Additional Q-and-A with Stacy Bettison

Here’s candidate Q-and-A content in addition to what appeared in EPLN’s print Voter Guide, mailed to Eden Prairie homes in early October. We are repeating the Voter Guide’s introduction of the candidate.

Stacy L. Bettison

Website: www.stacybettison.com

Bettison is a 15-year resident of Eden Prairie who chose to keep her street address private. She is a business owner and practicing attorney.

The Republican candidate in the House District 49A race has been a member and co-chair of two separate statutory reform working groups that resulted in bipartisan changes to criminal justice statutes.

Her community involvement has been with the Eden Prairie Conservation Commission (now called the Sustainability Commission), Minnesota Horse Welfare Coalition, Feline Rescue, Animal Humane Society, This Old Horse, Innocence Project and Minnesota Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Bettison said that listening skills honed in 20-plus years of legal and business consulting work are one of the things that has helped prepare her for elective office. “Listening is the key to effective representation,” she explained.

She said she has received endorsements or donations from the following organizations: 

Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Fund PAC, National Federation of Independent Business, Minnesota Pipe Trades Association, International Union of Operating Engineers, Women Lead and the Republican Party.

EPLN: How would you address rising health care costs for Minnesota residents?

BETTISON: Increasing the number of people eligible for public programs is decimating our hospitals and clinics and our state budget (both from a state taxpayer and provider standpoint). Someone has to pay for health care, and it’s about shifting who pays. 

There is work to be done with drug manufacturers to ensure that rebates are flowing through and meeting consumer needs. We should build more options with fewer cliffs, and work for incentives for people to get into individual and group markets. 

EPLN: What is your position on legislation that affects the rights of LGBTQ+ residents in Minnesota?

BETTISON: It is every person’s birthright (and in our country, constitutional right) to be able to express themselves in a way that is authentic to their own person, as long as it does not harm others. I support any person who identifies as being within the LGBTQIA+ community, just as I support any person who does not identify as being LGBTQIA+. 

An area of concern is transgender women participating in women’s sports. This creates a host of problems, including biological men having access to women’s spaces and biological women losing out on opportunities when competing against men. 

I also want to be very thoughtful about gender-affirming care (generally defined as patient-centered health care consisting of services that may include medical, surgical, mental health and non-medical services for transgender and nonbinary people) for children. I support gender-affirming care, but want to make sure we are intentional and careful about what, when and how gender transition care is undertaken and provided. I have concerns about allowing a child, whose brain and body is not fully developed, to pursue gender-affirming care on their own without parental consent.

EPLN: What do you see as the greatest threat to democracy in the United States, and what would you, as an elected official, do to address the threat?

BETTISON: The greatest threat to democracy is the infringement on the freedoms declared and protected in the First Amendment. These rights are in the First Amendment because they are foundational to our democracy. Any limits on these (aside from the constitutional jurisprudence as set forth by our federal courts), government interference, or control of rights protected by the First Amendment should gravely concern every Minnesotan.

As stated in the U.S. Bill of Rights, the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

I also believe that the deepening political divide is a serious “threat to democracy.” As an elected official, I would actively work to reduce this division. This is why I’m a self-described moderate candidate. I would work hard to lower the political temperature while working on issues that improve the lives of all Minnesota residents.

EPLN: How effective is the Metropolitan Council? What reforms, if any, do you believe are needed to how it carries out its responsibilities and how it is governed?

BETTISON: One of the concerns people have regarding the Metropolitan Council is that they are a non-elected body of 17 members appointed by the governor. The council represents the entire seven-county metro area. They affect everything from transportation and wastewater treatment facilities to regional parks and affordable housing. A criticism is that while the council makes decisions affecting all of the cities and counties that make up the metro area, they are not elected by the voters. There are concerns raised about the transparency and accountability concerning light rail, particularly in the legislative auditor’s report last year identifying deficiencies.