2019 Report on the Minnesota Legislature Released

Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota

LEA evaluates legislative session, decries unconstitutional lawmaking patterns and announces
honorees. 2019 LEA Report

2019 LEA Honorees

St. Paul, MN, October 22, 2019 — Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota (LEA) has completed its evaluation of the 2019 Minnesota legislature’s performance. In its report, released today, the LEA criticizes the growing role of “omnibus” bills derived through non-transparent, unaccountable legislative processes.

“Good lawmaking requires an open and accountable process,” says LEA president Don Lee. “Minnesota’s constitution requires each bill to embrace one subject, a requirement flouted in 2019. The house speaker and senate majority leader met with the governor behind closed doors to make deals, which they expected to be rubber-stamped by legislators without amendment or debate. The result was over 2100 pages of legislation and nearly all of the biennial budget contained in 13 ‘omnibus’ bills, passed in a one-day special session.”

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2019 LEA Banquet News and Photos

Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota

2019 LEA banquet

2019 Awards Banquet: Come Join Us!

Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota

Come to the 2019 Awards banquet, where we honor the top scoring legislators in the 2018 LEA report. Meet the honorees, and hear Teresa Collett discuss interpretation of the Minnesota constitution.

HONORING: Representatives Cal Bahr, Steve Drazkowski, Jerry Hertaus, Eric Lucero, Jeremy Munson and Joyce Peppin.

2018 LEA Honorees
2018 LEA Honorees

The annual LEA 2019 Awards Banquet will be held on Monday, March 4th, 2019 at the Mermaid Event Center 2200 County Hwy. 10, Mounds View (near Ramsey Co. Rd. H, just northwest of junction of Hwy. 10 and I-35W). Free parking and entrance are on the west side, in back of the building.

Social Hour and Registration Begins at 5:30 P.M. — Dinner 6:30 P.M.

Featured Speaker: Professor Teresa Collett
Topic: The Minnesota Constitution – Interpretation Matters

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LEA at Southwest Conservative Republican Women

Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota

LEA President Don Lee was the keynote speaker on May 19th at a meeting of the Southwest Conservative Republican Women in Prior Lake. (http://www.swcrw.org) The slides are here.

Don Lee

Don Lee

At the end of the talk, the attendees were eager to hear more about the Minnesota legislature’s website and how to use it. The presentation spent some time walking through important features of the legislature’s website at https://www.leg.state.mn.us.

Thank you to the Southwest Conservative Republican Women (SWCRW) for this opportunity.

2018 LEA Banquet News and Photos

Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota

2018 LEA awards banquet

2018 LEA awards banquet

Over 60 people attended the LEA Annual Members’ Meeting and Legislative Awards Banquet, which was held March 1st at The Mermaid Event Center in Mounds View. LEA Board Chairman/President Don Lee thanked key members of the LEA board for their long and faithful service, and expressed a desire to grow the organization.  LEA is a unique and valuable group.

Our three 2017 honorees, representatives Cal Bahr, Eric Lucero, and Matt Dean accepted  their award plaques and each offered some brief comments. The keynote speech, “Reading Our Constitution in Plain English: A Populist Approach” was presented by Erick Kaardal, who has a long career challenging the illegal acts of government officials. His talk was full of fascinating anecdotes and inspiration to keep doing what we do. (We will post the full video when it is available). Continue reading →

2018 Awards Banquet: Come Join Us!

Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota

The annual LEA 2018 Awards Banquet will be held on Thursday, March 1st, 2018 at the Mermaid Event Center 2200 County Hwy. 10, Mounds View (near Ramsey Co. Rd. H, just northwest of junction of Hwy. 10 and I-35W). Free parking and entrance are on the west side, in back of the building.

Come to the banquet. Reservations not required. Dinner price is now $35.
Pre-registration discount pricing ended on Feb 22nd.

HONORING: Representatives Cal Bahr, Matt Dean, and Eric Lucero.

LEA 2017 report Honorees

Social Hour and Registration Begins at 5:30 P.M. — Dinner 6:30 P.M.

Featured Speakers: Attorney Erick Kaardal and Prof. Teresa Collett
Topic: Reading Our Constitution, in Plain English

In other words: why is it so hard for the people to have a common understanding of our state or federal constitutions?

How has legal interpretation strayed so far from the plain language of our constitution? What can we do about it?

Mr. Erick Kaardal earned a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago law school.  He is a partner in the Mohrman, Kaardal and Erickson firm, and specializes in strategic litigation against the government.  Erick Kaardal has been the legal strategist behind two First Amendment lawsuits that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.  Republican Party of Minnesota v. White , in a 5 to 4 decision, for the first time applied the First Amendment to judicial candidate speech. Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on February 28, 2018.

Prof. Teresa Collett earned a J.D. degree from the Univ. of Oklahoma law school.  She is a professor at the University of St. Thomas law school, where she teaches Constitutional Litigation and serves as director of the school’s Prolife Center.
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