Um, Turns Out That Bill Banning Arie From Minnesota Is 100 Percent Real

The Bachelor Nation fandom, since it deals in real people rather than fictional characters, can get weird sometimes — but one viral threat from the previous season sounds way too good to be true. Is Arie really banned from Minnesota after The Bachelor? In a real "Twitter, do ya thing" move, an Arie ban actually got some traction thanks to a certain state representative.

It all started during The Bachelor finale, when Arie infamously dumped Minnesota native (and current Bachelorette) Becca and proposed to Lauren in a twist that was far more upsetting than shocking. It's not uncommon for public figures to live tweet, but Minnesota state representative Drew Christensen took it one step further, promising his constituents and Bachelor Nation at large that if he got 1000 retweets, "I’ll author a bill banning Arie from Minnesota." The tweet currently has 12,000 retweets. He drafted the bill the next day, and promised to invite the scorned Becca as his guest of honor at Minnesota’s State of the State Address.

He actually did go so far as to write up the bill. It reads "a bill for an act relating to state government; adopting a right to live free from the presence of Arie Luyendyk, Jr.; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 1."

The proposed text of the ban says, "SECTION 1: FREEDOM FROM ARIE LUYENDYK JR. — The state of Minnesota hereby adopts a policy of zero tolerance of Arie Luyendyk, Jr. from season 22 of The Bachelor. It is state policy that every person in the state has a right to live free from the presence of Arie Luyendyk, Jr. in the state."

Here Are Photos Of The Bill:

If you go to the Minnesota State legislature's website, it was actually introduced in the House on March 8, 2018. He works fast! This is a piece of real life public record.

But, there's no way that's actually enforceable, right? Restraining orders are one thing, but this feels excessive. For one thing, the text of the ban means that he could technically cross state lines as long as nobody he interacted with had a problem with him being in their presence, it seems. Also, since Minnesota doesn't have, like, customs, no one would necessarily know if Arie entered the state anyway. Maybe local businesses would be able to refuse him service. Maybe. Although, most businesses reserve the right to not serve anyone, so that doesn't really make Arie special. As Time put it, he'd basically just need to enter Minnesota... for the right reasons.

Also, as any elementary school student whose teacher put on a video for some well-deserved "planning time," a bill is not a law — not yet. He's not actually banned until the bill goes to committee, is approved, passed, not vetoed and all that jazz.

You can track the status of H. F. No. 3443, "right to live free from the presence of Arie Luyendyk, Jr. adopted" online if you want. So far, it has only been introduced in the House. It has not transferred to the Senate or gone to committee or anything. There was no vote. Unfortunately, the video archive is not online, so fans can't watch the reaction from the other representatives in the room where it happened. Maybe it'll pass. Who knows!

2018 is never one to bore, and this is exactly the kind of political content that Bachelor Nation needs and deserves right now. Are there more serious issues in the state of Minnesota? Probably. Is this just a bit of fun? Absolutely! It clearly didn't take too much time and energy out of representative's life to draft that bill. It's a nice gesture, and kind of wild enough that of piece of legislature about a Bachelor actually made it this far. It would also be smart of Arie to stay out of Becca's home state just in general, legal or not. For one thing, it's pretty cold there. And, for another, she seems like she has a lot of Minnesota citizens willing to stand up for her — politicians included.