{"id":1981074,"date":"2023-07-24T06:01:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T10:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-petri-dish-minnesotas-new-laws-put-thousands-of-businesses-on-the-brink-of-ruin\/"},"modified":"2023-07-24T06:04:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T10:04:34","slug":"progressive-petri-dish-minnesotas-new-laws-put-thousands-of-businesses-on-the-brink-of-ruin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-petri-dish-minnesotas-new-laws-put-thousands-of-businesses-on-the-brink-of-ruin\/","title":{"rendered":"New laws in Minnesota push countless businesses to the edge of collapse."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprogressive-petri-dish-minnesotas-new-laws-put-thousands-of-businesses-on-the-brink-of-ruin%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1981074&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Struggles of Small Business Owners in Minnesota<\/h2>\n<p>The Washington Examiner recently visited Minnesota to investigate the \u2064state&#8217;s Democratic-Farmer-Labor \u200cParty\u200d and their progressive agenda. What we \u200cdiscovered \u2062was a Republican Party in distress, frustrated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuomo-to-partially-reopen-indoor-dining-in-nyc-for-valentines-day-if-positivity-rates-hold\/\" title=\"Cuomo To Partially Reopen Indoor Dining In NYC For Valentine\u2019s Day, \u2018If Positivity Rates Hold\u2019\">small business owners<\/a>,\u2063 and a lack of cooperation from Democrats. In this series, \u2064we \u200bdelve\u200b into the broken promises made by lawmakers, the Republican efforts \u2062to\u2063 mitigate the damage, and the\u200d unintended consequences of \u2063certain bills, including one that could devastate small businesses.<\/p>\n<h3>A Small Business Owner&#8217;s\u200c Dilemma<\/h3>\n<p>Meet Jerrilynn Sweeney, the owner of Innovated Building \u2062Concepts, a commercial\u2062 siding\u200d business in Burnsville, \u2064Minnesota.\u2064 For the past \u200beight years, Sweeney has made \u2062it a tradition to provide lunch for her employees every Wednesday. This practice fosters \u200dcamaraderie and strengthens the bond between\u2062 office workers and those in the\u200c field.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We all sit in one room\u200c and\u2063 eat,&#8221; Sweeney told the Washington Examiner. &#8220;Everybody\u200b knows everybody&#8217;s kids. We can\u2064 laugh, we can joke, but\u200d when it comes down to &#8216;We&#8217;re in a load of [trouble], we&#8217;ve got \u2064to\u2063 get this done,&#8217; they all \u200bstand up and help one another.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, the atmosphere\u200d has changed \u200bdrastically in recent\u2064 times.<\/p>\n<p>Like \u200bmany other small business owners \u2062in Minnesota,\u2062 Sweeney is bracing herself for the impact\u200b of\u2063 new laws passed\u200b by the\u2062 Democratic-controlled legislature. These laws\u200c specifically target businesses like hers, \u2063burdening them with exorbitant expenses\u200c and a web of regulations \u200dthat may \u200dforce some\u2064 to shut \u2064down permanently.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota experienced a\u2062 wave of rejection towards Republican \u200ccandidates during the midterms. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor\u200b Party now holds significant\u2064 control in the state, with four out of eight U.S. House\u2064 seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the state legislature, and all other statewide\u200b offices under their\u2064 command. They have swiftly implemented one of the most \u200cprogressive agendas in the country, often disregarding the concerns of \u200cthose\u2063 affected by their regulations.<\/p>\n<p>One of the laws signed by Governor Tim \u2064Walz is\u2064 the \u2062creation of a state-run \u200bprogram that\u2064 allows workers to take extended leave\u200c with \u2063partial pay \u200cfor various reasons, such as having a child, dealing with a serious medical issue, or experiencing domestic abuse. While the\u200b law won&#8217;t take effect until 2026, it is unlikely to undergo significant changes \u2063even\u2063 if Republicans gain a majority in the next House elections.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;You start\u2063 thinking \u2063about this\u200c stuff, and you think, &#8216;Holy s***, they&#8217;re\u200d going to\u200b put us all out of business,&#8221; Sweeney said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve worked my ass off \u200bfor this company.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Innovated Building Concepts, which employs \u200cless than 20 people, has been operating since 1987. Sweeney and her husband,\u2062 Pat, purchased the business in 2011. Their portfolio includes notable projects like a Crayola installation, the \u200bUS Bank Stadium parking ramp, LL Bean\u2064 at \u200bthe\u200c Mall of \u200cAmerica, Dave &#038; Buster&#8217;s, and the Killebrew pedestrian bridge.