Eden Prairie lawmakers, residents debate policy at packed forum

A standing-room-only crowd packed the Eden Prairie Library on Saturday, March 8, as local lawmakers took questions in their first public forum since the Minnesota legislative session began – and the first since Donald Trump was re-elected president.

For about an hour, state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-49, Eden Prairie) and state Reps. Alex Falconer (DFL-49A, Eden Prairie), Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL-49B, Eden Prairie), and Lucy Rehm (DFL-48B, Chanhassen) fielded questions on everything from budget shortfalls and education funding to fraud prevention, health care and social issues.

Attendees submitted written questions, which the moderator read aloud. Due to time constraints, not all were addressed, but legislators remained afterward to speak one-on-one with attendees.

While much of the discussion was cordial, political divisions occasionally surfaced, sparking heated exchanges, groans, applause, and interjections from the crowd.

As the forum wound down, Cwodzinski paused, searching for the right word to describe the atmosphere.

“Tension,” Kotyza-Witthuhn suggested.

“Disharmony,” a woman in the audience called out.

Cwodzinski nodded.

“Disharmony. I like that word.”

Then, he struck a reflective note.

“Thank you, all of you. Thank you for your passion, for your efforts to leave this world better than you found it,” he said. “We’re all trying to solve as much of this puzzle called life and humanity as we can in the short time we have on this planet. Thanks for being part of that process today.”

A debate over legislative quorum

The first audience question referenced House Democrats’ absence in the first 12 sessions of the Legislature and asked for an explanation.

Kotyza-Witthuhn explained that Democrats withheld a quorum due to a temporary 66-67 Republican majority after Curtis Johnson (DFL) was disqualified from taking office for failing to meet residency requirements. A special election on March 11 in Democratic-leaning District 40B is expected to restore a 67-67 split as Democrats seek to reclaim the seat.

“We made the really hard decision to not show up until we had a power-sharing agreement with the Republicans,” she said. “Otherwise, they could have organized as the majority and run the House that way for two years, with no mechanism in state law to trigger a power-sharing arrangement.”

A few minutes later, the audience member who had submitted the question raised a concern.

“I think you misrepresented the way I asked the question,” he said. “I didn’t ask for someone to explain the DFL side of why they didn’t show up. Could you read my exact wording?”

Without revisiting the question, the moderator moved on to the next topic, as attendees had submitted multiple questions in advance.

Fraud prevention and oversight

A resident submitted a question raising concerns about fraud in state programs, citing issues in Medicaid, daycare centers and autism services.

Cwodzinski addressed the Feeding Our Future scandal, in which more than $250 million in state and federal funds were fraudulently siphoned from a pandemic meal program.

“It was a crime against the people in education,” he said, noting that the scandal led to the resignation of the state’s education commissioner.

He added that lawmakers are responding by creating an Office of Inspector General in each state department to improve oversight.

“It’s sad that it takes people cheating us out of our hard-earned dollars to create these agencies,” he said. “But we’re doing our best, and hopefully good will come from it.”

Falconer noted that fraud remains a concern but said Minnesota has consolidated investigations to improve coordination.

“Bad actors will always try to take advantage,” he said. “We just have to be on top of it.”

Kotyza-Witthuhn pushed back on recent media reports that, in her view, conflated licensing violations with fraud in the Child Care Assistance Program.

“Fraud is a crime. It’s premeditated. It’s people trying to game the system for personal gain,” she said. “That’s very different from a licensing violation.”

She emphasized that past cases involved falsifying attendance records, not minor infractions like refrigerator temperature violations.

Budget deficit and government spending

An audience member asked how the state plans to manage its budget amid a projected $6 billion deficit, following record spending increases and a 40% budget expansion.

Kotyza-Witthuhn clarified that Minnesota still has more than $7 billion in reserves and the largest rainy-day fund in state history.

“We have been extremely judicious in not spending all of our money,” she said. “We’re in a safe place with funds through this biennium.”

She acknowledged that spending in education and health care exceeded projections, particularly in special education and English language learner programs.

A man pressed for perspective.

“You keep throwing out the number, but can you explain to us exactly what a billion dollars is?” he said.

Kotyza-Witthuhn responded: “If you started with zero dollars and worked to earn $1 million, it would take about 10 years,” she said. “At that same rate, reaching $1 billion would take over 100 years.”

