State Rep. Chris Swedzinski said on Apr. 29 he is against a House Democrat bill that would cut state funding to cities and counties choosing to fly the previous Minnesota state flag instead of the new one.
The proposed legislation, House File 5077, seeks to reduce local government aid by ten percent for any city or county displaying a flag other than the design made official in 2024. The move comes as several local governments have continued flying the traditional 1983 version rather than adopting the new flag selected by a commission in 2023.
Swedzinski said this funding is important for communities to support essential services such as police and fire departments, and described the penalty as significant. “This is the ultimate big-government bill that shows how out of touch some people are,” Swedzinski said. “They go out and rally against perceived authoritarianism, and then turn around and push authoritarian legislation through bills mandating what flag Minnesotans must fly, with financial punishments for not complying.”
He also said that neither voters nor lawmakers had direct approval over the final design of the new flag. Instead, he explained that under current law, a commission’s choice became official automatically on May 11, 2024. Since then, some cities—including Champlin, Zumbrota, Elk River and Inver Grove Heights—have chosen to keep flying the older flag on public property because there is no legal requirement for them to use only the official version.
“Democrats could have spared themselves from this embarrassing debacle if they’d just bothered listening to Minnesotans in the first place,” Swedzinski said. “Most people weren’t asking for a new flag and then neither the public nor the legislature had final say in the redesign.”
Swedzinski added that besides opposition from House Republicans leading to a tied vote in committee discussions, procedural hurdles remain since H.F. 5077 was introduced after legislative deadlines passed this year and currently lacks an equivalent measure in the Senate.
