ST. PAUL – Minnesota lawmakers putting finishing touches on their budget bills this week highlights sharp differences between Republicans and Democrats.
On crime, Senate Republican point-man Warren Limmer said, “get tough” with longer sentences and more cops on the street. He said Minnesota is seeing a drastic increase in violent crime and criminals are not being held accountable.
In response, House Democrat Cedrick Frazier said, “if the magic elixir was incarcerating people, America would be the safest country on this planet.”
Frazier says Democrats propose a balanced approach that includes intervention, prevention, accountability — and funding for the police.
In the single largest area of the state budget, K-12 education, House Democrats roll out their proposal Monday, which almost certainly will be heavy on new funding for schools.
Meanwhile, a key Democrat said Senate Republicans’ school funding proposal unveiled last week, unfortunately, is not an April Fool’s joke.
Republicans said the state has been giving public schools more money for decades and it hasn’t produced better results. They continue pushing what they term “school choice” options for parents, which Democrats deride as “school vouchers.”
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