| By Brian Bakst and Ellie Roth | |
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Good morning. Eat pie on this day.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill by a wide margin that would lead to a TikTok ban if its Chinese owner doesn’t sell it. Six members of the U.S. House delegation from Minnesota voted with a large majority on a bill that could lead to a domestic TikTok ban. Two opposed it — Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Dean Phillips. Democrats Angie Craig and Betty McCollum joined Republicans Tom Emmer, Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber in backing the bill. It would require TikTok to sever ties with a Chinese-based parent company within six months or the platform would be prohibited from U.S. sales. The push stems from concerns over data security for users of the popular social media app. It awaits U.S. Senate action. House Majority Whip Emmer posted on X after the vote: “TikTok is a CCP spy app. Plain and simple. House Republicans just passed a nonpartisan bill protecting Americans' data by sending a clear message: TikTok must sever ties with the CCP or lose its access to American users.”
Brian spoke to Omar and Phillips about their decision to vote against a potential domestic ban on TikTok. While Phillips said he recognizes the national security and foreign influence concerns raised by bill supporters, he said they aren’t exclusive to TikTok and should be dealt with on a wider scale. "My contention is we should be regulating the entirety of this industry, not just piecemeal and not just as a political ploy during an election year that forces members of Congress who are seeking reelection to take a side. This bill was somewhat positioned that either you're on the side of China or the United States. There's a lot more to it," he said. Omar said TikTok is a valuable tool for small business owners and popular among young people, and that Congress is wrong to single out the app. She told Brian, “Concerns about TikTok being used for propaganda and hate speech are real, but they’re not more real than Twitter, Instagram, we know famously that Facebook, have all been used by foreign adversaries.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting an abortion clinic in Minnesota later today. The stop is meant to signal the importance the Biden campaign is placing on reproductive rights in the 2024 presidential race. The White House believes this is the first time any U.S. president or vice president has visited a facility that provides abortions along with other reproductive care.
On the heels of last year’s big green energy goal, key Minnesota lawmakers say they’re now focusing on getting those projects in place more quickly. They hope to streamline the clean energy permitting process. Dana Ferguson reports on a bill to set clearer deadlines in the permitting process, letting more state regulators assess applications and dropping proceedings certifying the need for the projects. “We have to build an enormous amount of new clean energy between now and 2040 to be able to achieve our clean energy goals,” said House Majority Leader Jamie Long. GOP lawmakers also said that conversations about speeding up state permitting should expand beyond the utility sector. “We should not just pick and choose what we like and what we don't like,” said Rep. Chris Swedzinski.
The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump. The judge dismissed three of the 13 charges against Trump and some of the charges against his allies in the case. In total, six of 41 counts in the indictment were quashed. All six of the dismissed charges are related to an alleged pressure campaign against elected officials to undo Trump’s loss in Georgia. “As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of the commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in an order issued Wednesday. McAfee said prosecutors could seek a new indictment to try to reinstate the charges he dismissed. Trump still faces 10 charges in the case.
Postscript on the write-in votes on Super Tuesday. The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office says that country/folk singer Willie Nelson got 19 write-ins in the Legal Marijuana Now Party. That means 465 of the write-in votes in that primary went to others; only the Nelson votes were to be recorded by name by a party request.
Gov. Tim Walz says Minneapolis City Council members should let Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto on a ridesharing bill stand. Walz told MPR News he has concerns about access to the transportation services if the council overrides the veto. Uber and Lyft have threatened to cut services over the ordinance. The governor said the city council should take another pass at the issue following the release of the Minnesota Labor Department’s rideshare driver stud y, which was published a day after the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance raising wages for rideshare drivers. State lawmakers are also weighing a proposal to set a minimum wage for ridesharing service drivers.
Duluth mayor Roger Reinert weighed in on the Cargill property purchases on Park Point. Reinert spoke with Cathy Wurzer on Minnesota Now about the Cargill family buying up property in Park Point, a long narrow strip of land that extends from Canal Park to about 8 miles into Lake Superior. According to the Duluth News Tribune , billionaire Kathy Cargill has bought upward of 20 properties on Park Point, getting the attention of neighbors and now city hall. Reinert said he sent a note to Cargill about plans to meet amid growing concerns with the family’s decisions regarding the Park Point properties back in February, but his request has gone unanswered. Reinert hopes to enlist the support of city councilors to amplify his request for more communication between the city and the Cargill family. He was adamant that public access to roads and beaches on Park Point will not change. Listen to Cathy’s interview here. | |
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