GOP Legislator Defends Bill By Pointing Out That It Would Eliminate Jobs

After all the talk about jobs, it's becoming abundantly clear that the only jobs the GOP cares about trying to create/preserve are private sector jobs. They have no problem throwing hard working public employees under the bus. Today I found an interesting example of this while reading an article about the proposed repeal of state firearm background checks in Session Weekly.

H.F.161 is already considered controversial for a number of other reasons, including the unexpected manner in which it was introduced, and is opposed by many in law enforcement. The bill's author Rep. Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) claims that these checks are simply redundant to the required federal checks. During a committee hearing, Bloomington Police Sgt. Mark Elliott disagreed with that assertion and pointed out that there are two provisions where Minnesota would reject a permit (those charged with a crime of violence and in a pretrial diversion program and gross misdemeanors such as stalking, child neglect, and crimes committed benefiting a gang) that would otherwise be allowed under the federal process.

But the statement that really caught my eye in the article was this one:

Drazkowski said a sheriff in a county with a population of 21,000 said this bill would save 30 minutes to one hour of staff time per week. “If you extrapolate that up to some of the metro counties, you’re looking at a full position or positions that will be able to be eliminated by the cities and counties in those jurisdictions because of the elimination of this redundant mandate.”

Drazkowski's defense of this controversial bill? It could save us money by eliminating jobs.