Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka stood with a group of bar and restaurant owners at the State Capitol Thursday afternoon imploring the Walz Administration to allow them to reopen.
He also had a strong message for Attorney General Keith Ellison.
“When I heard that the Attorney General then is fining people $10,000, and pulling their license for 60 days, I want to remind him that next year we set a two-year budget, and the legislative branch sets his budget,” said Gazelka. “And we’re going to look at how many $10,000 fines he inflicted on these people that were absolutely desperate.”
Ellison's office has filed lawsuits and has suspended the liquor licenses of two Minnesota bars that have openly defied the Governor's executive order.
Keys Cafe and Bakery owner Jean Hunn was among several bar and restaurant owners explaining how the shutdown of indoor service is hurting them.
“We have done everything you have asked,” Hunn says. “We have gone above and beyond. We have adjusted, we have punted. It’s just everything you ask, we do, we haven’t complained, we’ve done it and we keep getting through it. But at some point, it’s exhausting.”
As for the executive order's allowance for outdoor service, Hunn calls that a slap in the face.