Daily Digest for April 15, 2020 Posted at 6:45 a.m. by Cody Nelson |
Welcome to the middle of the week. Good morning and welcome to your Digest.
For daily updates, subscribe to our morning COVID-19 newsletter and Minnesota Today podcast.
The Legislature is growing divided on how to handle the coronavirus. House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, didn't hold back, quoting a colleague on tone among lawmakers: " Bipartisanship is on a ventilator."
But it did get something done. Brian Bakst reports: "An increasingly fractured Legislature pushed the latest coronavirus-related package through Tuesday, providing couples remote access to marriage licenses and farmers more breathing room on debt. The bill also assures coronavirus testing and treatment for the uninsured , gives food shelves money to buy excess milk and food products, waives some Health Department regulations to speed the COVID-19 response and gives the courts more latitude to deal with disrupted cases."
Yes, people are dying in droves. But we mustn't forget about the economy, says Rep. Steve Drazkowski. “Many Minnesotans are becoming weary of this emergency right now,” Drazkowski said. “This is a Legislature foisting yet one more big power to this government during this emergency to further tell Minnesotans what they can and cannot do. ... In our efforts to save lives, we are killing livelihoods ." The Republican of Mazeppa, Minn., also tried, unsuccessfully, to strip from the bill a measure that gives the Health Department more leeway from its regulations in responding to COVID-19.
Gov. Tim Walz has a different tone on the matter. The DFLer says he, too, is tired of the stay-at-home and other restrictions due to COVID-19, but they're necessary. “I wish could say it’s magically over ... but that will kill people.”
Tribes are getting coronavirus aid, but how much remains a mystery. “While we are grateful that we are part of the process, there isn't any clear guidance that we can work from,” said Robert Larsen, who chairs the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and is president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community Council in Redwood County, Minn. “We can't adequately prepare if we don't know what the resources are that we can expect ... The other units of local government and states can estimate how much they'll receive, because it is spelled out related to their population … We don't have that.”
With hygiene inadequate and distancing impossible, advocates are calling on ICE to release detainees. From reporter Riham Feshir: "They say overcrowding, inadequate medical care, lack of soap and sanitizer, as well as the inability to observe social distance in Minnesota jails, put vulnerable immigration detainees at risk of serious illness. Immigration attorney Kim Hunter said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has fought against releasing detainees, including those held solely for civil immigration violations, without considering ankle monitoring or parole. 'I cannot emphasize enough that this is an agency that is relentless, this is an agency that does not like to hear the word no,' she said. 'Unfortunately it shouldn’t take a lawsuit to get them to do what is humane, and what is just and what is simply logical in the face of the crisis that we are facing.'"
President Barack Obama has endorsed Joe Biden for the presidency. From NPR: "Obama framed his endorsement by talking about the leadership he says is required to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. 'The kind of leadership that's guided by knowledge and experience, honesty and humility, empathy and grace. That kind of leadership doesn't just belong in our state capitals and mayors' offices,' Obama said. 'It belongs in the White House, and that's why I'm so proud to endorse Joe Biden for president of the United States.'"
Enforcing pollution laws is tricky when you're working from home. Kirsti Marohn reports: "The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it’s still requiring industries, farms and other entities with air, water or waste permits to follow state environmental regulations. But it’s also granting leeway to organizations in meeting some of those requirements, sparking a call from some environmental groups for more transparency." |
|
|
|
|
