Testimony about House File 28: Right to vote restored to individuals convicted of a felony upon completion of any term of incarceration imposed and executed by a court for the offense.
The values and vision of 20 Minnesotans who care about serving everyone in a culture of abundance, not scarcity and fear. “If it is about us, include us.”
“Democracy can only work if it accurately reflects the people it is supposed to represent,” says Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. “We must expand the electorate to change the electorate.”
We also have never had a Black woman in the senate. There are five Black women running this year to change that. Our Latina representation is also in danger in the senate with the retirements of Senator Patricia Torres Ray and Melisa Lopez Franzen. So, we can do better.
I feel the patriarchy society has socialized us to constantly compete with each other, and we have to shut that down. We have to break that and disrupt that by doing things together.
If policing were a business, we would have reallocated its funding to proven strategies that work decades ago. The time has passed for small tweaks. Transformative change is necessary.
We might agree that the current justice and public safety system does not work, but what is the solution? Tearing it down? Testing new models? Electing different leaders to reshape the structure from within?