Minnesota House to vote on constitutional protections for abortion, LGBTQ rights

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Members of the Minnesota House on Monday were set to take up a state version of the federal Equal Rights Amendment which would create constitutional protections for access to abortion and transgender medicine.

If the measure passes in both the House and the Senate, both with DFL majorities, Minnesota voters would decide a little over two years from now whether to change the state constitution to include the new language. The measure was expected to pass in the House, but the Senate passed a version of the ERA bill last year that doesn’t include abortion.

Under the current House bill the ballot questions will be:

“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to say that all persons shall be guaranteed equal rights under the laws of this state, and shall not be discriminated against on account of race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, or sex, including pregnancy, gender, and sexual orientation?”

Protections

In addition to language protecting against race and gender discrimination, the amendment also would protect “making and effectuating decisions about all matters relating to one’s own pregnancy or decision whether to become or remain pregnant; gender identity or gender expression; or sexual orientation.”

Protections that would go into effect on a constitutional level if voters approved the House version of the ERA already exist in state law. Last year, the DFL-controlled Legislature passed a bill codifying the right to an abortion, as well as protections for medical treatments for transgender minors. But DFL lawmakers, as well as abortion rights and LGBTQ activists say more needs to be done.

Ahead of the vote, Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, DFL-St. Paul, said the constitutional protections are necessary as political conservatives move to restrict access to abortion and transgender medicine for minors.

“Our work was not done,” she told reporters at a Monday Capitol news conference. “ We knew that in order to ensure that the work that we did last year would be protected regardless of who was in office, which power was which party was in power, that those rights would be protected in our state constitution.”

Jess Braverman, the legal director for the nonprofit advocacy group Gender Justice, said the U.S. Supreme Court ending 50 years of federal abortion protections when it overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in 2022 demonstrates the need for the change.

“If we do not tell the courts what rights we want protected, then it is up to judges, not voters to make that decision,” said Braverman, who noted the state of Texas had adopted an ERA of its own decades ago, but lawmakers there were able to pass a virtual ban on abortion because the Constitution didn’t specifically mention the procedure.

Republicans plan amendments

Republicans who oppose the bill say they plan to introduce amendments to include exemptions to protect religious groups from the requirements. Groups including the Minnesota Catholic Conference have spoken out against the bill, saying its provisions infringe on religious liberties.

Anti-abortion groups say the bill will create a constitutional right to abortion up to birth. In anticipation of the House ERA language ending up on the ballot in the coming years, groups such as Minnesotans Concerned for Life have already been running ads opposing the move, calling it “extreme.”

In response to concerns about religious liberty, advocates say the state constitution already contains protections for religious groups and that the amendment will only apply to government groups, and doesn’t compel private groups to do anything.

Groups in support and opposition rallied at the Capitol on Monday ahead of the scheduled debate. The House had not yet taken up the bill as of Monday evening.

Senate version

Last year, the state Senate passed its own version of the ERA that did not include language relating to abortion or gender procedures.

Since that version is different from the version backed by the House, lawmakers from both chambers would need to reconcile the differences in a conference committee and hold a floor vote on the compromise version.

DFLers control a one-seat majority over Republicans in the Senate, and they haven’t taken up a similar bill this year. It’s not clear if they have the votes to pass the more expansive ERA backed by House Democrats.

The last day for the Legislature to vote on any bills is Sunday.

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Outgoing CEO of Rise spent 45 years helping expand employment for people with disabilities

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Lynn Noren started working at Rise as a college intern in the spring of 1979. Within a few months, she was working full time for the nonprofit organization that supports people with disabilities and other barriers to employment.

Now, 45 years later, Noren is retiring as president and CEO.

Lynn Noren (Courtesy of Rise)

“It’s bittersweet,” said Noren, 65, of Champlin. “In many ways, I grew up at Rise at the same time Rise was ‘growing up,’ and I treasure that experience.”

Noren, who has been president and CEO since 2013, said she feels fortunate to have worked closely through the years “with the exceptional people we serve, their families, our incredibly talented team members and community supporters.”

“It’s a really big change for me, but I feel confident it’s the right time for Rise and for me,” she said. “The future of the organization is bright.”

From 10 employees to 400

When Noren’s internship through the special-education program at St. Mary’s Junior College started, Rise had fewer than 10 employees. The Fridley-based nonprofit now has about 400, she said.

