Capitol View for February 14

Good morning. It’s Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget! Unless you want to. Then sorry for mentioning it.

If a sports betting bill makes it to Gov. Tim Walz, he’s ready to sign off. The DFL governor is hanging back some, calling himself “a bit agnostic” about whether it gets done this year. But in speaking to reporters yesterday, Walz said he wants to make sure anything he signs would not violate compacts the state has made with Tribal nations: “Treaties and decisions were made to try and rectify historical wrongs, and one of the things is making sure that we had access and exclusive rights for our tribes,” he said. Walz said gambling and casinos on native lands have generated economic growth across the state. Walz also said lawmakers need to listen to input from Minnesota sports teams. Lawmakers introduced legislation this session to revive the issue and debate over legalizing it doesn’t break along partisan lines.

Walz also elaborated on permitting changes he’s exploring, both administratively and through legislative change. Dana Ferguson reports that Walz said his administration is working to speed up the process to obtain permits to launch green energy projects. The push comes as the state's business community has urged the governor and legislative leaders to make it easier to obtain development permits in the state. Walz said he recently got an update from state agency heads about areas where they might be able to streamline permit consideration. "I don't want theoreticals. I want to know making this change saves 16 days and what that means for our business. Or cumulative, we can cut this down (by) three and a half months." Legislative leaders this week said they supported efforts to expedite the permitting process. It could be an area of bipartisan work this year.

A presidential nomination Plan B for Democrats could involve major input from Walz. Politico explored potential backup plans should President Joe Biden leave the race ahead of November. If Biden was nominated at the Democratic National Convention in August but was unable to compete in the November election because of “death, resignation or disability,” then Walz, as head of the Democratic Governors Association, would be one of four people to make recommendations to a DNC panel on a new nominee. While Democrats have actively avoided any discussion of Biden not being their nominee, special counsel Robert Hur’s report characterizing Biden as absent-minded at times has thrust Biden’s age and mental capacity to the forefront. But Walz is still pushing hard for Biden and is confident he’ll be the nominee. He defended Biden in an interview with MPR News and Axios yesterday. “I was with the president extensively up in Superior here a couple of weeks ago and on every issue he knew our issues, knew the dollar amounts,” he said. “We’ve got an experienced statesman who’s continuing to deliver, does the job for the right reasons. I feel very confident.”

On the Republican side of the race, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley badly needs a win to carry forward in a primary campaign against Donald Trump. Minnesota, which bucked Trump in his 2016 campaign, is a tantalizing prospect for her. Haley’s campaign released a list of Minnesota Republican backers, led by state Rep. Kristin Robbins of Maple Grove. She said Haley “has the unique ability to expand the appeal of the Republican Party and engage a new generation of voters.” Also on the list are state Sen. Julia Coleman of Waconia and former legislators Drew Christensen, Kelly Fenton and Barb Haley. Business leaders and others with past roles in GOP politics are also on board. Minnesota holds its primary on March 5, part of the Super Tuesday roster of states.

Republicans in the U.S. House succeeded on a second attempt in impeaching a Biden cabinet official. After they fell short of that last week, the GOP voted to make Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the first department head to be impeached in U.S. history . The vote was 214-213. Minnesota’s delegation voted along party lines, with Republicans in favor of impeachment and Democrats opposed. Mayorkas’ conviction and removal by the Senate is seen as unlikely. Republicans used the Mayorkas impeachment to reinforce their deepening frustrations with border-control policy.

Meanwhile, a $95 billion foreign aid package has cleared the U.S. Senate but is on the ropes in the House. The package contains no changes to U.S. border policy despite early Republican insistence that any foreign aid bill fortify the southern border and make other border-policy changes. NPR notes that House Republicans, who rejected the previous bipartisan deal for failing to meet demands for changes to Biden’s border policy, said they will also reject the stand-alone funding for U.S. allies abroad. The package passed in the Senate contains funding for military support to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Support for that package has been slowly eroding under pressure from former President Donald Trump who said during a campaign rally this weekend he would not automatically defend NATO allies against Russian attacks if those allies do not meet his definition of paying enough money for defense.