Good morning, and welcome to Friday. Here’s the Digest.
1. Senators question DHS treatment of employees with disabilities. The state agency that serves some of Minnesota’s most vulnerable residents is under scrutiny for how it treats its employees who have disabilities. Two state senators are probing the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) after eight current and former employees told them the agency did not approve simple workplace accommodations. Sens. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, say they are so concerned by their findings that they are planning a legislative hearing on the issue in January. “I’m disappointed because that organization should be the exemplar of meeting accommodations,” said Hoffman, who sits on the Senate human services reform committee with Abeler. In most cases, the senators say, DHS management slow-walked accommodation requests to the point that employees began to suffer on the job, both in their performance and their personal health. That is consistent with what two former DHS employees told the Pioneer Press; these employees also spoke to the senators. A common theme emerged in the senators’ inquiry: DHS managers lacked the training to work with employees who have disabilities, and accommodation requests often stalled in the bureaucracy of state government. In a statement, DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said the agency welcomes discussion about how it can make its workplace “more accommodating, inclusive and supportive for all employees.” She noted that 550 DHS employees have a disability, and the agency has approved more than 200 accommodations since July 2017. Pioneer Press
2. Weather deals ‘devastating hit’ to sugarbeet farmers. The fall harvest has been a difficult one for Minnesota’s sugarbeet farmers. Starting in October, fields were too wet for many farmers to dig beets from the ground. Then, in the past two weeks, a series of frigid days froze the unharvested beets still in the fields — and the harvest was officially declared over. Nearly one-third of this year’s crop remains frozen in the ground. And then, more bad news: Farmers now have to pay their cooperatives for the beets they were unable to harvest. “This is far and away the worst [year], as far as beets left in the field,” said Dan Younggren, who has raised sugarbeets near Hallock, Minn., for about 40 years. Younggren was one of many of the 2,800 members of the Moorhead-based American Crystal Sugar cooperative who were forced to leave beets in the ground to freeze over winter. He’s had to leave 40 percent of his fields un-harvested. "It's a devastating hit to all of agriculture right now," said Younggren, who is also president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association. MPR News
3. Walz promises action on children’s issues. Gov. Tim Walz says a report on the well-being of children shows that Minnesota still has some areas that need work. The 2019 Kids Count Data Book, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, ranks Minnesota high nationally in several categories, including fourth for overall child well-being. Minnesota was third in economic well-being, 10th in education and sixth in health. But a Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota analysis shows troubling disparities when the numbers are broken down by race and income. “When we disaggregate the data by race and ethnicity, we find our state has some of the most pronounced disparities in outcomes for the children,” said Bharti Wahi, executive director of Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota. “In order to build a strong state and build for a strong future, we must address these disparities as our state continues to grow in racial and ethnic diversity.” At a meeting in Brooklyn Center, Walz told the group that the children’s cabinet he formed earlier this year is tackling the disparity issues. “There is an absolute, unwavering desire of the partners in this room and this administration that this will be the state that is the best place in the country for a child to safely, healthy and happily grow up in,” Walz said. MPR News
4. St. Paul council starting to look more like city’s population. It wasn’t until Nelsie Yang volunteered on Dai Thao’s 2015 St. Paul City Council reelection campaign that she realized people of color could be elected officials. “I didn’t even know that somebody like me could do this work,” Yang said. “I remember saying to myself, ‘Wow, if Dai can do this, I can do it, too.’” Yang, a 24-year-old community organizer, won her own St. Paul City Council election last week. In January, she and Thao will be sworn in as colleagues. The faces of power at St. Paul City Hall have diversified quickly over the last two years. In 2017, Melvin Carter was elected the city’s first black mayor. Mitra Jalali Nelson, whose parents are immigrants from Iran and South Korea, won a City Council special election last year. Last week, Yang became the first Hmong woman to be elected to the City Council. She will replace Kassim Busuri, the council’s first Somali member, who was appointed to the council earlier this year to fill a temporary vacancy. When the new council is sworn in, three of its seven members will be from Asian immigrant families. New members say it’s important St. Paul’s political leadership reflect the city’s racial and ethnic diversity. St. Paul is now a majority-minority city and has a younger population than the state average. Its residents are also more likely to be renters than to own their homes. Sahan Journal
5. Klobuchar takes a stand. Amy Klobuchar is ramping up her efforts to win over Iowans ahead of the state’s February caucuses. But as the presidential hopeful courts voters in Minnesota’s neighbor to the south, there’s one line she won’t cross: cheering for the local favorite over her home team in a much-anticipated college football game. The undefeated University of Minnesota Gophers head to Iowa City on Saturday to face the Hawkeyes. Iowa (6-3) is favored to win by Vegas. Klobuchar, however, is sticking with the U. “Rooting for the Gophers!” a spokeswoman confirmed to the Star Tribune. Klobuchar isn’t expected to attend the big game. She’s scheduled to attend a televised forum in California that same afternoon. But her campaign is hosting a tailgate featuring another big Gophers fan: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Star Tribune | 