House Republicans returned to the chamber Wednesday for another day of clocking in and clocking out. Secretary of State Steve Simon found again that there was no quorum present and gaveled out. Republican leader Lisa Demuth told the press afterwards that there had been no conversations with DFL leader Melissa Hortman. Demuth said Republican and Democratic members have been having their own side conversations but “there's no side agreements that would stand in the way of anything” she and Hortman have had. We’ll be back in the House Thursday to see if Day 17 is the lucky day.
The oddity of this session is the lack of focus on the big, must-do item: The budget. One aspect that is sure to be important to the broader debate is the Gov. Tim Walz proposal to reel in programs that serve Minnesotans with disabilities. Peter Cox reports that advocates are worried that his plan to cap costs will affect programs that help people stay in their homes and access services using disability waivers. The alternative is institutionalized care. Costs for those programs are growing at a rate that Walz says is unsustainable. Walz says its possible to curb costs without sacrificing quality. “No one’s going to be cut. We are going to remain the most generous state,” Walz said. “There is going to be no waiting list and nobody is going to be kicked off. But we’re saying is we shouldn’t have automatic six percent each year for inflation.” Advocates for the waivers program say the change will mean waivers don’t keep up in the increasing costs of care across the state and could harm the work force.
A Republican in the Minnesota House plans to introduce a bill to enhance criminal penalties for physically accosting peace officers. Rep. Paul Novotny, R-Elk River, is a former police officer. His bill would raise the assault charge from a gross misdemeanor to a felony. It's a felony now if it involves injuries, transfer of fluids, severe harm or death. Novotny was asked about President Donald Trump pardoning rioters who assaulted police officers at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. "I have purposely not got involved in that because I haven't had the time to look through all the videos,” Novotny said. “Back at the state level, and the things that I can control is I know that assaults on police officers are up greatly." None of the other Republicans present chose to respond either. Other efforts in the bill are meant to increase penalties for crimes like sex-trafficking or blocking freeways. The proposal includes a searchable public database for prosecutors' charging and sentencing data. No member of the House can introduce legislation right now because Democrats are boycotting the start of session over a power-sharing dispute.
Sen.-elect Doron Clark is likely to take his seat next week. He’ll be the 34th Democrat and thereby break the tie. His convincing win – with almost 91 percent of the vote – is not a surprise. The change is sure to put attention on whether Democratic statements that they’ll work with Republicans are genuine or were just aligned with the tied times. Clark will be the senator for the district representing the University of Minnesota. He acknowledges in an interview with Cathy Wurzer that the institution has work to do to improve the school’s standing at the Capitol. But he says he hopes people embrace the university not just for its football field showing but for its contributions to the state. As he put it, “cheer for the corn sciences.”
U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber doesn’t come on our air all that often (open Politics Friday invitation, congressman!)., so we were as interested as anybody to hear his interview on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Stauber was asked about the news of the day: Confusion over President Donald Trump’s push to suspend federal loans and grants pending a program-by-program review. Stauber, who represents a northeastern Minnesota district, spoke to the program from a GOP retreat in Florida. He said his office got some calls after the order but people in his district are generally on board. interview “We cannot continue to spend and spend and spend, our economy will collapse, and so I support the President's effort on looking at discretionary spending.” Stauber said there is misinformation about the order. And the Republican lawmaker said no spending pause would affect major transportation projects.
The mayor of Minneapolis is officially running for a third term in a race where he has plenty of company. Democrat Jacob Frey kicked off his third – and he says final – campaign to lead Minnesota’s largest city. In an interview with Cathy Wurzer, Frey reflected on being a mayor in another run under President Donald Trump , who often disparages his city and uses it to suggest urban areas are in decline. Frey said he doesn’t plan to take the bait. “The opposite of extremism is good, thoughtful government. It's on all of us to stay steady right now and cool under pressure, because I think what he's counting on right now is that we're all going to get chaotic along with him, and we can't go down that road.” There are five candidates who have announced challenges to Frey in a city with ranked-choice voting. There are also groups that have sprung up to potentially play a role in the campaign.
Lobbyists are still showing up at the Capitol even if all lawmakers are not. It’s not only the big companies, social cause groups or labor unions that employ lobbyists. Other units of government have their own representation or coalitions that lobby on their behalf. But what’s the payoff for those costs? The Star Tribune has a nice story on the city of Credit River, which is one of Minnesota’s newest cities, weighing that option right now. There’s a tug between fear-of-missing-out – FOMO – on money and a voice in decision and the cost of what one city council member called a “racket” of “spending all this money to go and get money.”
People just don’t do lunch like they used to. It’s those extended sitdowns that can lead to deeper conversations. Minnesota Now, hosted by Nina Moini, happens to fall over the noon hour. But they’re making time in a new series to go “Out to Lunch” with folks in the news to talk through what drives them, what worries them and what makes them who they are. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was the first guest. But Nina says more are in the works, including with top House Republican Lisa Demuth. I just hope Nina and her crew will invite us out every once in a while given how much we feed her show. Sorry, couldn’t resist. | 