Minnesota
Winners unclear as pay transparency arrives in Minnesota
Pay transparency in MN: What’s the impact?
Anyone applying for a job in Minnesota this year should have a pretty good idea of how much the job pays.
(FOX 9) – Anyone applying for a job in Minnesota this year should have a pretty good idea of how much the job pays.
Pay transparency arrives
Minnesota moves: Employers have to list a salary range on job postings because of a new pay transparency law.
At least four other states beat Minnesota to the punch, and data from those states show some clear trends.
Transparency is way up, and not just in states where laws require it.
Economists at the Minneapolis Fed are trying to figure out exactly why and whether the laws are benefiting you.
Scroll the employment website Indeed and you’ll see the next assistant manager at the Cottage Grove Domino’s will earn up to $19.50 an hour and the next Walmart manager trainee in Red Wing will make between $65,000 and $80,000 a year.
Pay transparency arrived in Minnesota this year, but what’s not transparent yet is what impact the law will have.
“These laws are pretty new in the United States,” said Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis economist Ayushi Narayan.
Spreading clarity
Transparency rising: Economists at the Minneapolis Fed found a huge increase in transparency in four states where it’s been mandated by law for up to four years now.
But it’s also significantly up in states without mandates and they’re not sure why.
Narayan says the data she’s collected show it’s not necessarily driven by occupational patterns, the shrinking gender pay gap, or transparency laws in other states.
And neither high nor low unemployment rates seem to impact transparency.
“There’s been a pretty steady rise despite big fluctuations in the unemployment rate between 2019 and 2024,” Narayan said.
Increasing salaries
Early hope: She’s curious about research in other states showing slightly improved salaries follow transparency laws.
But the bottom line is, today, we know salaries for more jobs, but it’ll be a while before we know what else is changing.
“It would be really cool to see ‘are the wages increasing? Which employers are complying and which ones aren’t, and what does that mean for who we think is benefiting from the increases in pay transparency?’,” said Narayan.
What else changes?
Enforcement energy: One wildcard here is enforcement.
Even in states with transparency laws, only about 72% of jobs include salary ranges.
Minnesota may have the benefit of seeing how other states handle non-compliance before taking any action here.
Minnesota
Minnesota woman detained by ICE needs emergency surgery for tennis ball-sized ovarian cyst, lawmakers say
Minnesota lawmakers are calling for the humanitarian release of a woman detained earlier this year, amid Operation Metro Surge, who is suffering from a tennis ball-sized ovarian cyst.
Federal immigration agents arrested 23-year-old Andrea Pedro-Francisco in Burnsville on Feb. 5, just days before she says she was scheduled to have surgery.
Pedro-Francisco moved to Minnesota seeking asylum with her mother back in 2019. Right now, she is being held in a detention center in El Paso, Texas.
State lawmakers — including practicing ER physician Sen. Alice Mann, D-Edina — held a news conference Thursday morning at the Capitol to push for Pedro-Francisco’s immediate release.
“An ovarian cyst this big can put weight on the ovary and cause the ovary to twist onto itself, cutting off the ovary’s blood supply. This is a medical emergency,” Mann said. “This can impact fertility, and we are talking about a 23-year-old. If not treated, this can lead to infection and even death.”
Also on hand Thursday was North Dakota-based pastor Ellery Dykeman, who said he met with Pedro-Francisco last week in the detention center. Dykeman said she looked thinner than he had seen her in pictures.
Dykeman said Pedro-Francisco told him she is forced to climb up to a third-level bunk despite immense pain extending from the right side of her abdomen to her back.
Earlier this month, Democratic Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig said her team is tracking 20 medical cases with improper care within ICE detention. A quarter of them have serious conditions, her office says.
WCCO has reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Minnesota weather forecast. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Most of Minnesota will be under a marginal risk of severe weather on Thursday, with rain and rumbles expected.
Thursday weather forecast
Local perspective:
A line of storms is expected to develop in west-southwest Minnesota on Thursday and grow in coverage as well as intensity tracking east into the early evening.
Large hail and damaging winds are the prevalent threats, but an isolated tornado is also possible along the line.
Isolated showers are expected to form in the western part of Minnesota on Thursday morning.
Rain chances in the Twin Cities area increase in the afternoon, as a line pushes through with possible thunderstorms.
Stay Sky Aware with FOX 9 for the latest.
The Source: This story uses information from the FOX 9 weather forecast.
A TikTok creator is no longer banned from parks in St. Paul, Minnesota, after appealing the city’s restriction, according to his agent.
St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rodriguez earlier this month accused Josh Liljenquist of going to Pig’s Eye Park to “harass, record and profit from vulnerable adults residing there without said individuals’ permission.” Liljenquist, who is known for giving away food and cash in his videos, denied the allegation.
On Wednesday, Liljenquist’s agent shared a new letter from the city.
“Based on an evaluation of the facts of this situation as they were relayed during your appeal meeting, I will be rescinding your ban from our parks, effective immediately,” the letter from Rodriguez read.
Rodriguez also wrote the city expects “all residents and visitors to our parks to abide by the rules.”
“Our responsibility is to ensure park spaces remain safe, respectful, and accessible for all, and we appreciate your partnership in that effort,” the letter read.
Liljenquist told WCCO he has only recorded at Pig’s Eye Park once, and it was with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office’s consent. He said he and his videographer always get consent from individuals they film, too.
Local organizations that work with people experiencing homelessness are split on Liljenquist’s impact. Sue Phillips, director of the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing, said his content “is exploiting people experiencing homelessness/housing instability.” Feeding St. Paul founder Michael Brendale, on the other hand, said, “Josh has changed many lives, taken people off the streets.”
Liljenquist told WCCO he films his efforts instead of making them private in hopes of “inspiring other people to do it, showing that it doesn’t take a lot of money, it doesn’t take a lot of resources to go out there and do something for somebody.”
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