Reporting on State Politics and Government
Reporting on State Politics and Government
Capitol View Digest reporting on state and politics and government
| | The Daily Digest for August 27, 2019 | | Posted at 6:30 a.m. by Bill Wareham |
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Good morning. Here's the Tuesday Digest. 1. Investigators looking into why Grand Old Day needed a financial rescue. A federal investigation is underway after police received a report of possible financial mismanagement at the Grand Avenue Business Association in St. Paul. The St. Paul police department contacted the association in May — just after the initial cancellation of Grand Old Day, the association’s annual parade and festival — to offer an audit of the financials, GABA president Bob Lawrence wrote to members in an email last week. “GABA cooperated and provided all requested documents. (And we will continue to cooperate with any government investigation.),” wrote Lawrence, who became president last month. In 2011, the nonprofit association listed $182,000 in net assets, according to IRS filings. By the end of 2017, the organization’s reserves had dwindled to $16,700. A new executive director was brought on that year; her immediate predecessor had lasted a matter of months. A St. Paul police investigator filed an initial report on May 10. “An investigator was made aware of possible financial mismanagement related to the Grand Avenue Business Association and an investigation was initiated,” said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. Linders said Monday the investigation remains active. (Pioneer Press)
2. DHS commissioner resigns. Again. Claire Wilson, a deputy commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), has resigned for the second time in less than two months. Her first resignation, in early July, along with that of the agency’s other deputy commissioner on the same day, sparked a series of unprecedented changes at the top of the $18 billion department. Both Wilson and Chuck Johnson, the other deputy commissioner, rescinded their resignations the following week, after then-commissioner Tony Lourey resigned. Acting Commissioner Pam Wheelock, who was brought on to run the agency temporarily by Gov. Tim Walz, said Wilson will depart this Friday.
In an e-mail to DHS staff on Monday, Wheelock said Wilson “has made a big impact on the agency” and “has helped lead significant change in human services.” (Star Tribune)
3. Minnesota part of challenge to proposed changes to Flores settlement. Nineteen states, including Miinnesota, and the District of Columbia sued on Monday over the Trump administration’s effort to alter a federal agreement that limits how long immigrant children can be kept in detention. “We wish to protect children from irreparable harm,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said as he announced the lawsuit he is co-leading with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Both are Democrats. A 1997 agreement known as the Flores settlement says immigrant children must be kept in the least restrictive setting and generally shouldn’t spend more than 20 days in detention. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said last week it would create new regulations on how migrant children are treated. The administration wants to remove court oversight and allow families in detention longer than 20 days. (Associated Press)
4. It may play in Peoria, but how about Pasadena? Sen. Amy Klobuchar calls herself “Heartland Amy.” Running for president from the Midwest, she’s built up most of her operation between Iowa and Minneapolis, only a few hours’ drive from Des Moines. And Iowa, as it is for the rest of the presidential hopefuls, is also where she spends most of her time on the trail. But Klobuchar is running in a national primary. To win, she’ll need to convince not just voters in the Midwest, but on both coasts. So, how does her language play with voters outside of Iowa in places like California, the state with the largest number of delegates up for grabs at the Democratic convention? A recent poll of 528 California primary voters had support for Klobuchar at 0 percent. (MinnPost)
5. The glare could be worse, Omar says. Minnesota DFL U.S. House Rep. Ilhan Omar said Monday that despite regular attacks on her from President Trump and Republican opponents, she doesn't think being the focus of a national political spotlight is as bad as it could be. “I'd expected that things would be extremely tough. I wrote a list of all the things that could go wrong in my run for the Statehouse, to my run for Congress,” she said in an interview with MPR News host Angela Davis. “None of the things that I wrote on that list have fully happened, so I feel blessed so far.” Omar told listeners she intends to run again for her seat in Congress and that she hoped to win approval for a wide variety of legislation, for everything from education policy to recycling. She also said she expects that other women of color in Congress will be a focal point for the fall 2020 election campaigns. “They know that having our faces, the faces of black, brown women as the face of the party, is to instill a particular fear, incite a base that really gets fueled by this bigotry. But truth be told, we are the face of our party,” she said. “We represent many of the voices that are fighting for progress.” (MPR News)
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