Capitol View for April 4

Good morning. Your newsletter writers have a break scheduled from 3:10 p.m. to about 6 p.m. today.

The Minnesota Racing Commission’s move this week to greenlight a new machine-based betting option at horse tracks on past races has caught lawmakers’ attention. MPR’s Clay Masters reports that the approval created a Capitol dustup among those working most closely on broader betting bills. It could work against the tracks as they seek a cut of the action in a possible sports betting legalization plan. That sports betting bill was no sure thing before; this could further complicate the efforts of supporters to reach a deal. But the tracks say they need some source of new revenue to avoid problems in their operations and the horse-breeding industry. It’s also possible the whole thing winds up in court.

The nation’s agriculture secretary made another stop in Minnesota yesterday. MPR’s Hannah Yang caught up with Secretary Tom Vilsack in Mankato. He used the visit to highlight a $1.5 billion investment in the national Regional Conservation Partnership Program. It’s aimed at helping farmers, ranchers and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation strategies to adopt climate-smart ag practices. Project applications are being accepted now through July 2. While in town, Vilsack reassured communities that the avian flu poses little risk to people after a person was reportedly infected in Texas after making contact with cattle. “People need to know we're working on it, we take it seriously, there's low risk to people, the milk is safe,” Vilsack said. The USDA is also working with the affected dairy and poultry industries on biosecurity, and discourages comingling if farmers have both types of operations.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Angie Craig also promoted federal dollars flowing the state’s way yesterday. They teamed up in Dakota County to highlight about $1 million that will go toward a law enforcement information sharing network. MPR’s Peter Cox reports the record sharing system should be in place by January 2026 and enable law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and probation officers to access data as soon as it is entered into the system by one partner in the chain.

Minnesota could expunge more than 60,000 misdemeanor marijuana records by next month. The Star Tribune’s Ryan Faircloth writes that the BCA had expected to expunge 66,000 misdemeanor records by August, but they are on track to finish earlier. The BCA sent a list of records that qualify for expungement to the Minnesota Judicial Branch, which has until May 13 to object. There’s also a separate Cannabis Expungement Board that will review felony marijuana records on a case-by-case basis. Gov. Tim Walz appointed Jim Rowader, a former Minneapolis city attorney, to head the board.

The Minnesota Supreme Court seems inclined to move quickly to sort out the status of the Legal Marijuana Now Party. It has scheduled oral arguments for April 16 in a lawsuit that seeks to demote the party, which now enjoys major party status. Candidate filing opens on May 21, so there’s reason to expedite a ruling. Major status brings automatic ballot access rather than requiring candidates to submit nominating petitions. Last month, a judge designated by the court for fact-finding issued a 48-page order that concludes “the Legal Marijuana Now Party is not a major political party in Minnesota for purposes of the state primary election in August 2024 and the state general election in November 2024.” The party has disputed the characterization and says a downgrade by the high court would “create chaos in the 2024 election process which this Court must avoid.” The DFL party brought the lawsuit that argues Legal Marijuana Now hasn't satisfied requirements to maintain major-party status.