The New Representative From 66A, Heather Martens!
By Mitch Berg
Aren’t the Democrats the ones who complain that their opposition is in the back pocket of lobbyists?
We’ll come back to that.
We’ll also come back to this: until redistricting last February, I spent close to two decades in the old House District 66B, which was represented by long-time DFLer and teachers union mouthpiece Alice Hausman.
Hausman, speaking at an event for which she apparently couldn’t find a lobbyist to substitute for her.
Republicans in the district used to call her “Alice The Phantom”, because she was rarely seen out and about in the district, except for the odd photo op. Redistricting put her in 66A – but she’s the same Alice Hausman she ever was.
Like I said, we’ll be back.
——–
I went to the Capitol last night. As usual, the number of pro-Second Amendment people dwarfed the number of orcs – in the overflow room I was in, it was 100 to about five, and that was much closer than it usually gets.
While all of the Republicans on the Public Safety committee stayed through the full three days of testimony, a variety of the DFLers picked up and left the hearings.
Hearings for the bills their people were introducing. Representative Hilstrom, Savick, Schoen, Simonson and Slocum were largely absent from the morning’s testimony – at least, testimony from opponents of the gun grab bills. I’m going to hazard a guess they’re present for the votes.
But more egregiously, Representative Hausman was absent for the readings of both of her gun grab bills – the magazine capacity bill and the “assault weapon” grab. Which is not uncommon in the House; Reps have busy schedules, and it’s not uncommon for other representatives to fill in for them.
So who read Hausman’s gun grab bills?
Heather Martens, “executive director” (and, likely one of about three actual members, and that’s being charitable and assuming that they don’t actually charge to be members) of “Protect Minnesota”.
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Heather Martens, exploiting an earlier crime victim in front of the Minnesota House.
(No, I’m not kidding. The late Joel Rosenberg used to tell stories of going to “Citizens for a “Safer” Supine Minnesota meetings – Martens had to rename the group again after what was left of CSM’s credibility evaporated a few years back – where Martens presided over a table with nothing but Second Amendment activist ringers. Not a single actual gun-grabber showed up for these meetings)
Martens – who, as has been noted in this space for the past decade, rarely if ever says a single truthful or factual word about the gun issue in public – read both of the bills to the committee for the record. It’s the job the Representative is supposed to do.
This was brought up to Michael Paymar, the committee chairman. He said it was fairly common for people to fill in for Representatives in front of the committee.
Which may or may not be true, but I’m going to hazard a guess that those people who fill in are almost never registered lobbyists.
I say “almost never”, because it’s against the House of Representatives’ purported “Permanent Rules“:
2.39 EXECUTIVE BRANCH OR LOBBYIST PRESENCE IN COMMITTEE. No House committee, division or subcommittee shall permit any member or staff of the executive branch, registered lobbyist, or lobbyist principal, to be seated at the committee table with members of the House during official proceedings of committees of the House.
“Presenting a bill to the committee” certainly counts as being “seated at the table with members of the House”.
So the facts are these:
- Representative Hausman was absent – according to staff, off doing non-House business – during the introduction of not just one but both of her gun grab bills
- Both of her bills were read by a registered lobbyist
- If a Republican had done this, there’d be an uproar
- BONUS FACT: After all of the DFL’s whinging about “model bills” last year, in an attempt to impugn ALEC, all of the DFL’s gun grab bills are cribbed from legislation in other states, and are pretty obviously not just model bills, but really stupid ones
So there you go, District 66A. Your voice has been given over to a special interest group.
Are you proud today?
February 8th, 2013 at 9:05 am
This is nothing new. The Democrat party regularly seats a representative thug from the anti-child, government school teachers union during legislative consolidation meetings between Senate and House.
Leftists Mitch, ever met one?
February 8th, 2013 at 9:16 am
Wonder what dogbrain will make of this:
http://www.soopermexican.com/2013/02/07/news-media-scrub-cop-murderers-manifesto-of-pro-obama-pro-hillary-loved-msnbc-pro-gay-and-anti-gun-comments/
That ex-cop who shot three poeple is a big fan of gun control, Obama, and Piers Morgan.
Oops.
February 8th, 2013 at 10:19 am
And the police are here to protect us. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef017ee850259a970d-640wi LAPD shoots up the wrong color, wrong make truck, occupied by two women delivering papers in their zeal to bag the cop killer ex-cop. Maybe there should be some magazine limits for them? Lot of holes in the back of that truck, no indication that either woman was armed.
