Good morning and happy Tuesday. We’re now four weeks out from Election Day. At least there wasn’t a presidential debate last night. Here’s the Digest:
1. After about 17 hours of talks at the request of Gov. Mark Dayton,Allina Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association reached a tentative agreement on a contract.Terms of the deal are expected to be available later Tuesday, with nurses set to vote on whether to accept the contract Thursday. The agreement was unanimously endorsed by union leadership.Health insurance has been the dominant sticking point in the contract dispute. (MPR News)
2. As candidates down the ballot from Donald Trump decide whether to support him or break with him, they have to weigh the impact he has on people who might vote for them. Here in Minnesota, two Republican state lawmakers took different positions in the days after that video of him making offensive comments about women surfaced. (MPR News)
3. The Builders Association of the Twin Cities, the group that puts on the Parade of Homes. has emerged as a major cash donor to the Republicans running for state offices. The Star Tribune reports the tax-exempt group spent $647,000 on political activities in 2014. The money went toward helping Republicans regain the House majority. (Star Tribune)
4.U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan told Republican House members via conference call Monday that he will no longer defend Trump and will focus all his energy on defending the House Republican majority. Ryan did not withdraw his endorsement of Trump, but he still faced a backlash from some of his conservative members. (New York Times)
5. At least one person whom Trump name-checked at Sunday night’s debate can prove the candidate was wrong. Trump said billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who supports Hillary Clinton, took a “massive deduction” while defending his own claimed $916 million loss in 1995. Buffett released a statement Monday saying in part, “I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. (Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward.” Buffett also said that his 2015 return shows adjusted gross income of $11.56 million. He had total deductions of $5.48 million, which includes $3.47 million for allowable charitable contributions (although he gave much more than that to charity). Buffett said he paid federal income tax of $1.85 million, and that he would have no problem releasing his tax return even though he is being audited. (CNBC)
