Good morning, and happy Tuesday.
Attorney General Keith Ellison is expected to be in a courtroom today as a Minnesota lawsuit against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs goes to trial. The Associated Press reports: Minnesota sued Juul in 2019, accusing the San Francisco-based company of unlawfully targeting young people with its products to get a new generation addicted to nicotine. Ellison has declined to put a dollar figure on how much money the state is seeking in damages and civil penalties, but he said when he announced the lawsuit that it could be in the ballpark with Minnesota's landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. Juul has faced thousands of lawsuits nationwide but most have been settled, including 39 with other states and U.S. territories. Minnesota added tobacco industry giant Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020. Altria completed its divestiture this month and says it effectively lost its $12.8 billion investment. A few days later, Altria announced a $2.75 billion investment in rival electronic cigarette startup NJOY. The jury trial, before Hennepin County District Judge Laurie Miller, is expected to last about three weeks. That contrasts with nearly four months for the landmark 1998 lawsuit by the state and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota against the big tobacco companies.
The Minnesota Senate has sent Gov. Tim Walz a bill to bolster rental assistance to families at risk of losing their homes. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the $50 million patch aims to push the money out quickly to help people facing eviction for financial reasons or who could be displaced due to rising rent. The money is routed through housing assistance programs that have seen high demand. Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, said the bill’s mission is simple. “To help keep families and children in stable housing. Stable housing is the foundation of everything else in our lives,” Port said. “Without a stable home, education, outcomes, job prospects and health all suffer.” The bill would relax a 24-month limit for families on rental assistance. Some funds could be used to help families secure transitional or affordable permanent housing. The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 42-21 Monday after winning House approval earlier this month.
Republicans in the Minnesota Senate said Monday they will vote to pass a capital investment bill if DFL leaders agree to their terms. They want Democrats to approve more money for tax cuts, long term care providers and agriculture. They also said DFLers would have to commit to no new tax increases. The offer comes after GOP senators withheld support and caused a bonding bill to fail in the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R- East Grand Forks, said he spoke with DFL leaders and hoped they would agree to his terms. "This is a good faith attempt to ensure that we can continue our investment in Minnesota through our capital investment, but also give Minnesotans their tax relief," Johnson said DFL leaders and the governor last week agreed on the outline of a budget plan. And they've indicated that some taxes could go up, even though overall the plan would reduce taxes.
Minnesota lawmakers are weighing a bill that would create a new criminal penalty for organized retail theft. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports retailers and legislators said Monday that existing theft laws don't adequately cover situations where groups coordinate to steal from a store and then resell items they took. The proposal would set a scale of penalties ranging from a misdemeanor with a fine to a felony charge that carries up to a 15-year prison sentence. Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, said the state needs to set clearer penalties to help prosecutors target the crime. "Retailers have dealt with shoplifting forever, but there is a new thing happening in stores all across Minnesota, organized retail theft, where we have a much higher degree of sophistication, leading to much more loss for retailers and higher prices for consumers," he said. Thirty-four other states have laws specifically setting criminal penalties for organized retail theft.
State lawmakers are considering doubling fines for businesses, farms and cities that pump more water than they’re permitted to. The Star Tribune reports: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said the state's rules are inadequate, offering almost no consequences for those who brazenly ignore permitting rules or pump drastically more water than they are allowed. The lack of repercussions was apparent after several major violations of water laws and permits during the 2021 drought, when aquifers and wells across the state were stressed under the most severe dry spell in decades. The DNR is currently allowed to issue an administrative penalty of up to $20,000. But that fine doesn't have to be paid so long as the violation is corrected. A proposal that's been heard by House and Senate committees would increase the maximum fine to $40,000 and allow the DNR to decide whether or not to forgive it. It would also allow the DNR to revoke permits after egregious or repeat violations, and refer cases to law enforcement.
Lawmakers are also looking at fees on delivery services to raise money for roads and bridges. MinnPost reports: The so-called Amazon fee proposed by Rep. Erin Koegel, a Spring Lake Park DFLer, would be 75 cents per delivery and is expected to raise about $210 million a year. A separate fee on ride services such as Uber and Lyft is still in flux between a flat fee and a percentage fee and estimates are still being analyzed. In Colorado, a 30 cent per ride flat fee is estimated to produce about $20 million a year in revenue. The sales tax for transit of 75-cents on each $100 purchase would raise between $550,000 and $600 million a year. Joel Carlson, a lobbyist working for Uber, said the bill should treat all passenger services the same — limo services, taxis. And he told the committee that services like Uber already pay high license fees and another special fee every time a car picks up or drops off a passenger at MSP. Most of the pushback last week came from opponents of the package delivery fee. While Koegel mentioned Amazon, opponents included local pizza chains, small delivery companies and grocery stores.
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