor I think there's eight bills six or eight bills we're going to see so the gun storage is one uh the the mandatory reporting for uh a stolen uh firearm is another one and then the other one I believe is related to the uh is it the straw purchases straw purchase and but it's not just the straw purchase bill it was a i believe it should have been a standalone bill now it has trigger uh implications uh added they they modified that bill so it's a different bill now than it originally was so we'll be taking up all those bills so I look forward to the discussion tomorrow on the house floor any uh positions on any of those three bills you just mentioned I would say no it's a no vote for me yes and why well do you have about an hour there's a long list there's a long list but just briefly your major concern the this the storage uh questions I think are very problematic for people I mean that that you're basically not able to have your gun has to have be a a safe you know so when people are living by themselves or I've had single moms say to me look I want to know that I'm safe in my house for my kids I've had all kinds of scenarios I don't want to have to go get my ammo and put it in the you know it's it's it's in the safe it's not going to be able to be accessible fast for them if they're BL burglarized or they feel their life is in danger so I think there's many questions for people and on this on the 48 hours are that time frame of reporting sometimes people don't know that it's been stolen their gun has been stolen so you're basically criminalizing a lie biting person for something they don't know cabins and various places that people could be breaking in and Senator rck I'm sure you have a lot to say on this and unfortunately we're out of time so we're going to end on a cliffhanger with with where you're at on this issue and I apologize for that but we are out of time and I'd like to S thank Senator Ric and representatives Les Nar for joining us here this evening answering questions and sharing their thoughts we will be back again next Sunday at 5: to speak with even more members of the Minnesota state legislature and answer more of your questions thank you for watching and to the viewers at home for calling and writing in with your questions you're playing a vital part in our representative government for the team here at PBS North I'm Tony ceric have a great evening hey e