Category: Inside the Capitol

What do we do after the election?

by bcadmin | Nov 10, 2022 | Adoration at the Capitol, Catholic Advocacy Network, Catholics at the Capitol, election, Inside the Capitol, Minnesota Catholic Conference, News | 0 |

Now that the election is over, many people are asking, “Now what?”

Whom should I vote for?

by bcadmin | Oct 7, 2022 | Candidate scoresheets, Faithful Citizenship, Inside the Capitol, MCC, Minnesota Catholic Conference, News, Prenatal justice, Whom should I vote for | 0 |

We are often asked — by both laity and priests — why the Minnesota Catholic Conference does not produce voter guides or candidate scoresheets that identify candidates and votes they took on specific bills or lay out their positions on issues. Understandably so, the frequency of this query tends to grow in the weeks leading up to a big election.

The Church as a thermostat

by bcadmin | Sep 9, 2022 | Church as a thermostat, Inside the Capitol, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, News, State Fair, State Fair poll | 0 |

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King makes an observation about the impact the early Christians had in the public square stating, “there was a time when the church was very powerful … the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

Capitol shakeup; questions that need asking

by bcadmin | Aug 5, 2022 | Capitol shakeup, Historic turnover, Inside the Capitol, Minnesota Legislature, News | 0 |

Historic turnover within the Minnesota Legislature presents an opportunity and a responsibility to make an impression on a new cohort of lawmakers. All 201 seats in the Legislature are up for election this year.

Making abortion unthinkable

by bcadmin | Jul 8, 2022 | Equal Rights Institute, Gov. Tim Walz, Inside the Capitol, Making abortion unthinkable, News | 0 |

The overturning of Roe v. Wade is not an end; it is just the beginning. This has been the refrain from the pro-life movement since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. So, if this is just the beginning, how do we get to the end, where abortion is not simply illegal but truly unthinkable?

Protecting children’s right to be safe at school

by bcadmin | Jun 10, 2022 | Inside the Capitol, News | 0 |

Guns are claiming the lives of U.S. children at alarming rates. It is the second leading cause of death for our kids. We’re just halfway through 2022 and already firearms have claimed the lives of over 700 children under age 19, including the 19 who were recently killed by an 18-year-old in a mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas.

Combating the throwaway culture from womb to tomb

by bcadmin | May 20, 2022 | Inside the Capitol, News | 0 |

As the legislative session winds down, lawmakers are pushing bills that energize their supporters ahead of the election. This was visible May 12 when Minnesota Senate Democrats attempted to vote on nine bills, some of which promoted pro-abortion ideology. Fortunately, each attempt failed the procedural vote.

Protecting children from Big Tech and child predators

by bcadmin | May 6, 2022 | Algorithms, Child predators, Inside the Capitol, News, Protecting children from Big Tech, Social media, Social media algorithms | 0 |

Social media use has increased tremendously over the last decade, especially among younger users. Much chatter has erupted around the country over the damaging content social media algorithms feed to children, and how said algorithms ought to be controlled.

Bishops meet with state leaders to advocate for families, the vulnerable

by bcadmin | Apr 1, 2022 | Addiction, Inside the Capitol, Jeremy Miller, Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, MCC, Melissa Hortman, Minnesota Catholic Conference, News, Peggy Flanagan, Tim Walz | 0 |

Each spring, the bishops from Minnesota’s six dioceses who comprise the Minnesota Catholic Conference convene in St. Paul to meet with the governor and key state legislators.

To spend or not to spend? That is not the question

by bcadmin | Dec 20, 2021 | Budget surplus, Commentary, CSDC No. 329, Inside the Capitol, News, Pray for our lawmakers, State legislators | 0 |

State legislators are debating what to do with a massive budgetary windfall — an approximately $7.7 billion surplus. The news of the surplus prompted the governor and legislative leaders from both parties to voice their spending and tax cut proposals.

Speaking up for migrants and people seeking second chances

by bcadmin | Mar 5, 2021 | Commentary, House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee, Immigrants, Inside the Capitol, MCC, Minnesota Catholic Conference, News, Provisional license, Undocumented immigrants | 0 |

Archbishop Bernard Hebda spoke to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee expressing the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s (MCC) support for a bill, H.F. 1163 (Winkler), that would allow undocumented immigrants an opportunity to obtain a provisional license after passing a driving exam.

Sheltering the homeless, keeping kids safe at school, decriminalizing poverty

by bcadmin | Feb 19, 2021 | Commentary, Decriminalizing poverty, Homeless, Inside the Capitol, MCC, Minnesota Catholic Conference, News, Poverty, School safety, Shelter the homeless | 0 |

Our Catholic faith calls us to shelter the homeless. Despite many charities living out this corporal work of mercy, the need continues to grow.