Capitol View for January 27

Good morning, and happy Thursday.

The Biden administration canceled two federal mineral leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota Wednesday, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the company’s bid to build an underground mine for copper, nickel and precious metals on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.MPR’s Dan Kraker reports: Those leases, located along Birch Lake in the Superior National Forest, about 7 miles east of Ely and just south of the BWCA, are critical to Twin Metals’ plans. They’re required for the company to access the valuable minerals underground. The Department of the Interior took the action after determining that the leases were improperly renewed by the Trump administration in 2019.

Political reaction: “The Biden Administration’s announcement today canceling these long-standing mineral leases will have devastating impacts on northern Minnesota and our nation, said Republican Rep. Pete Stauber. “Let me be clear: President Biden is choosing to ban mining. He’s choosing foreign sourced minerals, including mines that use child slave labor, over our own domestic, union workforce that follows the best labor and environmental standards in the world.” Democrat Betty McCollum had a different reaction: “The Biden administration’s cancellation of two Twin Metals leases that threatened this watershed is a rejection of the deeply flawed and politically motivated process under the Trump administration and a victory for sound science and protecting a precious and irreplaceable natural resource,” McCollum said. “The Boundary Waters is a national treasure that belongs to all Americans, and I am absolutely committed to ensuring its watershed will be permanently protected. Some places are simply too special to mine, and it is our obligation to ensure these unique and valuable lands and waters remain intact for generations to come.”

Longer prison sentences for violent criminals, permanent tax cuts, and a focus on teaching students to read are top priorities for the legislative session that begins next week, majority Senate Republicans announced Wednesday. New penalties for carjacking and less latitude for prosecutors and judges are elements of the GOP crime proposal. Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, the chair of the senate judiciary committee, said he doesn’t want county attorneys to ignore low level crimes, because he believes that can embolden criminals. “The highest priority of any government is the safety of its citizens. The actions of a few prosecutors are destroying that mission,” Limmer said. Other Republican public safety proposals are aimed at getting more police on the streets. They want incentives to attract and retain police officers, including scholarships and bonuses. It’s more evidence that Republicans will make crime a leading campaign issue heading into the election. Gov. Tim Walz proposed hundreds of millions in grants Wednesday as a way to reduce crime. His plan includes $300 million over three years to cities, counties and tribes to pay for local public safety needs. He also wants to help police departments recruit officers and investigate crimes, and he wants to give money to neighborhood groups to help prevent crime.

For the first time, the Minnesota DFL Party will allow people without the right to vote to participate in precinct caucuses,MPR’s Brian Bakst reports . Party Chair Ken Martin announced Wednesday that felons whose voting rights haven’t been fully restored and immigrants who aren’t U.S. citizens can caucus and become convention delegates. He said the change was approved unanimously by the party’s executive committee and that the move was overdue. The change follows a legal challenge that yielded a state Court of Appeals decision this month. It concluded that parties themselves can decide who participates in caucuses and conventions, even if those same people can’t vote in elections. And it suggested that the threat of prosecution doesn’t apply to caucuses, where parties enforce the rules. Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann reads the appeals court ruling differently and said voter eligibility is clearly defined in state law. “If they’re doing it to allow their supporters to break the law to participate in conventions, then they probably have no hesitation about allowing people who are not eligible to break the law when it comes to voting in the general election,” Hann said. “That raises a lot of questions and concerns in our mind.”

The Southwest light rail line opening will be delayed until 2027 and will now cost $2.75 billion.MPR’s Tim Nelson reports the Metropolitan Council signed off Wednesday on a $200 million settlement with the companies building the line. “Had this settlement not occurred, the cost would be even considerably larger, and delays much larger, if we had stayed on the original path,” Charlie Zelle, chair of the Met Council and a former state transportation commissioner, told lawmakers during a review of the project. “We're dealing with the pragmatic and the actual conditions.” Legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed exasperation during a recent hearing where Met Council officials said they still couldn’t give an end date for the project. Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, said he intended to sponsor a bill to launch a probe into the whole project, with funding for the Office of the Legislative Auditor to tackle a look at the state’s largest-ever construction project. Republicans said the overruns were a sign that rail transit simply wasn’t viable. “When are we going to say this is too much and avoid doing this in the future. Maybe we have to do what we're doing now, but maybe we learn from this experience and avoid doing something like this in the future,” said Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound.