Republicans say Minnesota House Democratic Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is threatening retaliation after Beltrami County commissioners voted late Tuesday *not* to allow refugees to resettle in that north-central Minnesota county. Winkler tweeted, “MN counties that want state aid funded in part by taxes paid by immigrants and refugees should reconsider votes like these.” Republican State Representative Matt Grossell (GRAH-sl) from Clearbrook responds county commissioners “know their counties better than anybody else does. They certainly don’t need somebody from the metro area telling them how they should be voting.”
Winkler wasn’t immediately available to respond. Officials in Duluth (Saint Louis County) and Saint Cloud (Stearns County) yesterday postponed votes even though a deadline is looming.
Winkler’s complete tweet: “MN counties that want state aid funded in part by taxes paid by immigrants and refugees should reconsider votes like these. Beltrami County received a state bailout in 2019 but 3 commissioners vote like they are an island.”