Brian Johnson (politician) explained

Brian Johnson
State House:Minnesota
District:28A
Constituency:28A (2023–present)
32A (2013–2022)
Term Start:January 8, 2013
Predecessor:Roger Crawford
Birth Date:27 June 1961
Party:Republican
Spouse:Diane
Children:1
Residence:Cambridge, Minnesota
Education:Hibbing Area Vocational Technical Institute (A.A.S.)

Brian Johnson (born June 27, 1961) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2013. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Johnson represents District 28A in eastern Minnesota, which includes the cities of Cambridge, Isanti, and North Branch, and parts of Chisago and Isanti Counties.[1]

Early life, education, and career

Johnson grew up on a dairy farm and attended Cambridge High School. He graduated from Hibbing Community College, now Minnesota North College Hibbing, with an associate degree in law enforcement.[2]

Johnson worked as a firefighter and EMT in Braham and was a deputy sheriff in Isanti County for 17 years.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Johnson was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012 and has been reelected every two years since. He first ran after redistricting and after one-term Republican incumbent Roger Crawford announced he would not seek reelection. Johnson supported Jason Lewis's 2020 campaign for U.S. Senate.[3]

Johnson is the minority lead on the Housing Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. He served as vice chair of the Public Safety & Security Policy and Finance Committee during the 2017 legislative session. After chair Tony Cornish resigned following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, Johnson became chair of the committee for the 2018 session.[4]

Public safety

Johnson has opposed various criminal justice reform proposals put forward by House Democrats, and accused the DFL of being "hostile" to police and "pushing an anti-law enforcement and defund the police policies".[5] [6] [7] [8] He opposed legislation requiring law enforcement to release unedited body camera footage after deadly force incidents to the families of the victims within 48 hours of the event.[9] After the police killing of Daunte Wright, Johnson said, "it's unfortunate that he didn't comply and go to jail".[10] He voted against legislation to ban no-knock warrants and opposed a bipartisan bill to return the right to vote to felons on parole, saying he believed it was unconstitutional.[11] [12] [13] Johnson opposed legislation to legalize marijuana in Minnesota and a bill to provide driver's licenses to all Minnesotans regardless of immigration status.[14] [15]

Johnson has supported "tough on crime" policies, such as increasing patrols in high-risk areas, increasing police recruiting, and stronger penalties for violent crime.[16] [17] [18] He introduced a bill that would make assaulting police officers a felony and prevent cities from disarming officers.[19] [20] He also sponsored a bill making it more difficult to release convicted sex offenders and people with mental illness seeking unconditional release and a bill requiring law enforcement officials to get a warrant before using drones.[21] [22] [23] He supported bipartisan legislation to allow courts to reduce or waive certain court fines based on someone's ability to pay.[24]

Johnson authored legislation to limit the power of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, an independent board that helps set criminal sentences.[25] He said he believed the commission went "way too far" when reducing penalties for drug offenders and again overstepped when it set a five-year felony probation cap.[26] [27]

Gun control

Johnson has consistently opposed gun control legislation, saying we "have pretty good laws in place" to address gun violence.[28] [29] [30] He has opposed increasing background checks and red flag laws, and said "we have to quit blaming the tool and look at what's causing it".[31] In 2018, as public safety chair, he refused to hold hearings on gun control proposals introduced by DFLers, and later said it was too late in session to consider proposals authored by suburban Republican members.[32] [33] [34]

