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<br />Councilmember Howell asked if the City was able to withhold funding for not complying with <br />local regulations, would the federal government be able to withhold funding for Highway 10 if the <br />City doesn’t comply with this mandate. She wondered if that was a risk because there is a lot of <br />grant funding with Highway 10. <br /> <br />City Attorney Knaak replied, thankfully, that scenario has not been put in front of them yet. <br />However, that type of incentive is a commonly used tool to ensure conformity to federal mandates. <br />He hasn’t seen any of that in the resolution so far. It was simply a declaration of the administration <br />that OSHA has this authority and therefore it is being done through OSHA. It is not clear that can <br />be done without an express congressional authorization, which is a part of the problem. If Congress <br />looks at this and thinks it is important, justifies it, and decides to tie federal funding to it, he didn’t <br />want to speculate on the legality of that. He noted this is a pattern that has been seen in past issues <br />but is something that hasn’t happened yet. <br /> <br />Councilmember Heineman commented on using incentives or punishment tactics but he would <br />rather have a simple statement that says the City is not enforcing or using resources to enforce this. <br />A private business mandating something for their workers is different than the federal government <br />using power as a State actor to enforce things. He didn’t think the City of Ramsey should say TIF <br />funding wouldn’t be awarded for not doing what the City says. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell suggested striking the last paragraph about the TIF funding. <br /> <br />Councilmember Heineman agreed and added he wants to give people freedom, not punishment if <br />they don’t do what this Council wants them to do. He wanted to err on the side of freedoms instead <br />of ultimatums. <br /> <br />City Attorney Knaak offered an analogy of the Sanctuary Movement where various cities declined <br />to be an immigration site and doing something contrary to Federal policy. There is a wide variety <br />of ways that that is done, often by resolutions like this and it has not as yet resulted in sanctions at <br />any considerable level. <br /> <br />Councilmember Heineman commented it is the same as decriminalization of drugs like marijuana. <br /> <br />Mayor Kuzma asked for consensus to be able to move the meeting forward. He asked if it could <br />be tabled for a week to see how things turn out. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove commented she would like to see a statement be made, not necessarily <br />this week, but to say that liberty and freedom and the Constitution are more valuable than <br />government incentives. <br /> <br />Councilmember Specht commented that he felt there was consensus to continue discussion on this <br />regardless of the outcome of the Supreme Court. He supported the one Councilmember Howell <br />put forth with the ordinance. <br /> <br />Councilmember Heineman commented it could wait a week. <br />City Council Work Session / January 11, 2022 <br />Page 12 of 15 <br /> <br />