Capitol View for June 25

Good morning, and congratulations for making it to Friday.

It’s a busy day, so I’m starting early. The big story in Minnesota and around the world is once again happening in Minneapolis as Derek Chauvin is facing sentencing after being convicted of murdering George Floyd. As Jon Collins reports Chauvin is one of fewer than a dozen former police officers in the United States to be sentenced for an on-duty murder.State guidelines recommend a sentence of 12.5 years, but Judge Peter Cahill may depart from that. Legal observers say the judge still has a lot of latitude in the final sentence.

"A lot of things can sway any decision-making he's done to this point, including what Chauvin might say in court, including letters he may have read from community members, from victims, family members. There's just so much that goes into this," said Angela Porter, an attorney and research fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. MPR News will have live coverage of the sentencing starting at 1:30.

The murder of George Floyd has had profound repercussions around the country and here in Minnesota, including at the State Capitol. The one area of the state budget where negotiators have not yet reached a deal is public safety. Democrats have been pushing for police accountability measures in the wake of Chauvin’s conviction and the police killing of Daunte Wright. Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday afternoon that negotiations on the bill are stuck and acknowledged that not everyone will be happy with the outcome. “It's inevitable that this is a deal that's going to disappoint some folks who are looking for more change that needs to be done,” Walz said, “but my hope is that there will be enough things in there to say ok, this is progress that was made in a divided Legislature."

As for other parts of the budget, Brian Bakst and Tim Pugmire report there has been quite a bit of progress. Rest areas, road projects and transit operations won’t face any disruptions after the Senate voted to send a transportation finance package to Walz. A House vote began the process of ending a pandemic-related moratorium on rental evictions; a Senate vote on that could come Friday. And two giant areas of the state budget were also on the cusp of guaranteed funding. Lawmakers advanced a $21 billion education spending plan for preschool through high school toward votes this weekend. A massive health and human services bill that will boost spending on child care programs and raise the pay for personal care attendants was also poised for action. All that means that even if some bills don’t make it to the finish line by July 1, most of state government likely would remain operating.

One more result from Chauvin’s trial could be expanded use of cameras in Minnesota courtrooms. Steve Karnowski with the Associated Press reports on an order released Thursday: “The time is right to consider whether the current requirements for audio and video coverage of criminal proceedings in courtrooms should be amended to accommodate broader public access,” Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea said in a statement announcing the order. The order doesn’t specifically cite Derek Chauvin’s trial, but it was Minnesota’s first criminal case in which gavel-to-gavel TV coverage was allowed, from jury selection through the verdict.

In Washington President Biden and a bipartisan group of Senators announced a deal on an infrastructure plan. As NPR reports the full topline spending number for the bipartisan effort, according to the White House, is $1.2 trillion over eight years, with nearly $600 billion in new spending. It is in effect a slimmed-down version of Biden's original infrastructure and jobs plan, which had a price tag of more than $2 trillion. In the agreed-upon framework, the new spending includes $109 billion for roads and bridges, $66 billion for rail, $49 billion for public transit, $55 billion for water infrastructure and $65 billion for broadband. It also includes some elements focused on climate prioritized by Biden, including $15 billion for building a network of electric vehicle chargers and electrifying school and transit buses, plus money for upgrading infrastructure for the impact of climate change. Democrats still plan to push a separate bill that they can pass with a simple majority in the Senate.

Have a great weekend.