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Minnesota lawmakers eye potential impacts of federal budget proposals on state

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Minnesota lawmakers eye potential impacts of federal budget proposals on state


ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Senate Finance Committee spent some of Thursday morning

analyzing proposed budget

cuts from the U.S. House’s budget resolution passed Tuesday, Feb. 25, and how they could affect the state’s budget moving forward.

Minnesota Management and Budget representatives on Thursday, Feb. 27, advised committee members of potential hurdles. State lawmakers must pass a budget this session, and with a federal budget proposal that asks for

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$2 trillion in spending cuts

, they are unsure of what that means for the state’s budget.

Under the proposed federal budget, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees the national Medicaid program, would need to make $880 billion in cuts.

“I want to be clear about what we’re talking about — the numbers of $880 billion in potential cuts to Medicaid — I have severe concerns about that, as do many Minnesotans,” Sen. Liz Boldon, DFL-Rochester, said at the hearing. “That’s not just numbers on a spreadsheet. That is care for people, that is seniors, that is children, that is people with disabilities, that is care that people need and deserve.”

Minnesota’s budget forecast in November showed a looming

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$5 billion deficit by 2028

, after coming off an

$18 billion surplus in 2023

. A new budget forecast is expected this week, but Ahna Minge, MMB state budget director, clarified that the new forecast does not include pending cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration or the federal budget, which has only passed the U.S. House.

Under the current operating budget for 2024-25, the state has a total of $119 billion in revenue, with 34% coming from federal funds. In 2025 alone, the state has budgeted $23 billion in federal funds — including $11 billion for Medicaid — according to MMB’s presentation last week.

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Dave Greeman, chief financial officer of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, said the impact on Medicaid is still unclear, but if that reduction is distributed proportionately across all states, Minnesota could see a loss of $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion in federal Medicaid funds in 2027.

Ahna Minge, State Budget Director with Minnesota Management and Budget presents to the Senate Finance Committee on potential federal cuts on Feb. 27, 2025.

Mary Murphy / Forum News Service

“I think it’s safe to say that the loss of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding would significantly impact the state’s financial position,” Minge said. “So the example that Mr. Greeman provided … that’s about $1.2 to $1.3 billion a year, so about two and a half billion dollars a biennium, which is not something that the general fund is able to absorb.”

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Medicaid currently covers about

1.4 million Minnesotans

— almost a quarter of the population — including nearly 600,000 children, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

MedicaidScreen Shot 2025-02-28 at 11.45.06 AM.png

The percentage of Minnesota’s population enrolled in Medicaid, according to Minnesota Management and Budget.

Contributed / Minnesota Management and Budget

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The state has also budgeted $1.6 billion in SNAP funding in 2025. The federal budget proposal

called for $230 billion in cuts

from the Agriculture Committee, which oversees SNAP.

In Minnesota, SNAP provides food assistance for 456,000 low-income Minnesota families with children, seniors, adults with disabilities and other adults, with an average benefit amount of $6.16 per day.

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Screen Shot 2025-02-28 at 11.45.25 AM.png

Minnesota’s budgeted federal funds for fiscal year 2025 show Medicaid taking up the largest portion with $11.7 billion, according to Minnesota Management and Budget.

Contributed / Minnesota Management and Budget

After the presentation by MMB, Sen. Rich Draheim, R-Madison Lake, said that while some “what if” discussions are good to have, he wants more focus on the state budget rather than proposed federal budgets.

“We’re looking for a headline here and a distraction,” he said. “We should be looking in our own mirror … We have our own problems here that we have to work through together. It has to be a bipartisan solution.”

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Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, said the presentation was warranted given the scope of the proposals being made at the federal level.

“Those are huge numbers,” he said. “We just needed to have a presentation on this so we have better preparations to put our budget together with that … This is unprecedented. I think people want change at times, but planned, thoughtful change that makes sense.”

Walz responds to potential federal cuts

Gov. Tim Walz has proposed a plan to “make insurance companies pay their fair share.”

Under the proposal, announced in a press release Thursday, insurance companies would be required to create a fund that covers high-cost procedures. Walz’s proposal would also increase the surcharge on health maintenance organizations from 0.6% to 1.25% of “total premium revenue.”

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“This is a case where the state can and will shore up against some of the most drastic, and, quite honestly, to me, some of the more cruel cuts that are coming out of the federal government,” he said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

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Gov. Tim Walz announces on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, his plan for health insurance companies to help fund high-cost procedures in the state.

Mary Murphy / Forum News Service

Walz said the proposal would shift the responsibility for the state share of reinsurance to insurers rather than taxpayers.

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“We’re simply asking our health insurance companies to help with that bill,” he said. “Means that we can save the money in the general fund to make up for the cuts that are coming to Medicaid and to some of the things that we know Minnesotans are going to need.”





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Utah Mammoth take down Minnesota 5-2 to end the Wild’s winning streak at 6

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Utah Mammoth take down Minnesota 5-2 to end the Wild’s winning streak at 6



The Wild were taken down by the Utah Mammoth 5-2 on Friday night to end Minnesota’s winning streak at six games. 

Lawson Crouse scored twice and U.S. Olympian Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists for Utah.

Logan Cooley and Barrett Hayton also scored and Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves to help the Mammoth rebound from a 4-2 home loss to NHL-leading Colorado on Wednesday night in their return from the Olympic break. Utah began the night in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

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U.S. Olympian Matt Boldy scored and assisted on Kirill Kaprizov’s goal for Minnesota. Second behind Central Division-rival Colorado in the West, the Wild are 9-2-1 in their last 12. They beat the Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night in Denver.

Cooley opened the scoring with a short-handed goal with 6:37 left in the first period. The former University of Minnesota star got the puck on the right side off a deflection and put a shot between Wallstedt’s legs for his 15th goal.

Keller scored his 18th at 4:26 of the second. Nick Schmaltz forced a turnover on a forecheck and fed Keller on the right side.

Crouse made it 3-0 at 7:49 of the second. He came down the middle, took a pass from Keller and beat Wallstedt with a backhander.

Kaprizov countered for Minnesota on a power play with 5:57 left in the second. He has 33 goals this season.

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Hayton made it 4-1 on a power play at 1:19 of the third, and Crouse added his 16th of the season on a tip with 7:12 to go.

Boldy got his 35th of the season with 5:57 remaining.

Up next

Wild: Host St. Louis on Sunday.

Mammoth: Host Chicago on Sunday.

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Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota

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Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota


Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.

Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.

Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.

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Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.

The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.

The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.

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The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.

The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.

Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.

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Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters

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Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters


A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.

The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.

In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.

Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”

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The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.

“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.

All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”

Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.

Don Lemon reporting from an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.@TheDonLemonShow via YouTube

This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

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According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.

The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”

Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.

Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, Cities Church protest arraignment, St. Paul, Minn., February 2026
Nekima Levy Armstrong in St. Paul, Minn., on Feb. 13.Carlos Gonzalez / Star Tribune via Getty Images

In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”

Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.

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