Good morning and welcome to Thursday. John Lennon was shot and killed on this day in 1980.
At the Capitol an early rift has developed in the Senate DFL caucus, which will hold just a one vote majority next month.Dana Ferguson reports: A fresh crop of Minnesota DFL lawmakers took to social media to push back against their own leaders, insisting that they’d fight to exempt all Social Security income from state taxes once they take office. The comments came after Minnesota finance officials forecast a $17.6 billion projected budget surplus over the next two years. Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders said the massive pile of money would give them a historic chance to fund education, child care, climate plans, public safety, housing and other priorities. But they stopped short of committing to a full rollback of the Social Security tax Tuesday and suggested that they’d consider an approach that kept the tax in place for top income earners.
Two Minnesota House election recounts will conclude with Republican candidates hanging onto narrow victories over DFL incumbents. After thousands of ballots were examined, there were only slight changes in vote tallies in a pair of northeastern Minnesota races. And the number of challenged ballots to be reviewed by the state canvassing board next week isn’t enough to shift the outcomes. That means Republican Natalie Zeleznikar will unseat 23-term DFL Rep. Mary Murphy. Another Republican, Roger Skraba, will replace four-term DFL Rep. Rob Ecklund. Democrats will have a 70-to-64-seat edge come January.
More than 50 state legislators, including some from Minnesota, spent the past couple days in Washington DC at the invitation of the White House to talk about issues including climate change, gun violence, abortion rights and voting rights. The Associated Press reports: The aim is to give state lawmakers a to-do list for the upcoming legislative session, though meeting those goals will be nearly impossible in states where Republicans are in control. The meetings come as Democrats are increasingly focused on making inroads in state governments in part through better alignment on top issues, a political tactic that helped the GOP secure leadership in 23 states. Brian Bakst notes the Minnesota lawmakers included Sen.-elect Erin Maye Quade, Reps. Rick Hansen and Emma Greenman, and Rep.-elect Leigh Finke.
The budget forecast shows the reserve fund that backs up the state’s share of U.S. Bank Stadium is overflowing and could even pay off the stadium early, if that’s what lawmakers choose to do.The Star Tribune reports: The reserve fund will hit $368 million by the end of June, according to this week's projections from Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB). The cost to pay off the debt entirely in June is an estimated $377 million, meaning the state could be debt-free on the $1.1 billion building by mid-2023. "There's no question there's a benefit to refinancing or paying off those bonds, and if we're not going to do it with a surplus of this size, we're never going to do it," incoming DFL Assistant Senate Majority Leader Nick Frentz of North Mankato said Wednesday.
The Minneapolis City Council passed a two year budget this week that includes more money for police and public safety, more for housing, and money for roads, trails and other public works. Here’s a rundown of the spending and taxes that will pay for it.
The St. Paul City Council passed a budget with a levy increase of 14.65 percent.The Pioneer Press reports: St. Paul officials dug through proverbial couch cushions and found $480,000 for crosswalks, bump-outs and other community-driven pedestrian and bike improvements in next year’s city budget. The St. Paul City Council also found funding to back a new pool of substitute workers for the short-staffed public library system and hire a staffer for a new historical reparations commission. Council President Amy Brendmoen said the first reading of an ordinance establishing the new reparations commission will be held next week. “This budget adopted tonight is not the budget the mayor presented four months ago,” said Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who chairs the city’s library board. “We’ve heard concerns, and we have made changes.”
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