Good morning, and welcome to Thursday. Here’s the Digest. 1. Survey shows a big jump in student vaping. One in 4 Minnesota 11th graders reported using an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, and Minnesota youth are poorly informed about the potential health risks of vaping. The data from this year’s Minnesota Student Survey is likely to heighten concerns over the increase in vaping among children. The latest data, released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health, represents a 54 percent increase from the 2016 student survey that found 17 percent of 11th graders reporting they vaped. The Health Department said jump among eighth graders is even more significant — from 5.7 percent in 2016 reporting they used an e-cigarette in the past month, to 11 percent this year. In response, Gov. Tim Walz directed his administration to launch an aggressive outreach campaign to schools as they struggle with vaping among students, and to come up with policy proposals for the 2020 Legislature to combat youth vaping. “Vaping is a public health crisis for young Minnesotans, and it is critical that we act now to bring the rate down,” Walz said. Associated Press
2. Concerns about crime in downtown Minneapolis. Business leaders Wednesday reiterated the call for more police officers to patrol downtown Minneapolis after a summer of high-profile robberies and assaults, and just days after a fatal shooting in the city’s theater district. Their request, made at a news conference Wednesday, was amplified by a City Council member representing part of downtown, who said she would like to hire more officers and rethink other policies to improve safety in the area. “We certainly acknowledge incidents are going to continue to occur, but they can’t at the rate and level and with the severity that we’ve seen recently. It’s just not acceptable,” said Steve Cramer, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. “We need more presence and we need more continued proactive policing.” Long-term trends show a decline in violent crime in Minneapolis and across the state. But a string of random robberies and attacks have shaken the perception of safety downtown, home to nearly 50,000 people. Concerns about downtown crime have flared up every few years in Minneapolis going back decades. But City Council Member Lisa Goodman, who represents the section of downtown where Saturday’s fatal shooting took place, said she can only think of one or two other times where people felt more concerned about public safety since she joined the council. She has fielded e-mails and calls, many of them from millennials, who say they are worried about walking outside after their shifts end at downtown bars and restaurants. “They don’t see visible public safety activity on Nicollet Mall. They feel unsafe on Hennepin Avenue. There are problems in parts of Loring Park,” she said. “I believe my constituents when they say they don’t feel safe, and I don’t think this is a perception of safety issue.” She said the city should hire at least 30 new officers next year, more than double the number proposed by Mayor Jacob Frey in his budget. Star Tribune
3. Erin Murphy launches challenge to longtime DFL Sen. Dick Cohen. Murphy left the Legislature after 2018, when she ran instead for governor. She won the state DFL endorsement but lost to Tim Walz in a primary. Cohen said there hasn’t been ill-will between the two. He backed Walz ahead of the DFL state convention but said he later threw his support to Murphy during their summer primary race. Walz, who moved into the Summit Avenue residence after winning the governor’s office last year, is now a voter in the district. He declined to take sides Wednesday. “My focus is on making sure we have a working Democratic majority in the Senate and that’s where my first concern is,” Walz said. “I’ll let that work itself out.” He praised Cohen as “a great voice and a supporter on the Senate side.” Murphy rejected the idea that the governor’s race led to a political fallout with Cohen. Murphy said she recently informed Cohen of her intentions over coffee. “Neither of us tried to talk the other out of the race. We each have to make our own decisions. Elections are choices. Elections are meant to be contests. I believe he has served this district honorably. And I have something to offer and so does he and we will bring that to voters and it will be up to them.” Cohen said it’s too soon to say if he’ll honor the party’s endorsement next year or press ahead to a possible summer primary regardless. Murphy said she will abide by the endorsement process. MPR News
4. Another expensive problem at DHS. A multi-state audit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found Minnesota made $3.7 million in payments over a two year period for deceased enrollees in state health care programs. The federal audit, sent to Minnesota’s Department of Human Service this week, said the payments occurred because a new computer system set up to comply with federal eligibility requirements didn’t have the most up-to-date information about people enrolled in state programs, including those who had died. The state started fixing the issue before the audit, and the $3.7 million in “unallowable” payments were a fraction of the $15 billion in proper payments made during that time, according to a release from DHS. “Ensuring our records are up-to-date so we do not pay for individuals who are no longer receiving care is a continual challenge,” DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said in the statement. “We gather death information from many different sources, which do not always report in a timely manner.” But news of the payments comes after months of issues within the massive state agency, including the sudden resignation of top leaders, including former Commissioner Tony Lourey, and discovery of millions in overpayments to two tribes for substance abuse treatments going back more than five years. MPR News
5. GOP lawmakers raise DHS problems at first day of mini-session. Health experts, physicians and pharmacists on Wednesday weighed in on why prescription drug prices have ballooned in Minnesota and elsewhere and what the state could do to stave off the increases. The conversation was one of the first meetings of the Minnesota House of Representatives' mini session in the southeastern part of the state. Minnesota lawmakers met with experts at the University of Minnesota Rochester in an effort to draft policy changes based on professional insight. Lawmakers on the panel agreed the state could take additional steps to make prescription drugs more affordable for Minnesotans but they split at times on the best way to do that. And even before the panel discussion started, a partisan rift arose about what was being discussed at the hearing and what wasn't. Republican lawmakers said their calls to hold hearings about top-level turnover and several reports of misspending at the Minnesota Department of Human Services hadn't been taken seriously by Democrats who control the House. They said people across greater Minnesota shared those concerns and should get answers as House lawmakers fan out to Winona and surrounding cities. INFORUM | 