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From: Pat Shortridge,
Chair, Republican Party
of Minnesota
The incoming House Speaker, House Majority Leader and Agriculture Finance Committee Chair are all from Minneapolis/St. Paul and will have control over major issues affecting rural Minnesota over the next two years. One in five jobs in Minnesota is agriculture-related, and as such, we must ‘do no harm’ to this vital part of our economy and the jobs it provides. The decision to appoint Rep. Wagenius as the lead on the agriculture finance committee threatens agriculture in Minnesota.
Rep Wagenius, who proudly refers to herself as a “mother earth feminist,” would be only the second Agriculture Finance Chair from Minneapolis/St. Paul in nearly 150 years. Over the past 30 years in the State House, Wagenius has developed a pattern of voting against pro-agriculture bills in favor of metro-centric and environmental legislation. Just last session, Wagenius opposed both the Ag Omnibus bill that passed twice (102-20 and 111-20), and the environmental permitting efficiency bill that passed 82-42, placing her well outside the mainstream in Minnesota.
The big question is: will rural Democrat legislators stand up for Minnesota agriculture when Paul Thissen and Jean Wagenius start moving the “Mother Earth Feminist” agenda? For some truth in labeling, I would suggest Democrats replace “farmer” with “mother earth feminist,” giving them a more accurate moniker - the Democrat Mother Earth Feminist Labor Party (DMEFL).
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