Happy Tuesday. Here's your Capitol View. Minnesota is still in a declared emergency for COVID-19. Republicans want to reel in Gov. Walz. Senate Majority leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said the emergency powers that Gov. Tim Walz declared in March are no longer needed. “There are many things that the governor has emergency powers over that we’re saying that must end, and we need to get back to a place where the House and Senate have equal footing with the executive branch,” the top Senate Republican said. State DFLers, however, say ending the emergency is like sticking your head in the sand. “I can’t imagine why we would support this, when our governor is doing an excellent job in putting us in a position to survive this with a minimum amount of damage,” said Sen. Jason Isaacson, DFL-Shoreview. For his part, Walz said continuing the emergency order is necessary to act nimbly in he face of a rapidly changing pandemic. At least 65,000 absentee or mail-in ballots have been rejected for tardiness, often without the voter being at fault. Via NPR : “While the numbers are relatively small — around 1 percent in most states — they could prove crucial in a close election, especially one in which many more voters are expected to cast absentee and mail-in ballots to avoid going to the polls during a pandemic. Those who use mail-in voting for the first time — especially young, Black and Latino voters — are more likely to have their ballots rejected because of errors, said Charles Stewart, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies election administration.” The NFL’s Washington franchise is dropping its racist name and logo. Via the AP: “A new name must still be selected for one of the oldest and most storied teams in the National Football League, and it's unclear how soon that will happen. But for now, arguably the most polarizing name in North American professional sports is gone at a time of reckoning over racial injustice, iconography and racism in the U.S.” Attorneys for three of the former cops charged in George Floyd’s killing are asking a judge to lift the gag order in their case. Via AP : “Attorneys for Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao said in court filings Monday that a gag order should not have been issued without a public hearing. Thomas Lane's attorney, Earl Gray — who made comments to the media the day before the gag order was issued last week — clarified that he said nothing that would have warranted the judge's order that bars the parties and attorneys from discussing the case.” | 