The Minnesota taxpayer may soon be on the hook to foot the $130,000,000 bill to repair Minneapolis and St. Paul after the metro area was wracked by a series of violent riots.

The Democrat-controlled state house voted 74-53, Friday, in affirmation of a bill (HR 132/the PROMISE Act) that saddles taxpayers from around Minnesota with the burden of funding repairs to private and public property in the Twin Cities that was destroyed by the George Floyd riots. This bill, if passed, will also increase sales taxes and trigger an investigation into the law enforcement and National Guard response to the unrest.

The $130m in money to be dispensed is split between a $5m administrative fund and a $125m pot to be used for repairs.

It appears that the $5m administrative fund will also fuel the creation of a “community repair panel.” This body will “recommend to the governor and legislature future steps that may be taken to provide communities impacted by racism and race-based harm an opportunity to share their experiences in public and private institutions, and how those experiences impact the quality of life of those communities in Minnesota.”

The bill, if passed into law, will also birth a “Civil Unrest Investigatory Commission.” This body will “create a public record of all actions, choices, orders, and responses by all local governments, police and military authorities, and elected officials who were crucial to the government’s response to the civil unrest that unfolded in May and June 2020.”

However the liberal legislators who drafted HR 132, lead by State Representative Mohamud Noor, are abundantly clear that the state itself shall bear no responsibility for the riots. This waiver of responsibility may be designed to protect legislators from legal backlash more facts emerge regarding the George Floyd riots.

As of Friday night, HR 132 has been handed to the Minnesota State Senate, given its first reading and sits with the Rules and Admissions committee.