A recent editorial by this newspaper called out our longtime serving fellow DFL legislator Rep. Mary Murphy for a piece of legislation she is sponsoring alongside Senate DFL Leader Tom Bakk. We could not be more disappointed in this distorted piece of journalism. The editorial wrongly pilloried Rep. Murphy for “jeopardizing the ability of Minnesota businesses to operate, to thrive and to provide employment at all.”
For starters, that claim is ludicrous and is not based in fact. The legislation in question would merely change state law to prevent high school students – including those that are 18 years of age, from working after 11 p.m. on a school night or before 5 a.m. on a school day unless the student provides a written request to the employer to work during the restricted hours. The legislation was drafted at the request of a constituent of Rep. Murphy’s whose 18-year-old high school son was being forced to work until 12:30 a.m. on school nights.
To claim, as the Duluth News Tribune editorial board did, that this bill would somehow “infringe on the ability of adults to get and to enjoy gainful employment,” is misleading at best. It is clear from the editorial that the authors didn’t actually read the bill language. We also find it interesting that the editorial only calls out Rep. Murphy, when the bill also received a hearing in the Senate where it was also passed.
We are living in a time where facts don’t seem to hold as much weight as they used to. It’s up to trusted news sources like the Duluth News Tribune to dig into the facts and shed light on the truth. That’s not what happened here. We expect better journalism in the future.
Submitted by:
Sen. Erik Simonson,
Sen. Tom Bakk,
Rep. Jennifer Schultz,
and Rep. Rob Ecklund.
Editor’s note: According to Amelia Cerling Hennes, Communications Specialist, Senate DFL Media, the Duluth News Tribune declined to print the above letter to the editor as drafted and submitted.
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