Did DFL lawmakers move too quickly on some of last session's bills?
MINNEAPOLIS -- The legislature enacted a sweeping progressive agenda this spring, but now there are questions about whether the legislature went too fast, and whether some of the bills — including legalized marijuana and school resource officers' use of force — need to be fixed.
It's almost easier to name what the DFL-controlled legislature didn't do this spring. But Republicans say some of the new laws were rushed through and left too many unanswered questions. And that has some legislators calling for a special session.
The biggest questions surround the new legal marijuana law. The new law says marijuana sales won't be legal in Minnesota until 2025. But it's actually in the state constitution that farmers can legally sell crops that they grow. Republicans say there needs to be more clarification and tightening of some other measures. The House GOP wants changes to the provision that makes smoking or vaping weed in public legal. Minnesota is only the fourth state that allows this. There are also questions about the need for tougher penalties for minors.
Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m. from the State Fair.
"The next step is for the Walz administration to hire a director and start the implementation, and so we'll learn more in that process. And then I think during the next year and a half before it is fully legal here in Minnesota and up and running, we'll potentially have plenty of time there to make some changes if needed," Dziedzic said.
There is also controversy over a new law which restricts what kind of holds school resource officers can put on violent students. Law enforcement agencies in Moorhead and Anoka are suspending their school resource program until they get more clarity A group representing Minnesota police chiefs is asking the governor to call a special session on that issue.
Gov. Tim Walz has given no indication he would call a special session. The Minnesota Legislature won't be back in session until February.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Joseph Dames every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.