The man countered: “It’s $10,000 a day for 240 years.”

Rehm added that large-scale government spending is difficult for many people to conceptualize.

“Many of us struggle to grasp the sheer scale of government spending,” she said. “That’s part of why conversations about budgets often lead to misunderstandings.”

Federal cuts and Musk’s influence spark debate

As concerns over federal budget cuts and executive power surfaced, lawmakers responded to two audience questions: one about the impact of Trump administration policies on Minnesota and another about whether billionaire Elon Musk has authority to fire federal employees.

Cwodzinski acknowledged that federal cuts were inevitable and said Senate Democrats were preparing for them.

“We’re meeting next week to figure out what cuts education and other committees can live with because cuts are coming. They’re real,” he said. “Two-thirds of our state budget is in health and human services or education, so those areas will take the biggest hits.”

While he was reluctant to see reductions in school funding, he said lawmakers needed to be realistic.

Shifting to broader national issues, Cwodzinski referenced his recent appearance on TPT’s “Almanac,” where he was asked how he would teach about Trump’s leadership. He pointed to the national debt – now at $36 trillion – as a bipartisan concern.

“At the risk of sounding like a Republican, that’s real,” he said. “If we’re handing our children a $36 trillion debt, how will they ever reach the blessings of liberty we’ve worked so hard to bestow upon them?”

Rehm then addressed Musk’s involvement in federal employee terminations, arguing that his influence in executive agency decisions was an “illegal takeover.”

“We have an unelected billionaire exerting power over our government,” she said, drawing a mix of groans and applause.

She clarified that Musk does not have direct legal authority to fire government employees but noted that state attorneys general – including Minnesota’s – were challenging related actions in court.

“If (liberal financier) George Soros had gone in and fired a whole bunch of people, I don’t think people would have appreciated that, either,” she said.

Youth sports transgender debate

One of the most heated exchanges of the town hall stemmed from an audience question about a proposed bill that would prohibit transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports.

Falconer, who spoke against the bill on the House floor, challenged the way the issue was framed.

“The way this is often discussed – as if adult males are competing against young children – is misleading,” Falconer said. “Girls are playing in girls’ sports.”

He pointed out that the bill would apply to children as young as 5 and require invasive physical exams to verify sex.

“This bill would mandate invasive physical examinations for all girls just to confirm their gender. That is particularly gross and wrong,” Falconer said. “I could never abide by that.”

At one point, Falconer noted that only 10 transgender athletes compete in NCAA sports.

A man in the audience interjected: “That’s 10 too many.”

Falconer responded.

“But we’re not focusing on the things that actually matter to people’s daily lives in Minnesota,” he said. “There are more billionaires in Trump’s cabinet than there are trans athletes in NCAA sports.”

A man in the crowd groaned, “Oh, give me a break.”

At that point, Kotyza-Witthuhn intervened.

“If you want to continue heckling the representative, you will be asked to leave,” she said.

Rehm then redirected the conversation to misplaced legislative priorities.

“We kept asking: Where is this happening? Where is the harm? And no one could say anything,” she said.

She argued that lawmakers should focus on pressing statewide issues.

“How many people have died from the fentanyl crisis? How many have died on our roads?” Rehm said. “Over 400 people last year died on our highways. Why aren’t we fixing the things we can agree on?”

As Falconer wrapped up his remarks at the end of the meeting, a man in the crowd called out: “But let’s protect our girls.”

“Let’s protect our people,” countered Kotyza-Witthuhn.

The response drew applause from much of the room.

Closing words: A call for common ground

As the forum wound down, Rehm urged people to focus on common ground, emphasizing the need for bipartisanship.

“We’ll be tied for two years, and without cooperation, nothing will get done,” she said. “That’s a wasted opportunity to improve lives. Both sides should prioritize passing workable bills instead of wasting the next 20 months.”

Rehm echoed a message shared earlier in the event – a quote from President Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural address: “There’s nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

Kotyza-Witthuhn closed with a call for unity.

“There are strong divisions in certain areas that bring out the worst in us,” she said. “The more we focus on what unites us instead of what divides us, the more we can get work done – the work you elected us to do. Whether or not you voted for us, we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.”