Good Wednesday morning. There's more impeachment trial on tap today in Washington, which you can catch on your MPR News stations or at MPRNews.org. But there's also plenty of political news outside of D.C., so catch up with your Digest. 1. Seeking gun sanctuary in Sherburne. Several Minnesota legislators are asking Sherburne County to become a “Second Amendment sanctuary” by prohibiting the enforcement of new gun control measures they say would violate the Constitution. If the county board approves, Sherburne County, northwest of the Twin Cities in central Minnesota, would be the first county in the state to take such action. But leaders of hundreds of cities and counties across the country have already vowed not to enforce gun control measures they view as an infringement on the right to bear arms, such as universal background checks for gun sales and bans on assault-style weapons. The letter, sent to Sherburne County commissioners on Monday, was signed by several GOP state lawmakers, including Rep. Shane Mekeland of Clear Lake, Sen. Andrew Mathews of Princeton and House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt of Crown. “Anti-Second Amendment legislation is making headlines in our nation,” the letter reads. “With this backdrop, we respectfully urge the Sherburne County Board of Commissioners to adopt language that would make its jurisdiction a Second Amendment sanctuary county.” MPR News
2. Gun legislation hearing gets heated. Eruptions of bravado, emotion and profanity punctuated the highly-anticipated Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee public hearing on soon-to-be proposed gun laws Tuesday, as hundreds of individuals from across the state packed themselves inside the Crown Ballroom in Hibbing. Sprinkled throughout a mixed audience of suits and flannels, audience members donned red hats with the presidential message of “Make America Great Again,” blue gear from the National Rifle Association and yellow pins displaying the slogan, “Defeat Gun Control.” State Gun Owners Caucus members and U.S. military veterans showed up en masse. They expressed a unified desire for Republican legislators to stand their ground against DFL-led gun control proposals. A busload of Protect Minnesota activists boasting bright orange T-shirts that read “Minnesotans Against Getting Shot,” and dozens of Minnesota Moms Demand Action volunteers sporting red stood up for the expansion of criminal background checks on gun sales and “red flag” laws. The groups of people arrived in Hibbing to express their dissent and support for the rights of gun owners as state senators pushed for various gun control measures in the weeks before the 2020 legislative session. They heard the GOP and DFL Senators along with the handful of opponents and proponents discuss six bills in total. Hibbing Daily Tribune
3. DHS audit turns up violations. An internal audit at the Minnesota Department of Human Services has found several violations of laws to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the division responsible for a recent series of improper payments. The agency’s behavioral health division, which was responsible for $29 million in overpayments to two Indian bands and $70 million in improper payments to chemical dependency providers, skirted state laws on contracting and conflict of interest, according to the report, which was released Tuesday. None of the violations involved multimillion dollar payment errors, but most pointed to failures to follow rules designed to prevent bigger problems from happening. The audit was conducted in response to several complaints lodged internally. Agency auditors substantiated five of the nine alleged violations.“We want people to see that we are listening and we are taking action,” Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said in an interview Tuesday. “I am grateful to anyone who came forward to report things.” Star Tribune
4. Omar cracks the progressives’ whip. Nancy Pelosi said no. There would be no changes. No chance, now, to stop the drug pricing bill the speaker of the House was pushing through the end of 2019. The bill would allow for the federal government to directly negotiate drug prices for Medicare recipients, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in savings. But members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) thought the bill was too weak. It didn’t go far enough to expand health care protections for those who needed it most. Privately, caucus leadership said they had the votes to tank the bill, should Pelosi not allow more ambitious provisions. Publicly, Jayapal told reporters during a tense week of negotiations: “We are waiting to see what we’ve got.” In the end, the Progressive Caucus did not tank the legislation. Instead, its members were able to solidify a compromise. While Congressional Progressive Caucus members MinnPost spoke to said it was a team effort, they said there is one person behind the scenes, having conversations, counting the votes, and setting the tone of the legislative agenda: CPC Whip Rep. Ilhan Omar. MinnPost
5. No walk in the park for Minneapolis. An appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the city of Minneapolis cannot operate a park next to U.S. Bank Stadium, which it tried to do years ago under an agreement with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. The city handed operations of the Commons to the Park Board last year after a Hennepin County judge said the city violated its charter when it agreed to run the park. In Tuesday's opinion, Appeals Court Judge Randall J. Slieter wrote "the plain language of the charter prohibits the City Council from operating and managing a park because the charter reserves this action to the Park Board." The 4.2-acre Commons opened in tandem with U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. Citing untenable costs, the Park Board voted for the city to run the park, transferring over the rights through a convoluted arrangement that included nonprofit Green Minneapolis as the operator. Star Tribune | 