Recent Updates

Rep. Lesch Teams Up with Saint Paul Police Chief to Abolish Slavery from the MN Constitution

Dec 31, 2019
Chief Todd Axtell came up with an idea far overdue: to abolish slavery from the MN Constitution. Minnesota came into the Union as a free state and, in fact, the State Constitution abolishes all forms of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. But slavery shold never be acceptable - even as punishmnt for a crime.
Over hundreds of years, philosophers and clergy posited dozens of different "logical" justifications for slavery, including for the use of slave labor to build our most famous government buldings like the White House an the US Capitol. The most prominent excuse among them (though its relation to the transalatic slave trade was superfluously thin by the late 1700s) was that slavery was morally acceptable for "prisoners taken captive in a just war."  For...

Rep. Lesch Takes Clean Energy Contribution Pledge

Dec 30, 2019
Today I signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge becasue I believe our children and grandchildren deserve to live in a clean energy future. Learn more about the Clean energy pledge at this link: https://goo.gl/y6mzsu

Rep. John Lesch Endorsed for ReElection by SEIU State Council

Dec 18, 2019
The Minnesota SEIU State Council endorsed Rep. John Lesch for Reelection this week, noting his "outstanding track record on behalf of working families." "I am deeply honored to have received the endorsement of SEIU for my reelection to the Minnesota House of Representatives," said Lesch. "For over a decade I have worked with representatives of SEIU and others to bring Earned Sick and Safe Leave to Minnesota. To all of the hardworking SEIU members in MN who provide care and support for families in our homes, hospitals, public schools, nursing homes, hotels, universities, thank you for your enduring support!"
Rep. John Lesch has a career track record of actively fighting for the interests of working families in his district. In 2019 he was named Chair of the MN House Judiciary Committee by...

My Vote on HF 4437 (constitutional Amendment)

May 17, 2018
Today the MN House of Representatives votes on HF 4437 (constitutional amendment to dedicate “existing sales tax revenue from the sale of motor vehicle parts”).  I will likely vote yes. Here is why.
Let me begin by expressing my disappointment with how this issue came to the legislature.  This is an effort on the part of Republicans to divide the DFL, and divide labor, by dangling dedicated funding to a group of workers who need it (building trades) with yet another revenue stream that protects the wealthy. After all, who buys motor vehicle parts? Not people who drive new cars.
As a matter of policy, I have never supported dedicated funding streams, let alone constitutionally dedicated ones. In the words of one veteran lawmaker, “We could just dedicate the entire budget and everyone goes...

Lesch Announces Support of Saint Paul Delegation

Feb 27, 2018
Press Release
 
For Immediate Release
For More Information Contact:
John Lesch (651) 226-5425
[email protected]
 
Lesch Announces Support of Saint Paul Delegation
Legislative Colleagues Support Reelection of 8 Term Veteran
Saint Paul, Minnesota (February 27, 2018) – State Representative John Lesch (66B, Saint Paul), has announced the support of his legislative colleagues in his 2018 bid for reelection.
Lesch, the Chair of the Saint Paul Delegation in the State House, has worked with his colleagues for over ten years in helping to deliver much needed services and resources for the people of Saint Paul.
“I am honored and humbled to have their support,” said Lesch, “helping our hometown is a team effort, and we do better when we are united.”
Lesch’s accomplishments as part of the delegation...

A Message to Delegates and Alternates

Feb 26, 2018

  


Dear 66B DFLers:
I write to you today as an 8 term State Representative and I realize most folks in Minnesota will know me mostly as just that – a Civil Law and Data Practices person, Tax Committee liaison for Saint Paul, Chair of the Saint Paul Delegation and, of course, lawyer.  I’d like to introduce you to where I come from and what drives my passion for service to Saint Paul at the Minnesota Legislature.
I grew up in Brooklyn Park where I matriculated through the Osseo School district. Junior High and High School were especially hard on me and they shaped how I approached my life thereafter in pursuit of justice for those who weren’t able to stand up for themselves.  Those teenage hardship years resulted in me attending seminary for three years with the Redemptorists, a Catholic...

Upcoming Government Transparency Issues in the 2018 MN Legislative Session

Feb 22, 2018
After the 2008 elections, Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher tapped me to lead our newly formed Committee on Data Practices.  It was becoming apparent that new technologies were coming online which, left unchecked, would (1) pose serious harm to personal privacy and (2) negatively affect government transparency efforts.  Accordingly, for the past 10 years, I have championed legislative efforts in favor of open government sunshine laws while vigorously fighting for your individual constitutional right to privacy of your personal information. With the onset of law enforcement tools such as (1) cell phone exploitation devices, (2) automatic license plate readers, (3) police body cameras, (4) ignition interlock GPS tracking, the legislature was faced with crafting policies which would protect...

My Fellow DFLers

Feb 21, 2018

  


 
My Fellow DFLers:
Thank you for attending our 2018 Precinct Caucus at Roseville Area High School on February 6.  Your participation is crucial to our success in retaking the Minnesota House of Representatives in November. Conventional wisdom suggests our district is not important to candidates, but as was seen at precinct caucuses, we had 4 statewide candidates for the DFL endorsement choose our senate district in which to participate on caucus night.  That speaks volumes to your importance as delegates.
Another reason why your participation is so important is because of the role our district plays in electing statewide candidates.  The next DFL governor will win based on the turnout and participation of people in our district, and of the few districts like ours located primarily...

Rep. Lesch Asks for Transparency in Government Hiring Practices, Get’s Hit With Lawsuit by Mayor Carter’s Staff

Feb 16, 2018
State Representative John Lesch
217 State Office Building, State Office Building100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.(651) 302-7009
 
2018 2-16 2:15 p.m.
Press Release
Release: Rep. Lesch Asks for Transparency in Government Hiring Practices, Get’s Hit With Lawsuit by Mayor Carter’s Staff
ST PAUL - “As an attorney and a lawmaker, I haven’t yet retained my own counsel.   If Ms. Olson was the victim of gender discrimination from others in the National Guard I would be fully supportive of her seeking justice.  My inquiry of Mayor Melvin Carter had nothing to do with her gender, it had everything to do with transparency in government.
Minnesota courts generally frown upon frivolous use of the law to fight a political battle.  Anyone who has been a public service lawyer should know this and...

Sexual Harassment Allegations Deserve Investigations and Accountability

Dec 22, 2017
Buried under the rubbish of news about US Tax law hijinks was Cardinal Bernard Law’s funeral.  Cardinal Law’s fall from grace arrived as news surfaced of his complicity in enabling abusive priests in his archdiocese to sexually abuse kids.  In 2002, the drip-drip-drip of daily scandals in the Catholic church generated outrage that, at the time, all but guaranteed Cardinal Law could no longer leverage his contacts, charm, and reputation to dodge accountability for offenses in the same way he and so many other clergy had previously done.  So, he traded in Boston for Rome, where the Pope gave him a golden parachute to live out his days in the manner befitting a Cardinal, and where the outrage of American press was muffled across an ocean and cultural barrier.
You’d have thought that we...
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