Good morning and welcome to Wednesday.
A housing bill that spends $1 billion from the state’s budget surplus and raises the metro area sales tax is on its way to the governor. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports: The Senate voted 34-32 Tuesday for an agreement worked out by a conference committee. On Monday the House voted 70-61 for the bill that would allow the state to create a new rental voucher system, a first-generation homebuyers assistance program and boost workforce housing around the state. The bill also raises the metro area sales tax by .25 percent. When the bill originally passed in the Senate it was without the tax increase. The conference committee adopted the House position and put the tax in the final version. Gov. Tim Walz has said he supports the bill and will sign it into law when it reaches his desk. Taken together, the proposal is the largest spend for housing that the Legislature has made. Housing advocates said the measure is needed to reduce homelessness and improve access to affordable housing around the state. Republican lawmakers and homebuilding organizations meanwhile, said the bill didn’t do enough to address some of the restrictions that lead to higher prices in building new homes in Minnesota.
DFL leaders in the Minnesota House said Tuesday they want to end the session next Thursday — days before the mandated adjournment date of May 22. “The hope is that next week is the final week of session and that we aren’t going past the 18th. So that’s certainly the speaker’s intent is to try to wrap up business next week,” DFL Majority Leader Jamie Long of Minneapolis said during a meeting of the House Rules Committee, which he chairs. Republicans on the committee said Democrats are moving too fast.
Minnesota lawmakers appear within reach of an agreement on significant restrictions to no-knock warrant searches conducted by law enforcement. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports that discussion over exact wording is continuing. But deliberations Tuesday in a House-Senate conference committee indicated that lawmakers involved in the negotiations are prepared to bar courts from allowing the warrants in most cases. A remaining sticking point is over protocol for carrying out high-risk searches. “We're all trying to get to the best place we can be even if none of us love it,” said Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville. If it’s made, the change would be part of a broader public safety policy and budget plan that must go back to the House and Senate for ultimate approval. The conference committee debating that package took testimony from law enforcement and from the father of Amir Locke, who was killed during a no-knock search of a Minneapolis apartment in early 2022. Andre Locke said restricting the tactic is necessary for “saving lives — not only civilians but for police officers as well.”
Winona State University President Scott Olson will be the next chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. MPR’s Peter Cox reports the system board chose Olson in a unanimous vote Tuesday. He was one of two finalists to lead the system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities, including Winona State. Olson will replace Devinder Malhotra, who has served as chancellor since 2017 and will retire this summer. Before becoming Winona State’s president in 2012, Olson was provost at Minnesota State University Mankato and also served as the system’s interim vice chancellor for academic and student affairs. He’s also worked at Ball State University in Indiana and Central Connecticut State University.
A long-serving DFL lawmaker is the first to announce a retirement following this term. Rep. Jerry Newton of Coon Rapids said he won’t seek a fifth, non-consecutive House term. He also served two in the Senate and is among the rare lawmakers to move back to the House. Newton, 85, said it’s time after a public service career that also includes stints on a city council and school board. He celebrated unanimous passage of a military and veterans affairs budget bill on Monday that he helped shape as a House committee chair. “I noted to the caucus yesterday that the bill, H.F. 1937, happens to be my year of birth,” Newton said. “It's time for me to think about my next career.” The north suburban seat will be among those targeted by both parties in their contest for House control in 2024. DFLer Kari Rehrauer, who narrowly lost a Senate race to Republican Jim Abeler in 2022, has formed a campaign committee already.
Minnesota has named a seven-mile stretch of Highway 5 in honor of Prince. MPR’s Nicole Ki reports Gov. Tim Walz signed the bill establishing Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway on Tuesday at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, where Prince lived, worked and performed on occasion. “It’s a gift to Minnesotans,” said Walz. “Minnesotans love Prince. They love him to this day. They love what it stands for. And they love the idea that this genius, this global icon can come out and have roots and be truly Minnesotan.” The highway starts in Eden Prairie and goes past Paisley Park, not far from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, the inspiration for the final track of Prince’s 25th album called “Arboretum.” Prince died at Paisley Park at 57 years old on April 21, 2016, of an accidental fentanyl overdose.
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