Good morning. Do you have lunch plans today? Now you do.
The regular weekly run of Politics Friday over the noon hour begins today. We’ll talk to House Speaker Melissa Hortman and House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth about their plans for the 2024 session. You can hear some of the sounds and voices from the opening week at the Capitol. Dana Ferguson and Clay Masters help round out the show. Tune in!
The third attempt to connect people with their uncashed tax rebates begins next week. The Department of Revenue is sending another check to people who, for whatever reason, didn’t deposit or cash a rebate check prior to expiration. Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart told lawmakers yesterday that 128,000 payments will go out. And if those don’t get converted, the money will go into an unclaimed property fund after two years. This time, the checks will come in mailings that are clearly marked as from the Minnesota tax agency rather than a Montana-based vendor.
Scheduling alert: The next budget forecast will be released on Feb. 28. That’s the tax-and-spending report that looks years into the future. But it’s critical to this year’s session because the projection dictates how much money will be at the disposal of lawmakers. The prior report put out in December had Minnesota’s finances on something of a tightrope. Revenue has come in ahead of expectations since, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a larger pot of money to divvy up.
The latest statistics around absentee and mail voting in Minnesota’s presidential primary show the ballots are still at a relative trickle. New figures released yesterday by the Secretary of State’s Office indicate that 38,381 ballots were marked accepted. That’s out of 183,212 ballots that have been distributed upon request or in mail-only precincts. It’s now too late to replace a voted ballot ahead of the March 5 primary.
Donald Trump’s New York trial over alleged hush money payments will start March 25. The judge in the case against former President Trump rejected his attempts to dismiss the charges and a jury trial will begin as originally scheduled. The 34-count felony indictment brought against Trump last year alleges he falsified New York business records in order to conceal damaging information before the 2016 presidential election, including hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. With this case, Trump became the first former president in U.S. history to be criminally indicted.
In other Trump prosecution news, the Georgia district attorney who charged the former president and associates in a state election interference case spent part of yesterday on the stand. Fani Willis faces an effort to remove her over misconduct allegations stemming from her relationship with a special prosecutor hired by her office. Willis pushed back against the claims, accusing defendant attorneys of lying about her. The outcome could determine whether that case proceeds to trial ahead of the 2024 election.
As for President Joe Biden, charges have been brought against an FBI informant who lodged allegations of bribery against Biden and his son during his 2020 run. It’s notable because congressional Republicans have propped up Alexander Smirnov’s claims during their investigations into the Bidens. A Trump-appointed special counsel, David Weiss, charged Smirnov and he was arrested this week as he arrived in Las Vegas on an international flight. AP has details.
But a separate special counsel who conducted the investigation into Biden’s handling of classified material is slated to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12.Special Counsel Robert Hur will be in front of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. The same committee has spearheaded the House GOP’s investigations into President Biden, including efforts to impeach him. While many of these efforts have not been successful, the committee is sure to use the hearing to spur political messaging about Biden’s age. The special counsel report last week put the president's age and mental capacity at center stage. Biden and his allies have lashed back at the report’s framing while underscoring the president won’t face charges. | 