On Friday, July 2, 2021, as most Minnesotans were jumping into the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, news broke that the Senate GOP intended to return to work after the Fourth to “review commissioners that need confirming.” Despite the longstanding tradition of leaving commissioners unconfirmed, the Senate GOP is making it a trend to fire Governor Walz’s appointees as a final act of retribution when they don’t get their way.
Until recently, the last commissioner fired was in 2008. But last August and September, during special sessions called to renew the Governor’s emergency powers, the Senate voted not to confirm Labor and Industry Commissioner Nancy Leppink and Commissioner of Commerce Steve Kelley. Nearly a year later, GOP senators are looking to fire Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Commissioner Laura Bishop. The threatened firing comes on the heels of a contentious session where the same senators threatened to withhold environment funding if the Walz administration didn’t delay or halt the already approved Clean Cars rule.
“Commissioner Laura Bishop has a proven track record of keeping our climate healthy,” said Paul Austin, Executive Director of Conservation Minnesota. “She has successfully and thoughtfully navigated the needs of business with the wellbeing of our communities. The Senate GOP’s vendetta against Governor Walz’s commissioners is unjustified and an example of partisan politics at its worst.”
Notable MPCA accomplishments under Commissioner Bishop’s leadership including:
- working relentlessly to pass funding to clean up the contaminated Waste Disposal Engineering landfill in Andover
- forging a bipartisan agreement to phase out the dangerous chemical TCE that has endangered Minnesota workers and communities
- crafting a statewide blueprint for dealing with PFAS pollution that has been praised by city leaders across Minnesota, and strengthening Minnesota’s clean car standards.