Good morning, and welcome to Thursday. Here's the Digest. 1. New DHS commissioner promises changes. The incoming head of the Minnesota Department of Human Services pledged Wednesday to rebuild trust in the agency, which has seen its share of turmoil in recent months. “There's nothing more important for the Minnesota Department of Human Services than to be trustworthy to the people of Minnesota," Jodi Harpstead told a Senate hearing, brandishing a granite plaque with the word ‘trustworthy.' She said she’s had the plaque on her desk for the last eight years as CEO of Lutheran Social Services and is bringing it with her to her new office, "not facing out to tell the world that we're trustworthy, but facing in so that every email and every phone call builds that trust.” Harpstead, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, takes over DHS after two months of massive upheaval among top-level staffers, including the resignation of former DHS Commissioner Tony Lourey and his chief of staff in July. Two deputy commissioners, Chuck Johnson and Claire Wilson, had also planned to resign but rescinded their resignations after Lourey’s departure. But last week, Wilson again resigned from her post in DHS, as did another assistant commissioner, Marie Zimmerman, who ran the state’s Medicaid program. The Walz administration hasn't explained all of the upheaval in the agency, and Republicans in the Legislature say they're frustrated. ( MPR News) 2. Political consultant denies romantic relationship with Omar. A Washington, D.C., political consultant has denied a claim by his estranged wife alleging that he was leaving her for U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. Tim Mynett, a Democratic fundraising consultant who works with Omar, also disputed allegations that his business benefited from a personal relationship with the Minnesota Democrat. Mynett filed a legal response Thursday in D.C. Superior Court rebutting last week's divorce filing by his wife, who claimed he had revealed a romantic relationship with Omar in April when the couple separated. "Mr. Mynett denies that he told Ms. Mynett he was leaving the marriage for Representative Ilhan Omar or that he was in love with her," says Tim Mynett's filing. A spokesman in Omar's congressional office reiterated Wednesday that she would not respond to inquiries about her personal life. In an interview last week with WCCO-TV, Omar responded "no I am not" to a question about whether she is separated from her husband or dating someone else. (Star Tribune)
3. Democrats position legal marijuana as an election issue. Corey Day, who until earlier this year was the executive director of the state DFL, is now helping run a new political committee to promote marijuana legalization as an economic issue. He said he thinks it makes sense strategically for the legislative DFL to be seen as in favor of legalization. “I would think that their hope is that this somewhat neutralizes those marijuana parties and doesn’t give them any motivation to have folks run against their candidates,” Day said. “I do know it’s a worry for the House as they go into the elections, to not give these marijuana parties any reason or rhyme to recruit candidates against their candidates.” Day thinks legalization in Minnesota is akin to “rolling a rock down a hill” because of the momentum the issue has generated from other states. But the political challenge for pro-legalization advocates is the GOP Senate, not the House. And that battle — as it was in House races in 2018 — will be fought in the Twin Cities suburbs, where marijuana probably won’t be a major issue. “The 2020 election is going to be monopolized by President Trump and whoever the Democratic candidate is against him,” said Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington. “They’re just gonna suck all the oxygen out of the political dialogue in the state of Minnesota.” But as Day points out, in close races, “every vote, every margin is of concern,” he said. He claims that polling he has seen shows that a pro-legalization vote would not hurt candidates in those battleground districts. (MinnPost)
4. Supreme Court rules high school coaches are not public officials. Parents who criticize or trash-talk their kids’ public high school coaches don’t have legal protection to do so, according to a groundbreaking ruling issued Wednesday by the Minnesota Supreme Court. The court’s decision, in a case involving former Woodbury High School girls’ basketball coach Nathan McGuire, said that public high school coaches are not public officials under the First Amendment. That means that such coaches who claim to have been defamed by parents have a lower bar to clear to prove their case. McGuire’s attorney, Donald Chance Mark Jr., said the decision will resonate throughout the state because it “finally provides an opportunity for coaches to defend their reputations when [parents] say things that are either untrue or, in some cases, lies.” A public high school coach isn’t a public official under the law, according to the court, because their decisions about playing time and benching tardy players aren’t core government functions. The 16-page unanimous decision, written by Justice Natalie Hudson, is the first time that Minnesota’s highest court has ruled on the issue. “Simply, basketball is not fundamental to democracy,” the ruling said. (Star Tribune)
5. Governors ask White House to stop ethanol waivers. Two Midwestern governors on Wednesday co-authored a letter to the president asking his administration to tap the brakes on the number of small refinery hardship waivers it issues as farmers and renewable fuel plants struggle with the impact of foreign tariffs. Gov. Tim Walz, a Minnesota Democrat, and Kristi Noem, a South Dakota Republican, in their letter raised their concerns about the growing number of waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard granted since 2016. Walz and Noem are the chair and vice-chair of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition. The Renewable Fuel Standard dictates the volume of renewable fuels that needs to be blended into the U.S. transportation fuel supply each year. And it can provide an additional market for farmers. The Trump administration greenlighted 85 exemption waivers for oil refineries since 2016. That figure includes 31 hardship exemptions granted last month. The move dropped the volume of renewable fuels blended into U.S. supply by roughly 4.04 billion gallons. By contrast, the Obama administration allowed 23 exemptions over three years, representing 690 million gallons. And in the months since granting the waivers to oil refineries, renewable fuel plants have slowed production or closed. Corn Plus, an ethanol plant in Winnebago, Minn., announced last week that it would close its doors. And POET has announced it will idle processing at biorefineries across the Midwest following the issuance of the "oil bailouts." Company officials in a news release said the idling will result in job consolidations. "Every waiver EPA approved affects our states," Walz and Noem wrote. "The recent approval of 31 additional small refinery waivers undermines the integrity of the RFS and harms our states’ agricultural communities, which have already been affected by the Administration’s tariffs." (Inforum)
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