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 September 16, 2019 | | Posted at 6:25 a.m. by Bill Wareham |
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A new week, a new Digest. 1. A stumble as first lady takes a step out front. Gwen Walz and close advisers had it all mapped out: Promote a PBS documentary about rigorous college coursework for prison inmates — a concept they want to replicate in Minnesota — and let the first lady step out as a leader on criminal justice issues. Walz and governor’s office staff helped choreograph the plan last May, according to interviews and recently released documents. It involved sneak peeks of the film for state decision makers months ahead of its airing on public television and panel discussions she would take part in to underscore key themes. A four-page briefing memo prepared by the governor’s office said an objective was to “create awareness about the first lady’s standing on the issue of criminal justice reform and the policy work she is involved in in the administration.” Not all went according to plan, and instead the event revealed the risks associated with the first lady taking a prominent role in a high-profile policy area. (MPR News)
2. Shifting political geographies. When Rep. Tina Liebling began knocking on doors during her first race for the Legislature in 2002, some Rochester voters told her they were — “shhh” — Democrats. “They would say, ‘I’m a DFLer too but don’t tell anyone,’ ” said Liebling, who in 2004 became the first Democrat in the era of partisan legislative elections to win a seat from Rochester. Now, the DFL is making an aggressive play for votes in fast-growing, rapidly diversifying Rochester — county seat of Olmsted County — which anchors southern Minnesota and is home to Mayo Clinic, the state’s largest private employer. But there’s another side of the story. In northeastern Minnesota, a union and DFL stronghold going back nearly a century, Democrats’ firm grip is slipping. An aging population there is comfortable with the cultural conservatism and aggressive trade posture of President Donald Trump — especially when it comes to helping the local steel industry. There’s also a wariness of a Democratic Party whose center of gravity is being pulled ideologically to the left and geographically south toward the more urban sensibilities of the Twin Cities and other growing parts of the state, like Rochester. (Star Tribune)
3. Walz reports Asian unease over U.S.-China trade. Just back from a trip to Asia, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Friday that his state’s farmers remain in desperate need of a U.S. trade deal with China. Walz recapped discussions he had with trading partners in Japan and South Korea, which continue to be a reliable destination for soybeans and other crops grown in Minnesota and across the Midwest. But he’s concerned that export markets that are closing amid a U.S.-China trade dispute that has caused tit-for-tat tariffs.Walz said his delegation on the six-day trip heard from business leaders and government officials that Japan has a limited opportunity to accept more agriculture imports from Minnesota. "There’s just no substitute for 1.6 billion consumers who are hungry to get our China trade negotiations normalized," Walz said. "There is not enough market in the rest of the world to absorb our capacity." Walz said he picked up on uneasiness in other Asian nations about the tariff battle among two of the world’s economic powerhouses. (MPR News)
4. DHS's Harpstead promotes trust-building. Minnesota’s new Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead has been at the helm of the state’s largest and most troubled agency for just over a week. And she is already charting a path for her first 90 days and beyond. Her top priority: Restoring trust in the sprawling Department of Human Services, which has come under fire in recent months for unexplained turnover in its leadership ranks, allegations of whistleblower retaliation and its mishandling of more than $70 million in federal Medicaid funds. A panel of state senators met twice in the past month to take a deeper look at problems within the agency. Harpstead is the state’s third Human Services commissioner in as many months. Former Commissioner Tony Lourey, who Gov. Tim Walz first appointed to the post, resigned abruptly and without explanation in July, just six months into his tenure. Walz tapped state government veteran Pam Wheelock as interim commissioner until he named Harpstead in August. (Pioneer Press)
5. Opt-outs put accountability system to the test . On the first day of statewide exams this spring, Mike Hamernick, director of Northern Lights Community School, quickly realized he had a problem. One by one that morning, his students came to his office at the charter school in the Iron Range community of Warba and handed him the same thing: a form, signed by a parent, opting them out of taking the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, or MCAs. “I had a line of kids out the door, just [handing in] the forms,” he said. By the time he reached the end of the line, Hamernick had excused nearly all the school’s students from testing: Out of about 50 students eligible to take the exams, only 10 sat for the math test and four for reading. The rest were put on a bus and sent to the town’s community center, where teachers scrambled to put together an impromptu day of classes. The sudden surge of test opt-outs isn’t unique to Warba. Around the state, the rate of students choosing to bypass the state’s largest standardized exams has been steadily rising for more than a decade. Though the overall number of students opting out statewide remains low — just under 2% declined to take the math test last year, and about 1.5% opted out of reading — there are a growing number of schools where more than half the students don’t take the MCAs. ( Star Tribune) | |
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