February 8th, 2013 at 10:23 am
“To Protect and Serve and Kill you”.
February 8th, 2013 at 11:01 am
The Dims figure that rules and fair play only apply to the other guy, they believe their “cause” makes them exempt.
Heather Martens being the lying sack that she is deserves nothing more than our perpetual contempt and disdain.
February 8th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
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February 8th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
And, while a crazed ex-cop runs around California shooting people, the CA legislature is enacting draconian anti-gun laws that would do nothing to stop crazed ex-cops from running around California and shooting people:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57568322/calif-lawmakers-seek-toughest-gun-laws-in-nation/
February 8th, 2013 at 12:37 pm
That California incident does highlight the point we’ve been making about gun control. There’s one guy killing cops and the largest police force in the world can’t find him. Imagine what will happen when 100 million gun owners decide cops are a greater threat to their liberty than criminals. That’s another reason these proposals are dangerous – they threaten the foundation of civil order by pitting ordinary decent Americans against their own police. Unconstitutional and stupid besides . . . no wonder Democrats love them.
February 8th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Telling stuff Mitch.
February 8th, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Mitch-
honestly, Heather is low profile compared to what the Dems used to do in House hearings. Like having Tom Dooher of Education Minnesota seated in place of a state rep who was also a teacher.
http://korykath.blogspot.com/2010/10/myth-meets-reality_16.html
Too bad we don’t have a non partisan media to report on stuff like this…
February 8th, 2013 at 2:34 pm
Is there some sort of complaint you can file? Can one of the GOP house members submit a complaint listing those 4 conditions and the resulting violation? Or better yet, can they do something more effective than a complaint that will end up being a verbal slap on the wrist and nothing more? There should be some sort of punishment for violating established house rules, I’d like to think…
February 8th, 2013 at 3:19 pm
Loren; and size, and twice. But if we have done nothing wrong (like we’re out delivering papers), we have nothing to fear, right?
February 12th, 2013 at 5:00 am
[…] and run” act last week; as we noted last week, Hausman introduced several gun grab bills, but didn’t stick around to hear the testimony: Hausman excused herself Wednesday morning after introducing the assault […]
February 25th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
[…] not only copies and pastes a bill from a special interest group, but allows that special interest’s registered lobbyist to sit in in the role of a legislator to introduce and read the bill into the […]
March 7th, 2013 at 8:34 am
[…] and, near as we can tell, one of less than a half-dozen members of “Protect Minnesota” (and de facto representative of House District 66A) and a woman whose entire body of public assertions is lies, dwarfs them all: Heather Martens, […]
March 22nd, 2013 at 12:00 pm
[…] you notice that anti-gun groups – for example, “Protect Minnesota”, led by Representative Heather Martens (DFL – 66A), a woman who has never, not once, uttered a substantively accurate or true original statement about […]
May 24th, 2013 at 10:00 am
[…] Minnesota”, the checkbook advocacy group run by Representative Heather Martens (DFL-HD66A), usually complains that gun control is supported by the vast majority of Americans and […]
June 6th, 2013 at 11:04 am
[…] between the metro DFLers (who were carrying Heather Martens’ water to the point that one, Rep. Alice Hausman, let Heather Martens do her job for her) broke down, the bills were scuppered from the floor by a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and […]
October 30th, 2013 at 12:22 pm
[…] But let’s cut the crap: the only “growing sense” is among the DFL Caucus’ PR flaks (and, let’s be honest, Alida Messinger and Carrie Lucking) that they need to do something good ‘n Alinsky-riffic to try to undercut the groundswell of popular opinion that swarmed the Capitol last week and humiliated the DFL representatives and their copy-and-pasted bills. […]
November 20th, 2014 at 12:30 pm
[…] She’s exploited race, she’s exploited crime victims, […]
February 16th, 2015 at 12:01 pm
[…] It seems like just yesterday that she was not only serving as the chairperson (and almost solitary member) of “ProtectMN”, an astroturf checkbook advocacy antigun group, but de facto Minnesota State Representative for House District 66A, doing both her own job and that of Representative Alice Hausman (notwithstanding being a paid lobbyist, which is supposedly against House rules). But it was in fact two years ago. […]
July 9th, 2015 at 9:29 am
[…] Don’t tell Representative Martens. […]
November 9th, 2015 at 7:19 am
[…] “Director” and likely sole member of “Protect Minnesota”, and sometimes ad-hoc legislative representative from House District 66A – has sent out a fund-raising […]