Personal life

Johnson is married to his wife, Diane. They have one child and reside in Cambridge, Minnesota.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rep. Brian Johnson (28A) - Minnesota House of Representatives . 2023-04-15 . www.house.mn.gov.
  2. Web site: Johnson, Brian . Minnesota Legislative Reference Library . Legislators Past & Present . November 15, 2018.
  3. Web site: McKinney . Matt . June 23, 2020 . U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis warns against calls to 'defund' Minneapolis police . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  4. Web site: Scheck . Tom . Bakst . Brian . November 21, 2017 . Rep. Cornish to resign amid sexual misconduct accusatio . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  5. Web site: Montemayor . Stephen . April 17, 2021 . Pressure mounts on Minnesota lawmakers to pass new policing bills after Daunte Wright's death . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  6. Web site: Montemayor . Stephen . April 29, 2021 . Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats: policing laws a top priority of session's final weeks . 2023-04-16 . Star Tribune.
  7. Web site: Bakst . Brian . April 8, 2021 . Gulf builds in MN Legislature over public safety plans . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  8. Web site: The Associated Press . July 27, 2021 . Violent crime surges across MN with record murders . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  9. Web site: Bierschbach . Briana . March 27, 2021 . Minnesota police reform debate plays out in legislators' Zoom backgrounds . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  10. Web site: Montemayor . Stephen . April 27, 2021 . Wright's death fuels push to change Minnesota warrant process . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  11. Web site: Pugmire . Tim . February 17, 2022 . House panel advances bill to limit no-knock warrants . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  12. Web site: Bakst . Brian . March 22, 2018 . Wait will go on for felons seeking return of voting rights . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  13. Web site: Callaghan . Peter . 2019-03-12 . Around the country, restoring felons’ voting rights is often a bipartisan issue. Not in Minnesota. . 2023-04-16 . MinnPost . en-US.
  14. Web site: Pugmire . Tim . April 28, 2021 . Legal pot bill moving in MN House despite Senate GOP opposition . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  15. Web site: Ferguson . Dana . January 30, 2023 . MN House passes driver’s license for all bill . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  16. Web site: Chhith . Alex . July 27, 2021 . Minnesota broke the record for most murders reported in 2020; violent crime and bias reports also high . 2023-04-16 . Star Tribune.
  17. Web site: Winter . Deena . April 19, 2022 . House GOP pushes Dems to get tougher on crime . 2023-04-16 . Minnesota Reformer . en-US.
  18. Web site: Lopez . Ricardo . January 14, 2022 . Gazelka calls for tougher penalties for ‘young hardened criminals’ . 2023-04-16 . Minnesota Reformer . en-US.
  19. Web site: Van Berkel . Jessie . March 22, 2018 . House bills would increase penalty for attacking an officer, prevent police disarmament . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  20. Web site: Bakst . Brian . March 22, 2018 . A gun bill advances, but this one aimed at police power . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  21. Web site: Serres . Chris . April 23, 2018 . Minnesota Senate passes bill to tighten sex offender, mental health commitment rules . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  22. Web site: Sepic . Matt . March 12, 2014 . Drone curbs find support in state House . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  23. Web site: Bierschbach . Briana . 2014-03-10 . After Target and Snowden revelations, privacy protection emerges as a top issue at Legislature . 2023-04-16 . MinnPost . en-US.
  24. Web site: Van Berkel . Jessie . Minnesota's criminal justice fees often fall hardest on poor . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  25. Web site: Collins . Jon . December 22, 2016 . Proposed change in drug-sentence formula draws fire . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  26. Web site: Mannix . Andy . March 9, 2017 . Measure to strip power from Minnesota Sentencing Commission advances . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  27. Web site: Tribune . Liz Sawyer Star . Sentencing Guidelines Commission approves 5-year felony probation cap . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  28. Web site: Van Berkel . Jessie . February 20, 2018 . Minnesota gun-control and gun-rights advocates seek legislative changes . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  29. Web site: Bakst . Brian . March 20, 2018 . Gun bills remain stuck despite effort to dislodge them . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  30. Web site: The Associated Press . February 10, 2023 . Gun safety bills gain in Minnesota amid Democratic control . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  31. Web site: Bierschbach . Briana . Shooting revives school safety debate in Minnesota . 2023-04-16 . MPR News . en.
  32. Web site: Van Berkel . Jessie . March 1, 2018 . Gun control measures quickly stall at State Capitol . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  33. Web site: Coolican . J. Patrick . March 19, 2018 . At Minnesota Capitol, support for guns is deeply ingrained . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.
  34. Web site: Van Berkel . Jessie . May 4, 2018 . Suburban House Republicans propose gun measures at 11th hour . 2023-04-15 . Star Tribune.

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