Minnesota
What Minnesota did in its legislature can inform NM’s work
In November 2022, when Minnesota Democrats elected a governor, gained narrow majorities in both state legislative offices, and had a Democratic attorney-general, they became a laboratory for how to effectively use that power to achieve progressive policy priorities.
Our imminent legislative session, plus the return from Minnesota of a friend who’s a seasonal Las Crucen, prompts this look at all that Minnesota has done – including things we did before them and others where we lag.
As soon as the 2023 legislative session started, Minnesota protected abortion rights by encoding Roe v. Wade, expanded background checks on gun purchasers and passed a “red flag” measure through which officials can take guns away from people deemed to be threats to themselves or others, legalized recreational marijuana, and enacted major protections of voting rights. (They instituted automatic registration, pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds, and cut the use of “dark money” in state and local races).
Minnesota has also increased school funding (including providing universal breakfast and lunch for every student in the state); expanded public child care support; increased paid family and sick leave to 12 weeks; provided legal refuge to trans youths from states that restrict gender-affirming and other medical care; set minimum wages for Uber and Lyft drivers; enacted “green” energy goals such as requiring utility companies to offer carbon-free electricity by 2040; and expanded public child care support programs. Governor Tim Walz says he wants Minnesota to be the best state in the union to raise a child in.
As U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said, these policies “have a direct and clear impact on improving people’s lives;” but Minnesota enacted them with a slim majority and while also maintaining a robust economy and keeping crime rates low, the criteria by which conservatives judge progressive local governments. The narrow majorities might have suggested caution; but Minnesotans, deciding that doing good beats doing nothing, took massive steps to improve the lives of real people and protect citizens’ rights. Some say there’s a lesson here for the national Democratic Party.
People call Minnesota a laboratory for progressive policy and a model for what the states can accomplish. Such a laboratory reassures other states that enacting laws to protect people and the environment can be done; and that such pro-people steps can succeed in a state that’s relatively moderate, socially.
I recall a very different episode in Kansas, where Republican Governor Sam Brownback and his Republican-controlled Legislature abused their unhindered power so extensively and created such a huge deficit that people wondered if the state could keep funding basic needs like public education. That seared the conservative state (where Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly two to one) so badly that Democrats have held the governorship ever since.
It’s essential to maintain basic services and help the state’s economy; but let’s also compare Minnesota and New Mexico with neighboring states where close-mindedness, intolerance, and hatred of folks who are different rule the day. States that try to erase slavery and racism from history, minimize assistance to poor folks, suppress minority voting, beat gay kids into submission with cruel “therapies,” and jail not only pregnant women seeking abortion but the bus driver who takes them to the Minnesota or New Mexico border to get medical care. Abortion-rights advocates note that Minnesota’s new law is especially crucial for pregnant women in neighboring states, where abortion remains illegal since the Supreme Court vaporized Roe v. Wade. That sounds quite familiar.
NEWBURG, MINN. — Driving down a winding road dotted with farms, churches and roadside produce stands, it can be easy to miss the only business in town here, an old red shop tucked behind rows of flowers and hanging ferns.
But make no mistake, behind those century-and-a-half-old walls is one of the top food destinations in Minnesota’s Driftless Area.
For the past seven years, Irene Fishburn has been delighting locals and road-trippers alike with made-from-scratch delicacies at Newburg Vintage Home and Garden and Small Batch Bakery.
Fishburn opened the business after she and her husband, Glenn, moved to southeastern Minnesota to be closer to family in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After leaving the grind of their corporate careers in California, the couple settled on a former general store where Irene, a former merchandise buyer for more than 35 stores, could sell garden gifts and baked goods, and Glenn could fish in a nearby trout stream.
Their retirement was set — at least that was the plan.
“When we first bought it, we imagined sitting on the front porch and having coffee with neighbors who stopped by,” Irene said. “We had no idea that it would become a destination-type business.”
Open only on select Saturdays — and then for only three hours — the Newburg bakery regularly draws scores of people willing to stand in line for up to an hour during the busiest summer months to get a taste of authentic French baking. Others come from just down the road.
Mike and Cheryl Erickson, both retired military members, spend their summers in nearby Mabel, Minn., where Mike grew up. He remembers getting ice cream as a kid outside of the same building and said he initially came to the bakery with low expectations.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Each state has its own set of laws that seem quite strange, and Minnesota is not exempt.
Many bizarre laws that come out of states are fictional rumors that somehow spread with no evidence backing them. In Minnesota, this includes it being illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head or parking an elephant on Main Street. Though, there are certain laws that are surprisingly true.
Among Minnesota’s strangest laws include not being allowed to drive with dirty tires and the inability to be charged with drunkenness.
Among Minnesota’s strangest laws include penalties for driving with dirty tires and trouble for mosquitoes. (iStock)
6 WEIRD BEACH LAWS AROUND THE UNITED STATES THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU
Below are more details about these strange laws and more that are on the books in the state of Minnesota.
