Good morning and happy Tuesday.
Starkly different tax plans were put on the table Monday in the Minnesota House and Senate. Brian Bakst reports that the Republican-controlled Senate wants to cut taxes by more than $8 billion over the next three years and billions into the future. That happens mainly by taking the lowest income tax bracket down to 2.8 percent from 5.35 percent now. And it removes any state income taxes from Social Security benefits. The DFL House-proposed tax cuts are about $3 billion for the same three years. Those reductions are delivered through new or expanded tax credits, an income-targeted rebate for taxpayers with minor children and changes to property tax refund programs. Neither plan includes the direct rebate checks of up to $1,000 per household that Gov. Tim Walz proposed. But the competing plans aren’t even close to a done deal, with negotiations over tax-cut measures certain to stretch into May.
And MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports Democrats in the Minnesota House rolled out an education funding measure Monday that would provide financial help for special education, school staff and more. The proposal uses budget surplus money to increase school funding by $1.15 billion in fiscal 2023. Another $2.12 billion would be designated for education in the next two-year budget cycle. Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis, the chair of the House education committee, said the bill would make important investments. “Every child in Minnesota should have access to the world class education that we have the resources to provide, and that we are willing to step into our responsibility as the legislature to stabilize schools so that they can best provide Minnesota a future where everyone can thrive.” An education bill in the Senate would add $30 million in school spending. Last year, the Legislature made a big investment in public schools. It was the largest spending increase in 15 years.
Minnesota Education Commissioner Heather Mueller defended her department’s actions for its role in detecting alleged fraudulent spending of federal funds by Feeding Our Future.The Star Tribune reports: “This was a very large fraud, and the fact is that in other states it did not happen," said Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes, chairman of the Education Committee and assistant majority leader in the Senate. "Some people say it was found and caught. Well, if it was found and caught, it would have been stopped. But the money kept flowing." Mueller acknowledged that MDE reduced its oversight to a degree during the pandemic, but she maintained that the department should be proud of detecting problems at Feeding Our Future just a month after the organization's contractors began serving meals. "Throughout the FBI's investigation, our MDE staff have been praised for their diligence in identifying concerns in the program so quickly," Mueller said. "What actually allowed the theft to continue was the barriers we encountered." Mueller blamed local judges for blocking MDE from taking stronger action against Feeding Our Future, noting the department was forced to defend its actions after Feeding Our Future sued MDE in November 2020.
Three Republicans in the U.S. Senate now say they will vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court.NPR reports Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney announced Monday evening they'll vote in favor of President Biden's nominee. All 50 Senate Democrats, including the two independents who caucus with them, are expected to vote for Jackson's confirmation. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced last week that she would vote to confirm Jackson, giving her more than enough support to be approved for a lifetime appointment on the nation's highest court. The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked, 11-11, Monday on whether to send Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination to the Senate floor. The committee’s tie vote was expected, as there is an even party split on the panel and all of the Republicans are opposing Jackson's nomination to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar told her fellow committee members Monday morning that Jackson has shown an ability to take on complex legal debates. “But just as importantly, she's someone who understands the real world impact of court decisions. She understands that those words on the page aren't just words, those words on the page can change people's lives.” Klobuchar called Jackson's background "quintessentially American,” and highlighted her experience as a public defender.
The New York Times reports:The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, warns that unless countries drastically accelerate efforts over the next few years to slash their emissions from coal, oil and natural gas, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, will likely be out of reach by the end of this decade. That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say the dangers of global warming — including worsening floods, droughts, wildfires and ecosystem collapse — grow considerably. Humans have already heated the planet by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius since the 19th century, largely by burning fossil fuels for energy. But the task is daunting: Holding warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius would require nations to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions roughly 43 percent by 2030 and to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by the early 2050s, the report found. | 