Capitol View for December 17

Good morning and TGIF.

From MPR’s Tim Pugmire:Several Republican legislators appeared before the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission Thursday to criticize a proposal which could result in reduced prison time for some felons. Sen. Warren Limmer of Maple Grove, the chair of the Senate judiciary and public safety committee, said he was very concerned about the plan. “This proposal seems to be to me going in the direction of being soft on crime,” Limmer said. Technically, the proposal would eliminate a point on the existing guidelines based on a person’s custody status. The point system is used to determine sentences – the more points, the higher the sentence. Supporters of the change say it would at least temporarily free up more than 500 prison beds. Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch, also raised concerns about the plan and said that Minnesotans simply don’t want the change. “An unelected board with little notice to or attention from the public is pushing drastic changes to our sentencing laws that put the public at risk,” Neu Brindley said. The panel is made up of state corrections officials, judges, law enforcement and members of the public. The commission will adopt or reject the proposed changes at its meeting in January.

Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge Thursday. It's one of four misdemeanors he was charged with after he rolled his squad car on I-94 near Alexandria on Dec. 8. Hutchinson said at the time he had been drinking. The court document says his blood alcohol level was 0.13 percent. Under the plea agreement with prosecutors, Hutchinson would not go to jail, but serve up to two years probation and pay a $500 dollar fine. In a statement released yesterday afternoon Hutchinson said he was enrolled in a treatment program. “This incident is a wake-up call for me. I understand the seriousness of my actions, for which I take full responsibility,” Hutchinson said. “I am now enrolled in an outpatient treatment program to address my issues with alcohol and my overall health. This is the first step in the road toward recovery and regaining the trust of the people I work with and the residents of Hennepin County whom I serve. I have returned to work and will focus on my duties as sheriff.”

From MPR’s Brian Bakst: Minnesota’s job picture is moving closer to pre-COVID-19 levels with hiring and wages on the rise and the unemployment rate gradually declining. New figures released Thursday show November’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 3.3 percent – the level it was last at in February of 2020. Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove said he’s encouraged by what he’s seen lately. “You know, this is the third straight month we’ve seen solid, steady growth,” Grove said. “{While the pandemic recovery has been jumpy, this fall has provided some stability on our recovery as jobs have continued to be added to our economy. When you look at the overall picture of wages, jobs and job growth, we are headed in the right direction.” Minnesota has gained back about three-quarters of the jobs it had prior to the pandemic upheaval. Some workers retired, launched businesses or otherwise left the labor force. Year over year, average hourly wages are up by about 5.4 percent -- a slower uptick than inflation.

Also from Brian’s story, some clarification on the payroll tax to replenish the unemployment trust fund: DEED has sent notices that lay out increases that take hold in January. The hike is dictated by law to pay off a roughly $1 billion debt in the unemployment insurance trust fund. Grove said those payments aren’t due until April. That could leave time for lawmakers to work out a fix. He notes that employers with large layoffs weren’t penalized as they would have been in normal times with higher “experience ratings.” “We did throughout the pandemic hold harmless employers based on firings and layoffs they had to engage in due to COVID,” Grove said. “This is both an executive order from the governor and was passed by the Legislature.” Republicans want to tap federal money to plug the trust fund hole.

Democrats are blasting House Republicans for a letter several GOP members wrote to Mayo Clinic criticizing its COVID-19 vaccination policy.The Star Tribune reports: Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said she and other House GOP legislators have heard from a number of Mayo employees who described an "onerous and daunting" application process to apply for religious exemptions from the mandate, some of which were denied. The letter, signed by more than three dozen Republicans in the House minority caucus, goes further to say they will not support state funding "for any healthcare facility that fires their employees due to unrealistic vaccine mandate policies." A Mayo spokesman responded. "Beyond the ability to require vaccination, Mayo Clinic has a moral imperative to do so. Our staff provide care to transplant patients, cancer patients, immunocompromised patients and some of the most medically vulnerable people in the world," Mayo Clinic spokesperson Karl Oestreich said in a statement. "Mayo Clinic requires vaccination of our staff because it is the right thing to do for our patients and our community. Our vaccine requirement reflects the best available science. Our exemptions process complies with applicable law." Oestriech said Mayo Clinic "has already granted the majority of exemptions sought" to the requirement.

From MPR’s Elizabeth Shockman:Elementary school students in the Anoka-Hennepin School District will no longer be required to wear face masks beginning mid-January, the superintendent told the school board this week. The state’s largest school district still recommends masking to help prevent person-to-person transmission of COVID-19, said Superintendent David Law. Masks will continue to be required on district school buses, according to federal mandate. “Based on this information and the fact that our elementary can be vaccinated, we will be shifting to school and classroom-level data for masking decisions, shortly after break,” Law told board members Tuesday. The policy is expected to start on Jan. 18. The decision applies to everyone in the district school buildings, unless there is a high spread COVID-19 in a classroom or school building, he said.