Letter to the Editor: Rep. Dotseth is not focused on us

There were 5,488 bills introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives last session. Some ideas were good, a few were real doozies. Our State Representative Jeff Dotseth might have the distinction of putting forth the biggest head-scratcher.

On March 7, he introduced HF 4687: “Harmful atmospheric activity prohibited, and penalties provided.” The bill talks about “cloud seeding,” “stratospheric aerosol injection,” “xenobiotic agents,” and “electromagnetic radiation.”

These are all references to chemtrails, a discredited conspiracy theory that the government is secretly adding chemicals to the atmosphere. Purported reasons for this include impacting the weather, sterilization, and even mind control. The amount of evidence of this practice existing is the same amount of taxpayer dollars that should be spent developing such a bill: none. It’s perplexing behavior for a first-term lawmaker who should be collaborating to solve problems in the real world.

These antics wouldn’t be so harmful if Dotseth wasn’t ineffective otherwise. Last year, he fumbled the ball on Carlton County’s $10 million jail bonding request. It took Dave Lislegard, a representative from the Iron Range, to successfully advance the funding. Lislegard also had to introduce a funding bill for the Northern Lights Academy Special Education Cooperative, which should be Dotseth’s responsibility.

As one of Dotseth’s constituents, I’m not worried about vapor trails. I’m concerned about the rising costs of health care, housing, gas, groceries, and other issues impacting working families.

It seems Rep. Dotseth is bowing to the will of his party bosses while endearing himself to the GOP fringe and conspiracy promoters. We deserve better: we deserve a representative focused on growing the middle class and sticking up for the needs of our district.

Much like how logical human beings dismiss wacky conspiracy theories, it’s time for us to dismiss Jeff Dotseth as our state representative.

Gary Bonneville, Esko