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;When we \u200bfirst started, we didn&#8217;t \u200ctake paychecks. It was 2016 before we actually took a\u200b full salary,&#8221; she said, recalling a time when she worked 50 consecutive \u200ddays. Despite their dedication and hard work, the\u200b future of their business\u200d remains uncertain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mike Flynn, another small business owner in\u2062 southeastern\u200c Minnesota, shares \u200bSweeney&#8217;s concerns. Flynn \u2064owns a small ranch, has an interest in the Whitewater Travel Plaza and\u200b Restaurant, and works as a dentist.\u2064 He believes that the\u200b new laws in Minnesota \u2062are \u2063the\u200d most aggressive and extensive in the country, exacerbating the existing labor\u2062 shortage and\u2062 making it\u200c difficult for small businesses \u2064to\u200b find and\u200d replace employees on a temporary basis.<\/p>\n<p>John Reynolds, the state director for \u200cthe National Federation of Independent Businesses, which represents\u2062 over 10,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-touts-economy-amid-dismal-commerce-dept-report\/\" title=\"Biden touts economy amid dismal Commerce Dept. report\">000 small business owners<\/a> in Minnesota, expressed their feeling of betrayal \u2064by elected officials. Small business owners had hoped for relief after navigating\u200b the challenges of the pandemic, inflation, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-turns-his-back-on-reporters-refuses-to-answer-questions-on-supply-chain-crisis\/\" title=\"Biden Turns His Back On Reporters, Refuses To Answer Questions On Supply Chain Crisis\">supply chain shortages<\/a>. However, they were met with disappointment.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The idea that they turned their backs on us really captures \u200bhow \u200bmost small business owners feel here,&#8221; Reynolds said. &#8220;We had the biggest\u200b surplus by far the state has ever had, and [small business owners] feel \u200blike that&#8217;s the product of their hard work. Being the economic \u2064backbone of a lot of \u200bparts of the state, I think they thought, &#8216;Hey, this is going to\u200d be a time when we \u2062get some relief.'&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Democratic\u2064 lawmakers, on the other hand, have touted their accomplishments and\u2062 attempted to rebrand themselves as allies of\u200c small businesses. However,\u2062 small\u2063 business owners remain skeptical.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a really\u2063 puzzling conclusion from the session,&#8221; Reynolds said. &#8220;The taxes are just part\u200c of the story. Minnesota is\u200c a really expensive place to live and an \u2064expensive place \u200dto \u200bdo business&#8230; You name it, we tax\u200d it.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Minnesota was recently ranked as the most \u200cexpensive state for\u2064 new entrepreneurs, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-petri-dish-minnesotas-new-laws-put-thousands-of-businesses-on-the-brink-of-ruin\/\" title=\"New laws in Minnesota push countless businesses to the edge of collapse.\">highest corporate\u2062 income tax rate<\/a> in the country at \u20649.8%. The state \u2062also faces high labor costs.<\/p>\n<p>For \u200bSweeney,\u200b the future of her company is uncertain \u2064and disheartening.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re small. We can&#8217;t absorb that kind of money,&#8221; she \u200dsaid.\u2064 &#8220;Almost everything they passed\u200b is going \u200bto hurt small businesses.\u2062 You shouldn&#8217;t be allowed to run \u200bfor \u200blegislator unless you&#8217;ve run a\u2062 small\u2062 business yourself so you know what a real budget is\u2062 and what it takes. What you take away from us, you take away from the next person and the \u2062next.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The \u2063Washington \u2063Examiner reached \u200cout to Democratic leadership in the state and Governor Walz&#8217;s office \u2062for comment but\u2063 did not\u200b receive a\u200d response.<\/p>\n<p>Stay \u2064tuned for Part Two of the Washington Examiner&#8217;s Minnesota series, where we explore the state of the Republican Party \u200bas it fights to regain power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>the progressive agenda of Minnesota&#8217;s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. We discovered a weakened Republican Party, frustrated small business owners, and uncooperative Democrats. The Washington Examiner examines the situation in this series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1981075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1981074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1981074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1981075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1981074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1981074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1981074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}