Overview
- House DFL lawmakers, who introduced the bill Monday, propose cutting state aid beginning in 2027 to any city or county that uses a flag design other than the version certified by the State Emblems Redesign Commission.
- Inver Grove Heights joined Elk River, Champlin, Zumbrota and Plainview in voting to fly the 1893 flag on city property, defying the 2024 redesign.
- Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth said the measure is dead on arrival and predicted it will not move through the Senate.
- Mayors in cities such as Champlin and Crosslake called the plan government overreach and warned it could pull money that pays for local services like police and fire.
- The state created the new flag after a 2023 commission voted 11-1 to replace imagery critics say shows a Native American leaving as a White settler tills his field, and the design has also drawn complaints that it looks like Somalia’s flag.