| A public remembrance to state Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband, Mark, has begun. On Tuesday, they were taken in a procession from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office in Minnetonka to the Washburn-McReavy Funeral Home in south Minneapolis. Wednesday night, there will be a candlelight vigil to the couple on the state Capitol steps. Hundreds of people quickly signed up as planning to attend. The actual attendance could easily be many times that, with lawmakers in both parties sharing details on their social media accounts. No speaking program is planned but the moment and visuals will no doubt be moving. The Hortmans died after a gunman posing as a police officer attacked them at their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday. The shock and grief remain high and the questions about what needs to change are prevalent. A suspect faces multiple state and federal charges and, if convicted, will never walk free.
A Utah senator has deleted ill-taste social media posts under pressure from Minnesota lawmakers and others. U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith spoke to Lee this week after his posts on X that appeared to make light of the Minnesota shootings or pass along false information about the alleged shooter’s political leanings. In an interview Tuesday with MPR’s Cathy Wurzer, Smith said she wanted to look Lee in the eye to let him know that the posts from a public official were hurtful and irresponsible. "The things that he put out on social media were so disturbing and so painful to those of us who love and respected Melissa, and I wanted to tell him directly how I felt about what he had done,” she said. Lee told reporters in Washington said he took the posts down after meeting with Klobuchar. Disinformation and misinformation has been running rampant since the shootings.
President Donald Trump kept up his disparaging tone toward Gov. Tim Walz in the aftermath of a Minnesota lawmaker tragedy. Trump, himself the victim of assassination attempts, has taken a hands-off public approach to the shooting of two Democratic legislators since posting over the weekend about them being horrific. He has opted against calling Walz to offer condolences or reassurance — as has been custom through the years during times of trauma — and now says that would be only “waste time.” That’s how he described it to reporters traveling with Trump on Air Force One. Trump said the Democratic governor is “sick” and “whacked out” and said, “I’m not calling him.” Walz responded through a spokesperson that he doesn’t care if Trump calls him but added, “Governor Walz wishes that President Trump would be a President for all Americans, but this tragedy isn’t about Trump or Walz. It’s about the Hortman family, the Hoffman family, and the State of Minnesota, and the Governor remains focused on helping all three heal.”
In case you missed it, we spoke earlier this week with Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and House Speaker Lisa Demuth among many others. Those conversations were put into a special program that aired Monday night and can be found in our Politics Friday podcast feed. We’ve got a lot more in store in the days and weeks ahead, so don’t be surprised if more podcast episodes pop in. Thanks to Jeff Jones and Matt Alvarez for curating the interviews.
Tune in to Morning Edition around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday to hear an interview with Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy. Her colleague, state Sen. John Hoffman, is recovering from the attempt on his life in the shooting plot by a suspect who had also cased the home of Sen. Ann Rest. It was the same night that Melissa and Mark Hortman were fatally shot. Murphy had served alongside Hortman for years and worked closely with her as a caucus leader in recent years. Hoffman’s recovery timeline is unclear.
The tensions between the public role of lawmakers and their personal privacy and security are again at the fore. A bipartisan statement from the Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security says it will work to make sure everyone participating in the democratic process or visiting the Capitol grounds is safe. DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon says the debate over openness and safety has been a long term issue at the Capitol. “We don't have metal detectors. We don't have people wanding people on their way in. And that's been an age-old debate as well. That sort of crystallizes it for me, on the one hand, safety and security. On the other hand, do you lose something by making the people's house at the Capitol an armed camp?” In another safety change for elected officials, the state campaign finance board removed lawmaker's home addresses from public documents.
Despite all that’s happened in recent days, we’re still working our way through all that lawmakers did in their budget-setting special session. One of the bills they passed that could have a halo for decades relates to data center regulations and incentives. State lawmakers extended a lucrative tax break that helps lure data centers to Minnesota in a compromise bill. Kirsti Marohn reports that the credit package was layered in with new regulations on the booming data center industry aimed at protecting the state's water, climate and electricity customers. The explosion of artificial intelligence and cloud computing has spurred a building boom of massive facilities that store computer servers and equipment. The largest "hyperscale" data centers can consume millions of gallons of water a year, and use as much electricity as an entire city. Minnesota has been an attractive destination for data centers, which depend on keeping constantly running servers cool. And if it’s coolness, we’re good for that.
Higher rates are coming to Minnesota’s health insurance market next year. The Department of Commerce said people who buy policies on the individual or small group market can expect to pay. Average premium rates could jump anywhere from 7 percent to 26 percent depending on the type of policy, the provider, geography and other factors. That’s the proposed bumps so far 2026 policies available for open enrollment in November. Final rates will be out in October. The agency says proposed federal law shifts are making the market more uncertain and are likely to lead to higher out-of-pocket costs. Libby Caulum, chief executive officer at the marketplace MNSure, said it is "a perfect storm." | 