Good morning, and welcome to Friday at the end of a very long week and right before a long holiday weekend.
On the radio today I’ll be talking to Gov. Tim Walz and later to Senate President Bobby Joe Champion of Minneapolis about the session and what might come next. Tune in at noon to MPR News.
The governor signed the bill yesterday that creates a system for paid family and medical leave in Minnesota, even though it won’t kick in until 2026. MPR’s Brian Bakst answers a lot of questions about it: After years of consideration, Minnesota will start ushering in a paid family and medical leave program that doesn’t depend on where a person works. Walz signed the legislation Thursday, capping a hard push that previously ended in letdown and became a reality after narrow passage by Democratic majorities this year. “Paid family and medical leave seemed like a pipe dream for 10 years. It seemed like — why can other people have this and we can’t?,” Walz said before signing the bill. “We've got a little bit of a glide path here, but I have to tell you, when I'm talking to Minnesotans, they want this and they want it now. They want to get it done.” Walz and other supporters insist it will bring financial security to more families when work isn’t an option due to a major circumstance. Business groups fought the requirement, saying it will add an expensive administrative burden and, in some cases, duplicate or fall short of what’s offered now in the marketplace.
Walz vetoed his first bill of the session Thursday, and it was the first veto of his career. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports: Walz on Thursday vetoed a bill adding a new set of protections for drivers that work for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft after Uber threatened to pull its services from Greater Minnesota and surge prices in the Twin Cities. Walz said he’d issued an executive order establishing a committee to consider new protections for the drivers, and he said they would work on legislation to pass next year. “Rideshare drivers deserve fair wages and safe working conditions. I am committed to finding solutions that balance the interests of all parties, including drivers and riders,” Walz said in a release. “This is not the right bill to achieve these goals. I have spent my career fighting for workers, and I will continue to work with drivers, riders, and rideshare companies to address the concerns that this bill sought to address.”
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a 94-year–old Minneapolis woman should have a new chance to recoup some money after the county kept the entire $40,000 when it sold her condominium over a small unpaid tax bill. The justices ruled that Hennepin County violated the constitutional rights of the woman, Geraldine Tyler, by taking her property without paying “just compensation.” “The County had the power to sell Tyler’s home to recover the unpaid property taxes. But it could not use the toehold of the tax debt to confiscate more property than was due,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. Tyler, who now lives in an apartment building for older people, owed $2,300 in unpaid taxes, plus interest and penalties totaling $15,000, when the county took title to the one-bedroom apartment in 2015. The county said she did nothing to hold onto her one-time residence. The apartment sold the next year.
The state will soon pay off the debt on U.S. Bank Stadium. The Star Tribune reports: The seven-year-old, $1.1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium will be paid off long before the Minnesota Vikings play their first preseason home game in August, under the tax bill signed by Gov. Walz this week. By the end of June, the state will have retired $377 million in outstanding bonds on the building, saving taxpayers $226 million in interest. The bonds, which have an interest rate of 4.25 percent, were scheduled to be paid off in 2046. "I don't like having that debt out there," Walz said. The governor proposed the payoff in his budget in January. In a session full of big changes, the stadium payoff passed without much attention or friction. The governor didn't even mention it at his bill-signing celebration on the Capitol lawn Wednesday. It’s still an open question, though, who pays for maintenance on the stadium.
And if you’d been looking to buy an e-bike, this summer is a good time. As MPR’s Dan Kraker reports : state lawmakers set aside $4 million for e-bike rebates in the transportation budget bill they approved last week: $2 million per year in 2024 and 2025. The maximum rebate is $1,500, up to 75 percent of the value of a new e-bike. And it's scaled based on your income. So the more someone earns, the smaller their rebate. For a family earning $125,000 a year or more, the most they can get back is $1,000, up to 50 percent of the cost of a new bike. Minnesota's program also reserves 40 percent of funding for people earning less than the state's median income — about $78,000 for a married couple, or $41,000 for a single filer. The rebates could be a deciding factor for people who have been on the fence. But the money is expected to go fast.
This newsletter is going to take the next few weeks off. We’ll see you again soon. | 