Good morning, and happy Tuesday. It's the 59th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
A paid family and medical leave program is a top priority of Minnesota Democrats, who will soon control the House, Senate and governor’s office. Business groups aren’t on board. MPR’s Dana Ferguson has a look at how it might work: Under the plan, workers and employers would pay into a state pool that functions like the unemployment insurance fund. And workers could tap that fund for partial wage replacement if they need to take time off to have a baby, care for a loved one or recover from sickness. Prior versions of the bill would give 12 weeks of paid family leave and 12 weeks of sick leave. But Rep. Ruth Richardson, DFL-Mendota Heights, said she’s still ironing out the details. The biggest issue is leveling the playing field, she said. “There's an unfortunate legacy in our country of having uneven safety nets. And this is really a way to ensure that there is a more equitable safety net,” Richardson said. “And so that's why I think it's really important, because it's a way to recognize the inherent humanity of everyone, not just people who are lucky enough to have someone who thinks that they deserve leave.”
Gov. Tim Walz on Monday, along with labor and community leaders unveiled a statue depicting labor and civil rights activist Nellie Stone Johnson at the state Capitol.Dana reports it marks the first time that an actual woman, and a Black Minnesotan, is set to be memorialized in a statue there. And it’s believed to be the first statue depicting a Black woman in any state capitol building. Stone Johnson was a labor leader in the 1930s and 1940s who went on to become the first Black person elected to a citywide office in Minneapolis when she won a seat on the city’s library board. While there are dozens of statues scattered around the grounds of the Minnesota Capitol that pay tribute to men, there hasn’t been a representation of a female Minnesotan previously. For more than a century, the only representations of women in Capitol statues have been symbolic of broader ideas, not made to depict female figures in history. Within the Capitol, there are two women honored with plaques: Dr. Martha Ripley and Clara Ueland. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said the statue will help more Minnesotans to see themselves represented. “Now when our students are visiting the Capitol, they are going to see and learn about the legacy of Nellie and all she represents. They’re going to see themselves reflected in the people’s house in a way they haven’t before,” Flanagan said. “Thank you for this opportunity for every little girl to know that she has a place and space in this building in whatever role she chooses.”
The Minnesota state agency that oversees public employee retirement funds is a multi-billion-dollar investor in a private equity firm that owns a company accused of employing children to clean slaughterhouses, including two plants in Minnesota.MPR’s Matt Sepic reports: The State Board of Investment has pension money in more than two dozen funds that the Blackstone Group manages. While the fund that controls the company accused of child labor violations is not on the state’s list of investments, Minnesota officials say they are reviewing their positions in Blackstone amid those ethical concerns. After MPR News asked the board to comment on the state’s investments, the board sent a statement saying in part: “[W]e immediately reached out to Blackstone. In our discussions, we conveyed how seriously we take our role as stewards of capital and reiterated our expectations regarding business and ethical standards. Blackstone conveyed to us that they are aggressively investigating these allegations and take this matter very seriously, on both a legal and human level.”
Gov. Walz finally put to rest any prospect for a special legislative session Monday. The Legislature adjourned more than five months ago, amid inaction on a tax cut for Social Security recipients, education spending and a host of other issues. Walz had suggested in recent weeks that there could be a lame duck special session on public safety. But at an appearance at Second Harvest Heartland Monday, he ruled it out. "I don't think it will happen, and I think all of us know what happened there in May. I'm not gonna relitigate it. I thought our Republican friends should have taken the deal that was made out there. They chose not to,” the governor said. “And I think now with where we're at, with the holidays and with some of the things that we'll just do this in January, during the normal session." And MPR's Tim Nelson notes the retirement of a State Fair fixture: The Minnesota State Fair's longest-serving general manager is stepping down this spring. Jerry Hammer will retire after more than 50 years of working at the fair. Hammer grew up in St. Paul near the fair and started working in the fair greenhouse in 1970 as a teenager. He joined the full-time staff in 1977 and worked his way up through the fair's management ranks. He also served as chairman of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. Hammer had thought about retirement before, but he wanted to make sure the fair got back on its feet after shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. “I'm 68 and I have been really fortunate health-wise, and I really owe it to my family to retire before the wheels fall off. That could be 20 years from now, or it might be next week. I don't know,” he said.
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