Reporting on State Politics and Government
Reporting on State Politics and Government
Capitol View Digest reporting on state and politics and government
| | The Daily Digest for August 26, 2019 | | Posted at 6:36 a.m. by Bill Wareham |
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Good morning, and welcome to a new week. Here's the Digest. 1. Sanders visits the State Fair. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday, touting his strong showing in Minnesota in 2016, sharply criticizing President Trump and saying the rest of the 2020 Democratic candidates are only just now catching up to his policies and positions. "One of the things that I learned is that many of the ideas I talked about four years ago, that everybody said were crazy, are now being talked about by every other Democratic candidate,” he told MPR News host Tom Crann, after being asked to compare his 2016 and 2020 candidacies. “Maybe that has something to do with leadership, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with having the guts to say things that other people are not prepared to say." Sanders took part in an interview with Crann at the MPR booth as a raucous crowd of hundreds of supporters and fairgoers looked on. Sanders said he's running in part because Trump is "the most dangerous president in American history." He called Trump a "pathological liar" and labeled him as racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic. But Sanders said running to beat Trump is only one of his motivations for running again in 2020. He also said he wants to enact policies to counter decades of what he called “a war on working families of this country.” ( MPR News)
2. Property taxes headed up in Minneapolis, St. Paul. For all their rivalry, residents in Minneapolis and St. Paul can commiserate on one shared burden: annual property tax hikes. In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey proposed a nearly 7% increase in the property tax levy in 2020 — the largest in a decade. In St. Paul, Mayor Melvin Carter wants a levy increase of just under 5% after two years of double-digit hikes. While the mayors are proposing new spending — from cultural corridors in Minneapolis to longer rec center hours in St. Paul — officials at both city halls say the principal reason for raising the tax levy is providing basic services such as police and fire protection and road maintenance. As the cost of running a city rises, so too must property taxes, city leaders say — despite billions of dollars in new development in the core of the Twin Cities. Some residents question how their money is being spent and say local leaders don’t understand the pressures taxpayers are already facing. (Star Tribune)
3. Lawsuit over filming same-sex weddings can proceed. A federal appeals court on Friday resurrected a lawsuit by two Minnesota filmmakers, who argue that their objection to filming same-sex weddings should be protected under First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of religion. Carl and Angel Larsen own a media production company in St. Cloud. In 2016, they sued the state of Minnesota, claiming a state law prohibiting discrimination conflicts with their personal religious views. A district court judge dismissed their case in 2017. But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit’s claims of free speech and free exercise of religion. Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, represented the Larsens. He called the decision a “significant win.” “The government shouldn’t have the power to force people to force people to express messages that violate their beliefs regardless of what their beliefs are,” Tedesco said. “This is a protection that’s good for the Larsens and protects them from being forced to express messages that violate their religious convictions. But it protects everyone as well." (MPR News)
4. Even without legalization, preparation for future of marijuana proceeds. Legislation to legalize recreational marijuana use in Minnesota still faces a big hurdle in the Republican-controlled Senate, but that hasn’t stopped DFL Gov. Tim Walz from preparing for its potential passage. Walz said last week he has directed relevant state agencies to be ready next year to implement the law if a bill ends up reaching his desk. “My agencies have been tasked to put all of the building blocks in place, from Revenue to the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Health. We will have everything ready to go, and we will be able to implement it in Minnesota the minute the Legislature moves this.” Walz says he’s counting on supporters to continue the push for legalization. Democrats in the Minnesota House are also preparing, and a key lawmaker is ready to lead the charge. House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL- Golden Valley, plans to be the chief sponsor of the legalization bill next year. “It’s a big issue that needs a lot of attention to be done well,” Winkler said about why he’s becoming involved now. (MPR News)
5. Klobuchar's prosecutorial past gets mixed reaction in presidential campaign. Sen. Amy Klobuchar used a well-worn phrase midway through her snowy presidential campaign launch in February, vowing to do the job “without fear or favor” the same way she had earlier “as a prosecutor.” She used the same words in her 2015 autobiography to title a chapter about her days as Hennepin County attorney. Since joining the Senate, Klobuchar has rarely shied from pointing to her experience leading an office that brought high-profile cases against an appellate judge and a baseball legend while pioneering new police lineup identification standards. “I think there’s a very strong argument to be made that someone with this experience, who has a track record of getting things done in this area is actually the best person to put in front of the ticket if you care about criminal justice reform,” Klobuchar said in an interview. But the same job that served as the foundation of her political career has been the source of fresh skepticism among voters of color and progressives in the Democratic Party who are wary of former prosecutors seeking higher office. (Star Tribune) | |
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