Greetings,

On this International Women’s Day, it seems fitting to reach out with updates about the petition we have all signed to rename the State Office Building in honor of Melissa Hortman.  

1.  There are bills for this renaming effort!  On February 19, HF 3455 was introduced, read, and referred to the Committee on State Government Finance and Policy.  On February 26, a companion bill in the MN Senate, SF 3899, was introduced, read, and referred to the Committee on State and Local Government.  Here are links to follow HF 3455 and SF 3899.  (The petition has been directly sent to Rep. Ginny Klevorn, Rep. XP Lee, and Sen. John Hoffman.)

2.  Now that we have bill numbers, your voice can be amplified even more!  Please write or call your MN representative and senator to urge them to support these bills.  You can use this geographic locator (https://gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/) to find your lawmakers' info.  There is a hearing for the House bill this Thursday, March 12, so contacting representatives soon will help bring attention and even more import to this issue as the renaming is discussed in upcoming weeks.  Thank you for continuing to speak up for this effort!

3.  When you contact your representatives, please share your stories of Melissa and why renaming the building the Melissa Hortman State Office Building matters to you.  On March 7, my husband and I were able to deliver a physical copy of the petition to Sen. John Hoffman, who is one of five senators authoring SF 3899.  While he was impressed by the 2,203 signatures (covering 57 pages), he flipped right away to the last page with comments from signers.  He said, “These are great.  I’ll use these.”  While your name certainly supports a strong symbolic stand, your words and stories carry an even greater likelihood of connecting with and convincing lawmakers to enact this honor for Melissa.  As a friend, role model, lawmaker, Speaker, woman, Minnesotan, or American, how did Melissa’s life example influence your own life?  How will her legacy and spirit continue to move you going forward?

4.  There is power in numbers, so again, please feel the heartfelt gratitude of all of us who have signed this petition together.  With 2,203 signers, this petition now represents a community of remembrance across 38 states, Washington, D.C., and six countries.  Your name speaks to Melissa’s wide-ranging impact (and by extension, to the love and support also offered to Mark, Gilbert, and the Hortman/Haluptzok families).  Thank you!  There is still time to pass this petition along to anyone else who might like to sign on.  Please forward this link today or go to: change.org/honormelissahortman. 

5.  Final thoughts:  International Women’s Day is defined as a day to “commemorate women's fight for equality along with the women's rights movement.  International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.”  Melissa’s life touches every level of that definition.  As a woman with the strength and conviction to stand up for women's bodily autonomy, healthcare rights, and Sick and Safe Time leave for people recovering from domestic abuse and assault, Melissa should be recognized as a national figure for democratic courage.  Tragically, it is believed that Melissa's death also marks the first assassination of a sitting female politician at a state or national level.  This is a watershed moment that our country must bear witness to, no matter how painful, because we must learn from the inhuman violence that divisive rhetoric stokes.  Women are also so often overlooked in our nation's history and public spaces of honor.  In fact, fewer than 8% of memorials and public sculptures depict women in the US.  As a state, we must stand as an example.  We will not endure the double hurt of losing a treasured female leader (targeted in part because she stood up for women) and then losing the political or civic will to memorialize her importance in the fabric of public memory and history.  Let us create a living memorial by adding the Hortman name to the place where the work for the people–work to which Melissa so tirelessly devoted her life–will continue.  Who we choose to remember shapes what we value into the future.  May Melissa’s courage, character, and compassion always guide the North Star State.

Thank you, and best wishes to you,

~Jodi Anderson-Wolhaupter