Good morning, and welcome to the first Monday of May.
Family, friends and political allies, including President Joe Biden, said goodbye to former Vice President Walter Mondale at a memorial service yesterday at Northrup Auditorium at the University of Minnesota. “He was one of the finest men you’ve known, one of the most decent people I’ve ever dealt with, and one of the toughest, smartest men I've ever worked with,” Biden said. “Among the greatest of all Americans.” "Fritz was a giant in American political history," Biden said, recounting a friendship with Mondale that started when Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 and lasted until a final phone call in Mondale’s last days. “He was one of the finest men you’ve known, one of the most decent people I’ve ever dealt with, and one of the toughest, smartest men I've ever worked with,” Biden said. “Among the greatest of all Americans.” Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith also spoke, as did Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham. “There are children in America today who will not go hungry because of Fritz Mondale,” Meacham said. “There are Black people in America today who can vote and work and live more freely and fairly because of Fritz Mondale. There are women in America today who see no limit to their dreams because of Fritz Mondale.”
The Star Tribune reported that during a speech on April 23 to the 3rd District Republican convention gubernatorial hopeful Scott Jensen was loudly cheered when he said "the hammer's coming down" on DFL Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. "We are not voter suppressors. We have a simple attitude: Make sure that every ballot in the box belongs there. Make sure that it's easy to vote, hard to cheat, and if you cheat, you're going to jail," Jensen said. "And Steve Simon, you maybe better check out to see if you look good in stripes, because you've gotten away with too much, too long under [Minnesota Attorney General Keith] Ellison, and the hammer's coming down." Jensen appeared to single out Simon's involvement in a 2020 court-approved consent decree that relaxed the state's witness signature requirement for mail-in absentee voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans accused Simon of circumventing the Legislature to change election laws. Ellison, also a Democrat, has also been targeted because his office typically represents Minnesota's statewide officeholders in legal matters. Simon, in a statement to the Star Tribune, called Jensen's remarks "bizarre and irresponsible" and described the speech as "a cynical attempt to use extreme conspiracy theories to radicalize political supporters."
Simon was my guest on the radio Friday, and I asked him specifically about whether he did an end-run around the Legislature in 2020 to reach court agreements on pandemic voting rules. Here’s what he said: “I did what my oath commands me to do, which is defend and uphold the Constitution, both of Minnesota and the United States of America. These kinds of agreements are pretty common. They happen with secretaries of state across the country, and they’ve happened in Minnesota with all of my recent and modern predecessors. And the great part about these particular agreements is they’re settlement agreements that are blessed by a court. But not only that, everyone has a chance to intervene and be heard as to why this isn’t a good idea. That happened. There was vigorous oral argument and written argument. And after the court in these cases blessed these settlement agreements as being in the best interest of the voters of Minnesota, after that happened, everyone stood down. Republicans, Democrats, the Biden campaign, the Trump campaign, they had the opportunity to lodge further objections and take it further and they didn’t.”
The deal is done on unemployment insurance and frontline worker bonuses. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports Leaders of the House and Senate had a big breakthrough last week with a $3.4 billion dollar plan to shore up the unemployment account. It includes $500 million for checks to workers who took personal risk during the pandemic to deliver services and care to others. The plan passed on Friday by comfortable margins. Gov. Tim Walz immediately signed it. He has a celebratory, ceremonial signing event scheduled for Monday morning. Businesses that forked over more money to fortify the unemployment account should get rebates and credits this summer The pandemic bonus checks will probably also go out in a few months. It remains to be seen if that agreement will pave the way for other major pacts before adjournment. There’s still some $7 billion to divvy up. If lawmakers want deals, there’s not a financial impediment. DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman said she sees a willing partner in Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller. “I know that they're keenly interested in it at a minimum, passing a couple of budget bills and a tax bill,” Hortman said. “So I think there's still plenty of leverage on the table.” She said a broad framework must be in place by May 13 to leave time for writing up the final bills and passing them. Miller agreed last week that the unemployment and pandemic worker deal bodes well for other negotiations. But huge differences remain in the final three weeks of the session.
Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, endorsed Tad Jude for Attorney General. Limmer chairs the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee. “I’ve known Tad for many years, he will carry the values needed to serve the people of Minnesota as Minnesota's next Attorney General.” said Limmer in a statement released by Jude’s campaign. “With spiking crime rates, Minnesotans want to be safe in their community. I have complete confidence in Tad’s ability to bring the common sense justice that Minnesotans deserve.”
Sen Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, dropped out of the race for governor on Friday. Benson said in a statement it’s time for Republicans to unite behind a single candidate who can defeat Tim Walz this fall and that she looks forward to working with delegates on selecting the right person. In a video posted to Twitter, Benson said it became clear from speaking with delegates that this was not the right time. “Heartfelt conversations and soul searching have led us to the decision to step back from this campaign,” Benson said. “For the good of the process and in fairness to my volunteers and supporters I will not be continuing my campaign to be the Republican candidate for governor.” Benson said she will not enter her name into the endorsement balloting at the Republican state convention in Rochester on May 14th, and that she will not run for reelection to the senate seat she has held since 2011. She was the only woman in the race for governor, but since announcing her run in September she had lagged in fundraising. She also finished last in a straw poll conducted at Republican caucuses in February. | 