| | The Daily Digest for August 13, 2019 | | Posted at 6:30 a.m. by Mike Mulcahy |
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Good morning, and happy Tuesday. Here's the Digest. 1. Walz chooses veteran social services executive to lead DHS. Gov. Tim Walz Monday named Jodi Harpstead, a longtime executive at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, to lead the beleaguered Department of Human Services, taking on a role that became vacant after the previous commissioner unexpectedly resigned last month. Walz announced the appointment one day ahead of a hearing called by Senate Republicans to dig into ongoing turmoil in the massive agency, including staff turnover and the agency’s handling of internal investigations and alleged fraud and misspending. “It is my honor to appoint a Commissioner of Human Services with broad private and non-profit experience, and a proven record of strong, compassionate leadership,” Walz said. “As CEO of Lutheran Social Service, Jodi Harpstead has led an organization that touches lives in every corner of our state, and I look forward to her bringing that vision and expertise to DHS.” Harpstead has been chief executive officer of the charity since 2011 and also oversees the management of the Children’s Home Society of Minnesota, which works with Lutheran Social Service to provide adoption services to families. The organization partners with government, including the Department of Human Services, to provide assistance to families and individuals in need. Before joining the charity in 2004, Harpstead spent 23 years with medical device manufacturer Medtronic, where she was president of global marketing. ( MPR News)
2. Walz renews call for action on guns, insulin. Walz said he'll continue to push for the passage of gun control legislation but won't call back lawmakers for a special legislative session until he knows there's consensus on the proposals. Walz on Monday told reporters that he still hopes lawmakers will hold hearings on a pair of gun control measures and an emergency insulin plan considered but ultimately rejected during the legislative session. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor has said he would sign into law the proposals to allow law enforcement officers to remove someone's firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others and to require background checks at the point of transfer of a firearm. And last week, he called on lawmakers to take up the bills this week in an unrelated special hearing, citing a pair of deadly shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, as the reason to move quickly. “We have a hearing tomorrow, but here’s the hearing schedule for guns and insulin and other things," Walz said on Monday, holding up a blank piece of paper. "That’s still blank, I’m still waiting. Absolutely unacceptable." State senators are set to hold a hearing on Tuesday to probe leadership turnover and reports of other issues at the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The lawmakers running the joint hearing don't plan to take up a bipartisan, bicameral emergency insulin proposal. And a different committee would be tasked with weighing the gun control proposals or other measures aimed at preventing gun violence. ( Forum News Service)
3. Governor says he urged Glencore to stand behind PolyMet pledges. Walz affirmed his support for PolyMet Mining Corp.’s $1 billion copper-nickel mine in northeast Minnesota, if it can be done safely. But the governor says he has urged PolyMet’s new owner, Glencore, to put its name on PolyMet’s permits and on the financial assurance package aimed at protecting Minnesota taxpayers from accidents and future cleanup costs. At a meeting last week with Glencore representatives, Walz also urged the company to honor a contract PolyMet signed in 2007 to use union labor to build the PolyMet mine and processing facilities. Walz said he “laid out the expectation” to Glencore that it would meet with the United Steelworkers, a union with which the company has had tense relations. The hourlong meeting at the State Capitol last Thursday was the state’s first discussion with Glencore since the Swiss mining and trading conglomerate took majority ownership of PolyMet in June, after years of being a quiet partner. The ownership move prompted concern not only because of Glencore’s size, but because of its troubles with regulators around the globe and the fact that it’s under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The talk didn’t result in an agreement or a timetable for decisions, but Walz, a Democrat, said he clearly conveyed the state’s expectations on financial and environmental accountability. “Our working policy is that the parent is on the permit,” Walz told the Star Tribune Monday. “My overriding message to them is if this is going to be done, it’s going to be done right.” Walz described Glencore’s reaction as “measured.” (Star Tribune)
4. Federal judges skip Trump video message at citizenship ceremonies. For nearly two decades, the sitting president of the United States has made a brief appearance via videotape at swearing-in ceremonies of new citizens across the country, welcoming and congratulating the new Americans. But in Minnesota, federal judges who conduct citizenship ceremonies have broken from that tradition. They are not showing President Trump’s 90-second recorded video message to new naturalized citizens. It’s not clear why. While the federal agency overseeing the naturalization process has a policy that calls for playing the president’s recorded video message in its ceremonies, federal judges can choose what elements to include as they administer the Oath of Allegiance. “The judges of the court are able to decide what content to put in their ceremonies that they preside over,” Rebeccah Parks, media coordinator with the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, told Sahan Journal. “That’s the policy. It has always been the policy.” Parks said she is not aware of a Minnesota federal judge who’s showing Trump’s recorded video message for naturalized citizens at the ceremonies. When Sahan Journal asked to interview some of the judges on why they’re not playing the Trump video, Parks said: “None of the judges will be interested in having that conversation with a member of the media.” ( Sahan Journal)
5. Warren to campaign in Minnesota next week. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will bring her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to St. Paul on Monday. A town hall is set for 6:15 p.m., Aug. 19, at the Leonard Center Fieldhouse on the Macalester College campus. "Elizabeth's decision to forgo high-dollar fundraisers and call-time means she's doing the work of building a grassroots movement in Minnesota and across the country," campaign spokesperson Chris Hayden said in a statement. "She'll continue traveling to as many places as possible in the coming months and is looking forward to being in the Twin Cities to hear from voters about the issues important to them," he added. ( Star Tribune)
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