Capitol View for April 10

Good morning. Break No. 2 for the Legislature has arrived.

The Legislature is in recess until Thursday in observance of Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday to mark the end of Ramadan. Later in the month — April 22 and 23 — is the third and final break of the year — for Passover. On paper, the Legislature has over a month left, but it can only meet on the floor for 20 more days after using 100 floor days of the 120 allowed for the two-year session.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has asked the state Court of Appeals to overturn a racing commission decision that allows a new form of betting at two horse tracks. The petition seeks to block a recent change that was approved by the Minnesota Racing Commission earlier this month, which approved a gambling game known as historical horse racing, which uses terminals to allow bets on races from the past. Lawyers for the tribe argue that the commission lacked authority to approve the games. They say the form of gambling is too similar to slot machines, which tribes have exclusive rights to host in their casinos. But racetracks say the betting is based on skill not random outcomes. State lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban historical horse racing, but there’s pushback from racetrack operators who say that banning the game would deprive them of a critical revenue source.

The Minnesota House has given its OK to an elections bill permitting voter lawsuits and establishing new deep fake penalties. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the federal Voting Rights Act doesn’t give individuals the right to sue since they’re not explicitly named in law. Dana Ferguson reports this bill would allow individuals to sue over racially discriminatory voting laws or maps. Democrats in the chamber say the bill is needed to ensure fair elections. Republicans in the Minnesota House oppose efforts to adopt a state voting rights act, saying it’s not the state’s place to weigh in. Debate shifts to the Senate where a companion bill is also nearing a floor vote.

Another bill that moved one step closer to a floor vote yesterday would allow local units of government in Minnesota to hold ranked choice elections. In ranked choice voting, multiple candidates for an office appear on a ballot and voters rank them in order of their preference. If no candidate receives more than half of the first choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is cut and those who ranked them first instead have their vote go to their second choice and so on. Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis Park, Minnetonka and Bloomington currently pick their local officials by ranked choice voting. Republicans say their constituents aren’t asking for the change.

In St. Olaf, a student-driven election project drives turnout and primes students for more productive political conversations. In this week’s edition of Talking Sense , Catharine Richert highlights the student election ambassador program in St. Olaf, which was created to increase voter turnout and help more students engage in civic participation. The election ambassador program was created in 2020 in response to gaps in turnout between white students and students of color. St. Olaf has one of the highest student voting rates in the country. In 2020, nearly 90 percent of eligible Oles voted.

Minnesota is shaping up to be closer than last time in the race for president. Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the state with 52 percent of the vote in 2020 to Republican then-President Donald Trump’s 45 percent. A KSTP/Survey USA poll has the race much tighter about seven months out from Election Day 2024. The poll has Biden at 44 and Trump at 42, with 15 percent saying they’ll vote for another candidate or haven’t decided. That last batch is the one worth watching.