| President Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill passed the House with all of Minnesota’s Republicans voting for it and all Democrats voting against it. Republican Rep. Tom Emmer called it the “largest reduction in mandatory spending in history” that will bring “out-of-control government programs to account.” Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar calls it a “win for billionaires at the expense of working people” and the “largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in U.S. history.” The House bill would raise the nation’s debt limi t by $4 trillion. The bill still has to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, where leaders are planning to make revisions. If they do, it’ll be back to the House before a bill can get to Trump’s desk. Rep. Kelly Morrison spoke to All Things Considered; all of the Republicans in the delegation either declined interviews or didn't respond to requests.
Minnesota’s senior senator is headed north today. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is due to travel to Ottawa, Canada as part of a bipartisan delegation with fellow Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Peter Welch of Vermont along with Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. The senators are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian officials and business groups. Klobuchar, who is co-chair of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group, joined Cramer and Kaine to introduce a resolution to recognize the U.S.-Canada partnership and its shared interests.
It’ll be a working weekend for legislative leaders and committee chairs that missed a deadline to wrap up their work. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, House Speaker Lisa Demuth and House DFL Caucus Leader Melissa Hortman said they were working with committees to complete budget bills that weren’t wrapped up midweek. Those who weren’t finished by today would have to shift plans to complete their bills, they said. “I was supposed to go to the cabin this weekend,” Murphy said. “I'm not (going to the cabin) to make sure we get our stuff done,” she said yesterday. The leaders said overall, committee leaders were getting close to completing their work, if they hadn’t already. “Even though it is slower than we would like, things are going well,” Demuth, the GOP speaker, said. “It doesn’t appear like anyone has quit or given up, and that’s a very good sign.” The leaders suggested that mediators – the co-chairs of the Ways and Means Committee – might be dispatched to resolve conflicts in the transportation committee. The trio said they remain hopeful they can complete unfinished budget work in a one-day special session next week. Our team has more on the budget outlook here.
They haven’t decided how to divvy up the funding yet, but lawmakers working on education issues say they’ve settled their differences on non-budgetary matters. Portions of the education policy proposal were outlined yesterday . They include new procedures for charter schools to follow to ensure program and financial integrity. More broadly, the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General is given more authority to gain access to materials for investigations and to recommend the withholding of grant funding when credible allegations of fraud or theft arise. The bill has an allowance for all school districts to start their 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years on or after Sept. 1. That’s given the late Labor Day each year (Sept. 7 in 2026 and Sept. 6 in 2027). School districts could still opt to wait. Absent from the agreement are any changes to the cell phone use policy in schools, which will leave it up to districts to write their own rather than have one statewide model.
Even though nothing has passed yet, one tax measure is prompting a tech giant to rethink its Minnesota plans. Walker Orenstein of the Star Tribune reports that Amazon will suspend plans for a massive data center after Gov. Tim Walz and top lawmakers agreed to eliminate a tax exemption for electricity used by the data facilities. Other tax exemptions will remain. The centers suck up a lot of power because they need it to keep equipment cool. Amazon had been expected to build a data center in Becker and rely on Xcel Energy for power. It’s unclear if the decision is final or might be a last-minute play to head off the tax change that still needs legislative ratification.
The last penny order is in. The U.S. Mint will stop making the cent coin, a decision directed by President Donald Trump in February. The Treasury Department has placed its final order for blank penny coins and once that’s gone so are new pennies. Trump and others who favored ditching the penny say it costs more money to make than the denomination is worth. The move is slated to save the government about $56 million a year.
Your Capitol View writers are not following the lead of legislative negotiators. We’re taking a break. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday, May 27 with an abbreviated edition. | 