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The Minnesota House of Representatives introduced a bill that could penalize cities and counties for not flying the redesigned state flag.
Members of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party pushed legislation Monday to reduce state aid to a county or city that “flies or otherwise makes use of a state flag other than the design of the state flag as certified in the report of the State Emblems Redesign Commission.”
If passed, the bill would go into effect in 2027.
MINNESOTA ADOPTS NEW, NON-RACIST STATE FLAG, JOINS UTAH, MISSISSIPPI, MICHIGAN, ILLINOIS IN REDESIGNING FLAGS
Fox News Digital reached out to Minnesota state House members and the speaker of the House for comment.
The bill followed several cities and communities in recent years voting in favor of returning to the original state flag, which was adopted in 1893. On the same day the bill was introduced, the Inver Grove Heights City Council voted to join Elk River, Champlin, Zumbrota and Plainview in flying the original flag on city buildings.
The State Emblems Redesign Commission voted 11-1 to approve a new flag design in 2023 after critics argued the original flag image was considered racist to Native Americans.
MINNESOTA CONSIDERS CHANGING FLAG AFTER HISTORIC 1893 DESIGN ACCUSED OF RACISM AGAINST NATIVE AMERICANS
“The seal depicts a Native American riding off into the sunset while a White settler plows his field with his rifle leaning on a nearby stump,” The Associated Press wrote in 2023. “The imagery suggests to many that the Indigenous people were defeated and going away, while Whites won and were staying.”
The new flag now features an eight-pointed star against a navy blue background shaped to resemble Minnesota, next to a solid light-blue field, which represents the state’s waters, according to the commission. It was officially adopted in 2024.
The new design has been met with its own criticism from people who consider it to be a poor replacement and others who accused it of resembling the Somali national flag.
DAVID MARCUS: STOP GASLIGHTING US ABOUT MINNESOTA’S NEW SOMALI-THEMED STATE FLAG
In response to the new bill, Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth called it “dead on arrival,” suggesting there was no path forward in the Senate.
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“That bill is dead on arrival. There is no way this bill is moving through,” Demuth told CBS News. “To know that Democrats are trying to take funding away from our police and fire, from our cities, it’s ridiculous. We have real work that could help Minnesotans.”
Fox News’ Christine Rousselle contributed to this report.