Good morning and happy Tuesday.
Here’s the situation at the Minnesota Capitol: No deals on big spending and tax bills and no immediate plans for a special session. MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports that after a private meeting Monday afternoon with DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, Gov. Tim Walz said he’s willing to call lawmakers back sometime soon to complete the work. “They indicated that they think their members need a little bit of time to decompress. I agree with them,” Walz said. “They think maybe getting out of this bubble they talked about, to go back to listen to Minnesotans, because I’m hearing pretty clearly from Minnesotans ‘give us the money back from this’ and invest in the things that make our lives a little easier. It shouldn't be that hard. We can get win, win, wins across the board.” Walz said he would not call lawmakers back without an agreement on the bills that would pass. House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller didn’t talk to reporters after the meeting.
The Republican-endorsed candidate for governor says Republicans in the Legislature did the right thing by holding off approving spending bills until time ran out in the legislative session. Former state Sen. Scott Jensen said Monday he would have passed the proposed $4 billion tax cut lawmakers were considering but there's no reason to increase spending by a similar amount. Jensen said there's also no need for a special legislative session. "And what's the first thing you heard the governor say? Well, we might have to have a special session because the ball is on the one yard line’” Jensen said. “I don't know if you watch many Minnesota Vikings games, but when the game ends, and the ball is on the one yard line, it stays right there. The game's over. So I don't think that you just get to say, 'Oh, we're gonna add five minutes onto the clock.' That doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Jensen said voters will decide in November who is in charge of the Capitol next year and that decisions on the budget surplus can wait until then. "We don't need more spending. Right now we need to be more frugal with our money. Let's go ahead and have the election in November. And then in November we'll decide who is going to be there in January. And then let's have a full exploration of this," Jensen said.
More from the Forum News Service: If elected, Jensen said within his first 100 days in office he would rewrite emergency powers for the governor and sign a photo voter identification law. He said he would also back a push to expand gun rights in the state by enacting a stand your ground law, castle doctrine and constitutional carry. At the GOP endorsement convention on May 14, he said he would commute the sentence of Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who was convicted for the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright. Jensen running mate Matt Birk, a former center for the Minnesota Vikings, told reporters at a news conference before the Capitol rally that one of his priorities would be addressing the way public schools teach about race, sexuality and gender. Public schools across the U.S. have been roiled with controversy over the past year over school curricula that conservatives claim are aimed at indoctrinating children in progressive ideology. “I’m very alarmed, like a lot of parents, at the ideology, when it comes to some of this, ethnic studies, if you will, some of the gender ideology that’s being taught in schools,” Birk said. “That is a belief system not unlike any other type of religion. A religion is a system of beliefs and we make it a point that we don’t teach any religion in schools.”
MPR’s Hannah Yang reportsbeer drinkers can take home their favorite brews to-go in growlers from the state’s largest craft brewers starting this week after lawmakers made the most significant changes to the state’s liquor laws since allowing Sunday sales. Gov. Walz signed a bill Sunday that raises a limit on on-site sales, which affects six brewers in Minnesota—Surly, Summit, Lift Bridge, Fulton, Schell’s and Castle Danger. “I am proud to live in a state with so many locally owned breweries and distilleries,” Walz said in a statement. “Every Minnesota business—big or small—deserves the opportunity to succeed.” It was great news for Ted Marti, Schell’s president, who said that the law change is a step in the right direction and that Schell’s looks forward to getting new products to guests once the brewery gets the equipment and the capacity to offer growlers and crowlers. “I think maybe the most important thing is that the Legislature is finally looking at small breweries, small wineries, small distillers as a very important part, and they do need help,” Marti said. “We all need help as small businesses and when other businesses get bigger, sometimes there’s less opportunities. So, I think this expands everybody’s opportunity to grow and promote their business.”
Walz named Nancy Daubenberger as the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Daubenberger has led the agency since the departure of former Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Daubenberger has worked for the Minnesota Department of Transportation for over 22 years, in engineering and management positions.
And it’s primary election day in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. | 