Capitol View for December 22

Good morning, and welcome to the Thursday before Christmas.

Minnesota lawmakers Wednesday approved a nearly $500 million renovation and expansion project for the 90-year-old building that houses their offices,reports MPR’s Dana Ferguson. Despite calls from some Republicans to delay because of the plan’s price, members of the House Rules Committees on a voice vote agreed to let the state sell bonds for the project that would address safety and accessibility concerns in the building. It will also fund a 166,000 square foot addition. Security and facilities officials at the Capitol had pushed for a renovation of the State Office Building for more than a decade, noting that it had serious safety and accessibility problems. In recent years, they tracked mold in the building and on one occasion, a broken pipe caused water to pool ankle deep in the building’s upper floors. Deferred maintenance and additional problems sprung up in the years since, which in turn caused the total cost for renovations to balloon. The project’s price tag is set to eclipse the $310 million Capitol renovation project completed in 2017. The Legislature had approved the project in 2021 even though the cost wasn’t known until yesterday, and the Rules Committee vote was the last step needed to put it in motion.

Gov. Tim Walz named new leaders for some state agencies in his second term, which begins in a few days. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the appointments are: former St. Cloud Superintendent Willie Jett II for Education commissioner, former New Brighton police chief Bob Jacobson for Public Safety commissioner, assistant health commissioner Brook Cunningham to take the lead role in that department, nonprofit leader Ida Rukavina to run the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Agency, retiring state Rep. Paul Marquart to be Revenue commissioner and acting commissioner Nicole Blissenbach to be the full-fledged Labor and Industry commissioner. The administration will have an easier time winning confirmation for commissioners. The Senate flipped to DFL control in the last election, meaning the likelihood of nominees being rejected is slim.

Google is no longer moving forward with plans to build a data center in the central Minnesota city of Becker,reports MPR’s Kirsti Marohn. In filings with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission last week, Xcel Energy said it has terminated its agreements with Honeycrisp Power LLC, a Google affiliate, after the company failed to provide a notice to proceed with the project. It’s a blow to Becker, whose leaders hoped the data center would provide employment and economic growth amid the closure of a massive coal-burning plant in the city. It was expected to cost at least $650 million and create about 50 permanent jobs. “We are obviously disappointed with that decision,” said Greg Lerud, Becker city administrator.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy told cheering U.S. legislators during a defiant wartime visit to the nation’s capital on Wednesday that against all odds his country still stands, thanking Americans for helping to fund the war effort with money that is “not charity,” but an “investment” in global security and democracy.The Associated Press reports that the whirlwind stop in Washington — his first known trip outside his country since Russia invaded in February — was aimed at reinvigorating support for his country in the U.S. and around the world at a time when there is concern that allies are growing weary of the costly war and its disruption to global food and energy supplies. Zelenskyy called the tens of billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic assistance provided over the past year vital to Ukraine’s efforts to beat back Russia and appealed for even more in the future.

And NPR reports: Nearly two years after the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Democratic-led House committee investigating the attack is set to release its full report Thursday. The report's release would come three days after panel members held their final business hearing Monday, where they referred former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice on four criminal charges, including assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection.

Finally, this newsletter is going to take a few days off for the holidays. See you in the new year.