- You cannot be charged with drunkenness
- It’s against the law to drive with sticky, dirty tires
- Mosquitoes are a public nuisance
- Think twice before hitchhiking
1. You cannot be charged with drunkenness
In Minnesota, public intoxication alone is not a crime.
This is according to Section 340A.902 of Minnesota law.
The law states that “no person may be charged with or convicted of the offense of drunkenness or public drunkenness.”
50 BIZARRE LAWS THAT HAVE EXISTED OR STILL EXIST IN AMERICA
That said, a person could still be convicted of other offenses, like if injuring another or damaging property occurs.
“Nothing herein prevents the prosecution and conviction of an intoxicated person for offenses other than drunkenness or public drunkenness nor does this section relieve a person from civil liability for an injury to persons or property caused by the person while intoxicated,” the written statute goes on to state.
In the state of Minnesota, you cannot be charged with drunkenness. (iStock)
Minnesota is not the only state which does not consider public intoxication a crime.
BIZARRE LAWS IN CALIFORNIA THAT COULD GET YOU INTO TROUBLE
Montana, Nevada and Wisconsin are other states that don’t criminalize drunkenness in public, according to FindLaw.com.
2. It’s against the law to drive with sticky, dirty tires
If you have dirty tires that are spreading filth in the road, be wary before driving down a road in Minnesota. More specifically, in Minnetonka, where driving with dirty tires could lead to legal trouble.
Under Section 845.010, “Public Nuisances Affecting Peace, Safety and General Welfare” in Minnetonka, Minnesota’s Code of Ordinances, drivers are not allowed to drive “a truck or other vehicle whose wheels or tires deposit mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or other material on any street or highway.”
“A violation of this ordinance is subject to the penalties and provisions of Chapter XIII of the city code,” the law states.
Make sure you give your tires a scrub before driving through Minnetonka, Minnesota. (iStock)
BIZARRE MICHIGAN LAWS THAT WOULD PUZZLE JUST ABOUT ANYONE, INCLUDING CONSEQUENCES FOR SEDUCING UNMARRIED WOMEN
3. Mosquitoes are a public nuisance
Minnesota is home to lots of mosquitoes, so much so that there is actually a law written about the insects.
The law refers to areas where mosquitoes are in abundance.
Section 18G.14 in part states that “areas where mosquitoes incubate or hatch are declared to be public nuisances and may be abated under this section. Mosquito abatement may be undertaken under this section anywhere in the state by any governmental unit.”
Areas full of mosquitoes are considered a public nuisance in Minnesota. (iStock)
WEIRD SOUTH CAROLINA LAWS THAT WILL SURPRISE YOU, INCLUDING THE RAMIFICATION OF BUYING SILVERWARE ON SUNDAYS
4. Think twice before hitchhiking
Think twice before trying to catch a ride by waiting on the side of the road in Minnesota.
State statute 169.22 describes the act of hitchhiking as unlawful.
“No person shall stand in a roadway for the purpose of soliciting a ride from the driver of any private vehicle,” the statute states.
Minnesota is one state where hitchhiking is not allowed. (iStock)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Another section of this statute applies to solicitation of business.
“No person shall stand on a roadway for the purpose of soliciting employment, business, or contributions from the occupant of any vehicle,” the statute states.
Winning young artists get their designs on ‘I voted’ stickers • South Dakota Searchlight
AFC South Coach Makes Bold Titans QB Prediction
Texas High School Football Team In Trouble For Whipping Opponents With Belts After Blowout Victory
Opinion: Utah’s commitment to true conservation
Vermont H.S. sports scores for Saturday, Oct. 5: See how your favorite team fared
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Speaker Johnson rips ‘lack of leadership’ in Biden admin's Helene response: 'alarmed and disappointed'
Israel hits Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes
The historic Biltmore Estate, an Asheville icon, works to recover from Helene damage
Video: Where Trump and Harris Stand on the Economy
Trump says Israel should hit Iran’s nuclear facilities, slamming Biden’s response
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25439572/VRG_TEC_Textless.jpg "Charter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year")
Technology3 days agoCharter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year
-
World2 days agoUkrainian stronghold Vuhledar falls to Russian offensive after two years of bombardment
-
World2 days agoWikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ in order to be freed
-
Technology2 days agoBeware of fraudsters posing as government officials trying to steal your cash
-
Politics1 week agoSecret Service agent accused of sexually assaulting Harris campaign staffer: report
-
World1 week agoPutin outlines new rules for Russian use of vast nuclear arsenal
-
Sports18 hours agoFreddie Freeman says his ankle sprain is worst injury he's ever tried to play through
-
Virginia4 days agoStatus for Daniels and Green still uncertain for this week against Virginia Tech; Reuben done for season