Capitol View for May 2

Good morning. Long winning streaks are always a day brightener. (And happy birthday to Dana’s dad and godmother!)

Legislative leaders met with Gov. Tim Walz yesterday and said they had some preliminary conversations about a public construction projects bill. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and Gov. Tim Walz told reporters that the DFL and GOP leaders spoke briefly about Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s floor presence during a breakfast meeting yesterday. Murphy said lawmakers were more focused on a bonding package and emergency medical services funding piece expected to move with it. “I think there's mutual interest in parts of all four caucuses and the governor to make sure that we're doing our work on that,” Murphy said.

Senate Minority Mark Johnson has said Republicans will keep pressing the question about Mitchell’s participation — which the GOP raised again yesterday — until they get answers. And he said failure to react by the DFL could block a bonding bill. “What you see is Democrats saying, ‘We want to bonding bill. We want our entire agenda done. And we want you guys to be quiet while we do that.’ And we are not willing to do that, as Senate Republicans.”

Sports betting legalization odds have taken a dive, and that’s according to the bill’s main backers. MPR’s Clay Masters reports that lawmakers pushing to add Minnesota to the long list of states where betting operations are legal have downgraded their chances of getting it done this year. DFL Sen. Matt Klein says that cooperation has strained since Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s arrest has roiled the session. “If you talked to me a month ago, I would have said we’re at 60-70 percent,” Klein told MPR News on Wednesday. “I think we’re down around 20 percent.” The House passed a version in 2022 and stands ready to do it again if it shows a Senate pulse.

‘Kidfluencers’ would get new protections under a bill passed by the House yesterday. Dana reports that the proposal is aimed at preventing “mom accounts” from relying too heavily on content featuring kids under 14, who can’t register their own accounts on most social media sites. Supporters said young people face mental and physical health harms from being featured in the content as children while family members profit. Some Republicans said the measure wouldn’t prevent some parents or other adults from taking advantage of kids.

Here come the election-related lawsuits. A Virginia-based group known as the Public Interest Legal Foundation has teamed with the local Upper Midwest Law Center to sue over access to Minnesota voter roll data, including registration information and voting history. The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks to compel the Secretary of State’s Office to make the data it holds available — at a reasonable cost — to anybody or any group that asks for it. Minnesota now restricts that access to only registered voters in the state and restricts legal uses. It’s part of a broader effort by the groups to examine voter data for possible errors or dated entries. The Secretary of State’s Office issued a predictable response: “We don't comment on pending litigation.” The case could determine if Minnesota will continue to enjoy a special status under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. That year, six states were exempted from certain provisions because of pre-existing laws allowing for Election Day or same-day voter registration.

The Legislature gave final passage on unanimous votes to a bill renaming a stretch of highway the “David J. Tomassoni Memorial Cross Range Expressway.” The consideration of the bill gave lawmakers another chance to share stories about the well-liked and deeply missed legislator known for making any deal he could to direct money to northeastern Minnesota. Tomassoni died of ALS in 2022 after a nearly 30 year legislative career. Gov. Tim Walz intends to sign the bill Thursday with members of Tomassoni’s family in attendance.

One tidbit Brian learned during that Tomassoni highway debate: Scott Dibble, a longtime Minneapolis DFLer, is actually David Scott Dibble. He revealed that while calling himself part of the Senate’s once-powerful “David” caucus. Prominent Republicans David Hann, David Senjem and David Osmek were also part of the crew when all served together.

Members of the U.S. Senate finance committee questioned the CEO of UnitedHealth yesterday. Senators pressed for updates on the status of the company’s claims processing system after it went down in a cyberattack in February. CEO Andrew Witty told senators that the Minnetonka-based company is still working to identify patients whose data may have been stolen in the attack. Lawmakers and healthcare providers have criticized UnitedHealth for its response. Many healthcare providers relied on the company to process insurance claims... and went weeks without pay after the cyberattack. Witty said the company is continuing to offer loans to impacted providers.