Good morning, and look at that, it’s Thursday already.
Gov. Tim Walz is expected to release his public works construction plan today. The Legislature will eventually decide whether to pass a bonding bill this year. Meanwhile MPR’s Brian Bakst took a close look at the governor’s proposed budget and found items from audits to veterans homes that haven’t gotten a lot of attention. As noted here yesterday, there are tax and fee increases in the governor’s budget. The Star Tribune takes a closer look.
One of the governor’s proposals is to use a robust reserve fund to pay off the debt on U.S. Bank Stadium. FOX 9 has a story: Walz's plan would use $368 million from the stadium reserve fund and $9 million in general fund money to settle the debt 22 years ahead of schedule. The $1.1 billion stadium, which opened in 2016, was built partially with public financing. When then-Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers approved the stadium's construction in 2012, they legalized electronic pull tabs and taxed the revenue to make $30 million yearly debt payments. After a slow start, electronic pull tabs have soared in popularity, leaving the reserve fund flush with cash. "I think that this really gets us to a place that we couldn’t have anticipated even 10 years ago," Jim Schowalter, the state budget commissioner, told reporters about the Walz proposal. "Remember, even paying for the stadium was a challenge, and those first few years were rocky." Walz's plan wouldn't eliminate the electronic pull tab tax once the stadium is paid off. Instead, the tax revenue would shift into the general fund, where it would pay for other state initiatives.
I linked to a Duluth News Tribune story yesterday on the DNR’s budget. Just to clarify a line in the story, $287 million is the governor’s total recommendation for the DNR for the biennium (not including any bonding). About half of the funding is aimed at construction projects such as upgraded boat access to lakes, new fish hatcheries, camping facilities and state park buildings. There's also new money for mitigating and adapting to climate change, for replanting forests, regulating mining and other natural resource management, but it’s all within that total.
Walz signed a bill Wednesday that extends unemployment benefits to workers laid off at Northshore mining. The move comes after benefits ran out for many workers in November. Eligible mineworkers could see 26 weeks of additional unemployment benefits. Walz says the extension could make a big difference for families on the Iron Range. "And this industry goes up and down but in the times of down, that's when the rest of us need to be there for the folks up in Silver Bay and in northern Minnesota, providing some of these benefits is what's going to make sure that they're going to continue on, continue in their communities, continue to make sure that their children stay in those schools that are there and then they get to live the life that they choose." More than 400 employees were laid off in May at Northshore Mining. Northshore operates an open pit taconite mine in Babbitt and a processing plant in Silver Bay.
DFL U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is asking House Republicans to oppose any move Speaker Kevin McCarthy may make to strip her of her seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports McCarthy has already removed Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee. He has also pledged to remove Omar from committees over remarks Omar has made criticizing Israel. Omar said at a news conference with Schiff and Swalwell in Washington Wednesday that McCarthy's positioning is about political vengeance. "Kevin McCarthy's purely partisan move to strip us from our committees is not only a political stunt but also a blow to the integrity of our democratic institution and threat to our national security," Omar said. Some House Republicans are signaling they will oppose Omar's removal if it is brought to the floor for a vote. NPR has a story as well.
The executive director of one of the state’s most influential business groups is leaving. Charlie Weaver, a former state House member, commissioner in Gov. Jesse Ventura’s administration and chief of state to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, is leaving the Minnesota Business Partnership this summer after 20 years at the helm of the organization. “I’ve been blessed to work with great teams at the Partnership and some of the most talented business leaders in the country who care deeply about the future of Minnesota,” Weaver said in a news release Wednesday. “I’ve also been lucky to have collaborated with friends on both sides of the aisle who share the goal of making Minnesota a great place to live, work and raise a family. To work on things you care about with people you admire and respect – and have some fun along the way – it just doesn’t get any better than that.” The Minnesota Business Partnership is made up of the CEOs and senior executives of more than 100 of the state’s largest employers and big companies that have a significant presence in the state.
And in case you didn’t hear, you need to watch where you park your car in Minneapolis. MPR’s Jon Collins reports: Minneapolis officials announced that the city will implement one-sided street parking rules starting Thursday night, in response to a much snowier-than-usual winter that has left some roads impassable to buses and emergency vehicles. Starting at 9 p.m. Thursday, parking will not be allowed on the even side of streets that are non-snow emergency routes. Any vehicles in violation of the winter parking restrictions will be ticketed or towed. During the winter parking restrictions, people are allowed to park on both sides of most snow emergency routes and parkways where parking is allowed, although the city may post temporary “no parking” signs. The rules are set to remain in place until April 1, but could be lifted sooner if weather conditions allow.
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