Noren continued working full-time for the organization while receiving her bachelor’s degree in human services administration in 1994 from Metro State University in St. Paul and her master’s degree in business administration from the University of San Francisco through its distance learning program in 1996. She held a number of positions at Rise before assuming the top leadership role in 2013.

Noren said she is especially proud of helping the organization successfully navigate a merger with East Metro and Wisconsin-based ESR in 2019 and guiding the organization through the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic, which resulted in a shutdown of support services and staffing furloughs.

Since then, she said she has “worked to expand both employment and life enrichment disability services in new and innovative ways that increase community visibility.”

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The organization, which supports about 3,500 people a year in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, recently transitioned from center-based work programs to community-based jobs in order to comply with state and federal policies.

“We have a lot of community businesses that support the work that we do,” she said. “Community employers need people in their workforce – and people with disabilities can really help fill that need. People with disabilities have really advanced in their ability to work at competitive pay and find jobs in the community, and that’s exciting. It’s a big change.”

Rise officials are working with Cohen Taylor, a national search firm, to recruit qualified candidates for the CEO job; Noren plans to retire when a new leader is in place, which will be before the end of the year, she said.

Rise open house

An open house and ribbon cutting for Rise’s new administrative offices in Fridley will be 3-6 p.m. Tuesday at Rise, 6499 University Ave. N.E., Suite 200, in Fridley.

Ribbon cutting and brief remarks will take place at 4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

RSVP to info@rise.org is appreciated but not required.

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Dakota, Goodhue Counties to run nuclear incident drill Tuesday

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The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and other state, county and city agencies will conduct a simulated emergency Tuesday at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Red Wing, Minn.

The annual drill tests the capabilities of federal, state and local agencies in the event of an incident at the plant, according to a news release from the Department of Public Safety.

People near the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Dakota and Goodhue counties may see an emergency responder presence in the area, but there is no need for residents to be alarmed, officials said.

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Minnesota expunges 58,000 low-level cannabis offenses from state records

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Minnesota has sealed nearly 58,000 criminal records related to non-felony cannabis offenses, completing a process set into motion by the state’s legalization law last year.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety on Monday announced the completion of the expungements from the state’s Criminal History System, which the agency said it completed three months ahead of schedule.

“It is very encouraging to see that misdemeanor cannabis criminal records are moving toward expungement now,” Cannabis Expungements Board Executive Director James Rowader said in a news release. “These actions together will have a lasting and significant equity impact on communities throughout the state of Minnesota.”

As part of the Aug. 1, 2023, legalization of adult-use cannabis in Minnesota, the state started the process of sealing criminal records related to the drug. A vast majority of records reviewed by the Minnesota Judicial Branch were eligible, though 213 could not be expunged.

BCA records

Expungement doesn’t mean the records no longer exist. Anyone can request their criminal record from the Criminal History System, including records that are sealed.

And while the BCA’s records are expunged in Minnesota, they’ll still be viewable in other states because of Minnesota’s membership in the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, according to state public safety officials. That compact requires records to be available in other states unless someone files a petition and a court orders the BCA to seal them.

Now that this part of the process is complete at the state level, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will give local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies a list of the records it expunged so the process can happen at those agencies as well.

The BCA said it will review and expunge records again in 2025 to find any records for cases that were still moving through court during the 2024 round of expungements.

Felony convictions

Those with felony convictions related to cannabis won’t have their records automatically expunged. Instead, the new Cannabis Expungement Board plans to review those records, and determine whether they’ll be expunged or if the person with the conviction will be resentenced.

People can’t apply to have their records expunged. The board will review cases and then consider them for action. The board said it plans to begin reviewing records by the end of 2024 and is set to hold an initial organizational meeting on Tuesday.

The Department of Public Safety said it will take several years to review felony convictions because each case is weighed on an individual basis. Cases that involved a dangerous weapon, intentional bodily harm to another person, or threats of death or bodily harm won’t be considered by the board.

Members of the board include Minnesota Court of Appeals Chief Judge Susan Segal, Hennepin County Assistant Public Defender Amanda Brodhag, Deputy Corrections Commissioner Safia Khan, and Rebecca St. George, the legal and policy counsel to the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. A fifth member will be appointed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

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