Sandra Masin's Blog

The Capital Investment Committee did a lot of travelling to do their research before putting a bonding bill forward. Right before the end of the 2020 Session, the chair of the Capital Investment Committee, Mary Murphy,  gave a great speech to the House about the bonding bill her committee was bringing to the floor.  She said it was a large bill because we can’t go on pushing projects down the road. It didn’t pass then nor did it pass in the special sessions that followed. It was incredibly disappointing because people all over the state were looking forward to getting help on their projects. It would have helped put people to work. Finally, the House passed a bonding bill on October 14th, 100-34. The Senate followed suit the next day. The bill has transportation projects, housing, environmental and so many more projects that will help improve the lives of Minnesotans.

As I headed for home today, I put the car radio on. The announcer was talking about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. My first thought was “Oh, no! The unthinkable, the  inevitable has happened, she has died. ” Today, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87. Even while she was battling another round of cancer, she was still serving as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court and and working on a literary project.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has left a legacy that few can match. She has spent much of her life fighting for women’s rights and for equality. There is a movie about her life that goes into detail about how hard it was for her to get a job as an attorney after law school,  even though she had the grades and the intelligence, so she initially taught.  She understood the injustice of  the society she lived in and kept fighting to end it.  Justice Bader Ginsberg was one formidable individual and truly deserves her place in the history of our country. We are so fortunate to have had her and are in her debt forever. We need to ensure the fight for justice and equality continues.

JOY

Happiness is possible only when one is busy.

The body must toil, the mind must be occupied, and the heart must be satisfied.

Those who do good as opportunity offers are sowing seed all the time, and they need not doubt the harvest.

Author Unknown

Tuesday. August 11, was Primary Election Day. This year, there seemed to be quite a number of primary contests, including  mine in District 51A. Despite all the changes and challenges this year, many people did make it a point to vote. Since many people said they were  using the absentee ballot, the question was how many people would actually show up at the polls. In the end, it seemed to be a slow day at the polls.

I want to extend my appreciation to everyone who participated in the Primary Election. It is very encouraging to see so many people vote even with all the difficulties presented by COVID.   A special thanks to those who voted for me. I am deeply honored and am looking forward to proceeding to the General Election in November.

It is 3:00 in the morning and we are still waiting to see if we will be able to get a Police Accountability Bill or a Bonding Bill to the Governor before we leave.  The fact that there is negotiating going on is encouraging.

 The Department of Public Safety is asking all local communities to NOT be in the streets tonight, for any reason.

• The coordinated National Guard, State Patrol, and Law enforcement presence  continues to grow.
• This response is to address a sophisticated network of urban warfare. We expect the individuals involved to use deadly force – both with fires and other weapons.
• A primary tactic they have used is to locate civilians and use them as both shields from law enforcement and distractions to effective response.
• YOU MUST STAY IN PLACE. Don”t be out walking, do not drive your car unless is it an emergency situation.
• We cannot have innocent people caught up in the sweep of those inflicting violence and danger on our communities.
• These people are sophisticated and coordinated and we need to allow our law enforcement to focus response and resources on the legitimate threats attacking our communities.
• Just because you don’t see the coordinated response – such as National Guard soldiers, know that they are out in the community. DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOU ARE NOT BEING SEEN BY THEM. Our response teams have airborne surveillance. If you are out patrolling the street, our response teams cannot know if you are there to do damage or to protect and will divert resources to find out.
• If you are out, you are making the response operation more difficult. You are taking resources and attention away from effectively responding to threats.
• Protecting and keeping watch from safe, non-mobile locations is fine.

Dakota County is under curfew.

Please stay home, please stay safe.

What started out as peaceful protests against the death of George Floyd while he was in police custody has been overtaken by other groups who are intent on destroying neighborhoods and communities.

Governor Walz ,other elected officials, community leaders, and religious leaders held a press conference this afternoon requesting everyone to please observe the 8:00 curfew tonight.

There will be a larger number of law enforcement out tonight to work on restoring order. We need to give them the time and space to do that. We are told that some of the groups are organized and their intent is to attack civic institutions. If citizens stay home and stay safe, the destructive elements will have more difficulty melting in . Many of the lawless element are not from Minnesota. Please give the National Guard and other law enforcement groups the opportunity to do their job to restore order and bring peace.

The Department of Public Safety is asking local communities to NOT be on the streets tonight for any reason.

It has been advised that it is best to call 911 to report incidents.

Minnesota House members are working on changing laws to address injustices.

Please stay home tonight and stay safe.

I attended the last performance of South Pacific at Eagan High School this evening.  This is one of my favorite musicals. I was impressed with the creativity and the talent of this production.

We are so fortunate to have this caliber of entertainment in our community.

Thanks to all who came to the Town Hall today.

We covered a number of topics that included education, health care, climate change, and the elimination of the tax on social security.

On Thursday , I attended the  School District 196 PreLegislative Session Forum at Echo Park Elementary School. The focus was on literacy. It was impressive to see how many different programs are available to help students learn. We had the opportunity to see students engaged in some of the programs.

Afterwards, we discussed some of their priorities for the upcoming session.