In a guest column in the Star Tribune over the weekend, Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer strongly defended his platform calling for Minnesota to be able to nullify federal laws relating to health care, education, transportation and various other matters. In his column, Emmer also seems to imply that Minnesotans do not actually have a voice in Washington.
“Enough is enough. As governor, I will push back against this federal encroachment into our local affairs,” Emmer writes. “I believe that our Legislature should have a voice in whether federal laws should be made to apply to Minnesotans. Minnesotans should have a say in the laws that govern them.”
He also writes: “It is truly bizarre that my opponents in the race for governor actually oppose letting Minnesotans have a say in the laws that govern them.”
It should be noted that in the debate over the federal health care law, Minnesota’s Congressional delegation fully participated and was counted in the relevant votes. Of the state’s eight-member House delegation, four Democrats voted yes while three Republicans and one Democrat voted no, and Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken both voted in favor of passage.
As we previously reported, Emmer has co-sponsored a state constitutional amendment that would presumptively nullify all federal laws in the state of Minnesota, with them taking effect only if the governor and two-thirds of each House of the Minnesota legislature were to sign off. It doesn’t take too much of an imagination to realize that such a law would likely be found unconstitutional by any federal court.
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