| “Completely dysfunctional” isn’t how you want one of the branches of government described by the head of an impartial branch. But that was the way Chief Justice Natalie Hudson framed the situation in the Minnesota House. A fast-paced 70 minutes of arguments yesterday had the Supreme Court pondering a few things : Should it get involved in the power standoff and if it does, in what way? There were references to long-ago judicial decisions and what other states do to determine how to measure the right attendance to do legislative work. There were questions about how things would work in a debilitating snowstorm – not out of the realm of possibility – that keeps members away (remote voting would seem to address that today). This case could have a long shadow, given the political closeness of Minnesota's Capitol and the no-holds-barred tactics that once seemed unimaginable. Watch for a cursory ruling at first but check back weeks or months from now on the confines of that decision.
After putting out a budget last Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz released a public works construction proposal this Thursday. As with the budget, this is the starting point of legislative debate over what to borrow for and how much. And unlike the budget, this one needs extra support because it takes 81 House votes and 41 Senate votes to send a borrowing-to-build measure to the governor’s desk. Hannah Yang was there as Walz laid out his plan for $887 million in general obligation borrowing. He used a visit to the Rapidan Dam as a backdrop. “The reason I'm so confident about bonding is everybody matters. Every community matters. This is much whether you're conservative or liberal on it, you care about these, you know, these projects,” Walz said. Find the full rundown of proposals here . The proposed bonding bill includes funding to build a new state patrol headquarters, address housing and environmental needs, and improve infrastructure. Republican Sen. Karin Housley, a key player in the debate, said while some critical projects need to get done she isn’t on board with the Walz plan. “There’s room to bond for important, bipartisan projects, but this isn’t the time to be maxing out the state’s credit card on ‘nice-to-haves,’” Housley said in a written statement.
A new sports betting bill is in the hopper. Bipartisan bills have failed in past years because of conflicting interests between Native American tribes and horse tracks. Republican Sen. Jeremy Miller is sponsoring legislation that would give exclusive rights to tribes for sports-betting licenses. "But the tracks would benefit by receiving some of those tax proceeds to enhance horse racing here in Minnesota, and then the charities would benefit as well by getting some of those tax proceeds to help with tax relief for those charities,” he told our Clay Masters. The sports-betting debate doesn't cut neatly along party lines. While some lawmakers argue Minnesota is behind the curve, there is opposition in some quarters over addiction or social ills that gambling can cause. Prior bills have tried to thread the needle by limiting the types of bets that can be placed and on which sporting events.
Minnesota Republicans want to scale back some sick time protections passed by Democrats in prior years. A Senate bill would change state law to exclude people who work on farms that employ five or fewer people. It’s in response to a relatively new law that requires employers to provide some employees with at least one hour of paid sick and safe time for every 30 hours worked, with up to at least 48 hours earned annually. Republican Sen. Gene Dornick is sponsoring the revision bill. He said the requirements are onerous for farming operations, many of which are on the smaller side. Dornick has support from the state's business interests and at least two DFL state senators. But the Walz administration appears opposed to it. At a committee hearing, staff from the state’s Department of Labor and Industry said that no worker should have to choose between a paycheck and taking time off to recover from illness or care for a family member.
Next week is the Senate special election that will break a 33-33 tie. Candidates running in the Minneapolis-area Senate District 60 special election are DFLer Doron Clark and Republican Abigail Wolters. The election on Tuesday, Jan. 28 will fill the vacancy left by DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic who died last month. This district includes the northeastern part of Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota campus. A quick MPR News voter guide can be found here.
The flurry of executive actions by President Donald Trump makes it hard to keep up with what might transpire (that’s part of the point of the all-at-once strategy). There was a less-publicized move earlier this week to put recent actions in the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under the microscope. It will prompt a review of settlements and decrees over the final 90 days of the Biden administration . That presumably includes the Minneapolis Police Department consent decree. That is currently pending before a federal judge. Something to keep an eye on.
Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship has been blocked for now. A veteran federal judge, whose time on the bench stretches to the Reagan administration in the 1980s, quickly ruled it to be “blatantly unconstitutional” and put the order on hold. Trump promptly promised an appeal, reinforcing that this dispute has many miles to travel through the courts. Trump might also just be starting the process for seeking passage of a constitutional amendment that would be in the hands of the states for ratification. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was among those who challenged the executive order.
Finally, more government disclosure is preferred. So it'll be interesting to see what comes of another Trump order. He has called for the release of thousands of documents in the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK. The plan for release must developed in short order. The actual release, well, that's still up in the air a bit. But expect huge interest in all of the materials. | 