Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday.
Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday he hopes further clarification from Attorney General Keith Ellison will be enough to settle confusion over the powers of police officers in schools. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports that Walz said he thinks some schools and law enforcement agencies do not understand that the law change does not prohibit school resource officers from physically restraining students when death or bodily harm is not imminent. Walz says he's still not closing the door entirely to a special session, but that it would take an agreement among legislators, which seems unlikely, given that a large block of Democrats have said the law is fine. "I think what these law enforcement agencies and these county attorneys are looking for is some clarity,” Walz said. “And let's be honest, there's been a little bit of counter information that comes out and all it takes in this space is that to cause concerns." Republicans have been calling on Walz to call a special legislative session and noted that this week three more school districts — Maple Grove, White Bear Lake and Apple Valley — announced they will no longer have student resource officers. On Tuesday Republican leads on the House Education Finance, Education Policy and Public Safety committees sent a letter to the DFL committee chairs requesting a hearing on the law.
And Walz promoted vaccination Tuesday by getting his flu shot in front of a group of reporters at the Capitol. Walz had planned on getting the latest COVID booster as well, but it did not arrive in Minnesota in time for his event. The governor said the new COVID booster should be available very soon and that it's a good idea to get the flu and COVID shots at the same time. "It's that time of year again. Back to school, flu and COVID season is upon us; the good news is unlike the past four years or so, at least certainly the first three years of that, we've got a lot of tools to be able to manage this," he said. Free COVID test kits are still available from the state of Minnesota. State health officials say most health insurance plans cover the cost of the COVID booster.
Minnesota’s biggest economic problem may be a lack of workers. A new demographic analysis of Minnesota's workforce says that while the state's labor participation remains high, it is falling, at a rate almost twice the pace of the rest of the country. MPR’s Tim Nelson reports Minnesota's Vanishing Workforce is a new study of the state's economy, from a labor perspective. It was commissioned by the Minnesota Business Partnership and Presbyterian Homes. It says declining birth rates, baby boomers' retirements and even the opioid epidemic have been shrinking the state's pool of workers. "Basically, COVID slammed on the gas of these trends that were already happening," said Rachel Sederberg, one of the study’s authors. The study found that Minnesota also ranks 46th among states for attracting talent. "Minnesota needs about 168,000 more people in the labor force to fully recover from the pandemic,” Sederberg said. “That's a really huge number." The study, by Idaho-based Lightcast, says employers need to improve technology, boost productivity and highlight jobs that don't require a college degree.
And the Star Tribune reports: Four out of five Minnesota nonprofits say they're grappling with job vacancies, reporting more workforce shortages than nonprofits are recording nationwide, according to a new national survey. The survey, conducted by the National Council of Nonprofits, found that nearly 81 percent of Minnesota nonprofits had job openings, compared with nearly 75 percent of nonprofits nationally. Nearly two-thirds of Minnesota nonprofits surveyed have more job vacancies now than before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. While the survey is limited to a small pool of respondents — only about 70 of the tens of thousands of nonprofits statewide responded — the results reflect what officials with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits have heard from local organizations about rising costs, decreasing revenue and widespread staffing shortages. While some business sectors have also struggled with worker shortages, job vacancies are forcing nonprofits to scale back their programs and services — affecting needy Minnesotans ranging from those looking for housing assistance to parents scrambling to find child care openings.
Meanwhile, Minnesota's unemployment rate increased to 3.1 percent in August, up from 3 percent in July, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development. That breaks a streak of 20 straight months at or below 3 percent. Minnesota gained 4,400 jobs from July to August and the labor force grew for a sixth straight month, the Department said. The uptick in the unemployment rate came because more than 3,200 people rejoined the labor force.
Four Democrats, a Republican and a Libertarian have filed to run in the special election for the state House seat given up by Democrat Ruth Richardson. That means there will be a DFL primary on Nov. 16 featuring Chris Whitfield, Jay Miller, Bianca Virnig and Cynthia Callais, with the winner going on to the Dec. 5 special election for House District 52B. Republican Cynthia Lonnquist and Libertarian Charles Kuchlenz will go directly to the December election. All that assumes no one drops out by the end of the day.
A DFLer announced a run for Congress in Minnesota’s 4th District Tuesday, although the seat is already held by DFLer Betty McCollum. Aswar Rahman didn’t mention McCollum’s name in a video announcement Tuesday. In the video he said he is running to represent “the Heart of Minnesota because so many of our neighbors need some help right now.” Rahman is a political strategist and filmmaker who also formed a non governmental organization to help Ukrainian refugees. McCollum fended off a primary challenger in 2022, garnering more than 83 percent of the vote. At last report, at the end of June, she had more than $524,000 in campaign cash on hand for 2024.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says it’s now reviewing the findings of an investigation into the July 31 fatal shooting of a Black man by a Minnesota state trooper along Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. MPR News reports the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has turned over its report on the shooting of Ricky Cobb II, and prosecutors will now review those findings as it weighs whether to file charges in the case, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement Tuesday. She added that the BCA reported some State Patrol employees refused to cooperate in the state investigation. “These are individuals who are not the subject of the investigation but may have relevant information,” Moriarty wrote. “We are disappointed by this lack of cooperation as the family, the community and the troopers involved in this incident all deserve answers.” | 