Connect with us

Minnesota

Minnesota Legislature to return with much done, much to do

Published

on

Minnesota Legislature to return with much done, much to do


The outside of the Minnesota State Capitol. (FOX 9)

The Minnesota Legislature will return from its Easter-Passover break on Tuesday with a remarkably excessive variety of payments already signed into regulation, however with loads of work forward to finish a balanced two-year funds within the six weeks earlier than the necessary adjournment on Could 22.

Advertisement

Democrats seized the second when lawmakers convened in January, utilizing their new management of each chambers and the governor’s workplace to hurry by a slew of priorities that they couldn’t move when Republicans managed the Senate. Gov. Tim Walz proclaimed: “The period of gridlock is over.” However the pace has pissed off Republicans, who really feel steamrollered and accuse Democrats of occurring a spending spree and rising the scale of presidency as a substitute of offering everlasting tax reduction.

An up to date forecast in February put Minnesota’s funds surplus at an unlimited $17.5 billion. Walz and Democratic leaders agreed final month on broad funds targets that add as much as practically $17.9 billion in new spending, together with $3 billion for tax cuts. Hammering out the small print is lawmakers’ primary job within the dwelling stretch of the 2023 session.

What have lawmakers achieved and what’s nonetheless within the works?

Advertisement

ABORTION

Minnesota Democrats credit score voter anger over final summer season’s U.S. Supreme Court docket ruling putting down Roe v. Wade for his or her robust exhibiting within the November elections. In order that they made abortion rights certainly one of their priorities for the session. Walz enacted the precise to abortion and different reproductive well being care in January, signing a invoice meant to make sure that Minnesota’s broad abortion rights protections stay in place.

Different payments are nonetheless advancing, together with one to repeal restrictions declared unconstitutional by a choose final summer season, and to fortify Minnesota’s standing as a refuge for sufferers from states who come for abortions. Republicans say all these payments go away Minnesota with no limits on abortion in any respect.

Advertisement

TAXES

Home and Senate committees will roll out the principle tax payments quickly. High Democrats have softened on the governor’s proposal for direct tax rebate funds and are able to reduce taxation of Social Safety to spare extra residents. However they’ve been chilly to calls by Republicans and a few Democrats to eradicate the tax utterly, saying the advantages would go to the wealthy.

Advertisement

The governor’s funds and another proposals additionally embody tax will increase, reminiscent of bumps in license charges, and native or metro-wide gross sales taxes earmarked for transportation, housing and different tasks. Proposed will increase in fishing license and state park charges have hit bipartisan opposition within the Senate.

TRANS RIGHTS

The Home strengthened protections for transgender kids and their households who come for gender-affirming care by making Minnesota a “trans refuge state,” bucking a nationwide backlash towards transgender rights. The invoice, which remains to be in committee within the Senate, would agency up protections lined by an government order that Walz signed.

Advertisement

FREE LUNCHES

Breakfasts and lunches will probably be free to all college students in Ok-12 public and constitution colleges beginning within the subsequent faculty yr, no matter household revenue. Lawmakers handed and the governor signed laws for the state to cowl the price.

Advertisement

PAID LEAVE

A paid household and medical go away program has had quite a few hearings and has a number of to go earlier than it reaches both ground. It could partially exchange as much as 12 weeks of wages in a 52-week interval to take care of a sick member of the family or a new child or adopted baby, and as much as 12 weeks for an worker’s personal sickness. Republicans and enterprise teams object as a result of it might be funded by a 0.7% payroll tax.

BONDING

Advertisement

A Democratic effort to move a $1.9 billion public works borrowing package deal often known as a bonding invoice that cleared the Home didn’t get the required GOP votes within the Senate to offer the required 60% supermajority. Senate Republicans need tax cuts in change. Democrats have threatened to move an all-cash tasks invoice as a substitute, which might not require GOP votes.

ELECTIONS

Advertisement

Walz signed a invoice to revive voting rights to felons once they go away jail as a substitute of once they’re off probation. Greater than 55,000 Minnesotans will profit. Supporters say it would assist reintegrate former inmates who’re disproportionately individuals of colour. Broader laws to ease registration and voting is approaching ground votes. It could enable 16-and-17-year-olds to pre-register. It could additionally penalize individuals who deliberately unfold disinformation to discourage Minnesotans from voting, and supply new protections for election employees.

GUN SAFETY

Two gun security proposals lastly bought hearings in a Senate committee the place they died in earlier periods when the GOP was in management. It’s unclear if they will move on the Senate ground, the place Democrats now maintain a one-seat majority. One would develop legal background checks for gun transfers. A “pink flag” regulation would let authorities briefly take weapons from people who find themselves a hazard to themselves or others. Within the Home, the 2 measures had been folded right into a public security invoice.

Advertisement

ENVIRONMENT

Minnesota utilities should get 100% of their electrical energy from carbon-free sources by 2040. Walz mentioned when he signed the invoice that he’s assured it would arise towards a threatened lawsuit from coal- and gas-producing North Dakota. His administration additionally needs to limit nonessential makes use of of “eternally chemical compounds” often known as PFAS.

Advertisement

MARIJUANA

Laws to legalize leisure marijuana has cleared greater than 20 committees between the Home and Senate however has extra to go. Whereas the Home handed a hashish invoice final yr, it’s not clear if there will probably be sufficient help on the Senate ground.

SPORTS BETTING

Advertisement

It’s an even-money wager on legalizing sports activities betting. Tribes may provide in-person betting at their casinos and distant wagering through cell gadgets. The massive query is whether or not supporters can discover sufficient votes within the Senate, the place some lawmakers wish to give the state’s two horse tracks a bit of the motion.



Source link

Minnesota

An Unusual Airport Is Closing in Minnesota

Published

on

An Unusual Airport Is Closing in Minnesota


A small airport with a bigger claim to fame is closing in northern Minnesota after more than a half-century of operation. The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport is so named because its runway crosses the US-Canada border, reports Minnesota Public Radio. In fact, it’s been hailed as “the world’s first binational airport,” notes the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Despite the bragging rights, however, the airport has been mostly used by hunters and fishermen, and the cost of maintenance has proven to be too much. The airport has a 3,297-foot runway, of which 2,350 feet are in Minnesota and the rest in Canada, per the Grand Forks Herald.

“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” says Ryan Gaug of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The airport opened in 1953 and is one of six now that straddle the border—but only Piney-Pinecreek has a paved runway. “It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” says Gaug. The agency has jointly owned the airport with the municipality of Piney, Manitoba, in Canada, but the town ended the arrangement because it was unable to meet the cost of maintenance. As such, “a colorful era in the history of Minnesota aviation” ends on Friday, per the Herald. (More Minnesota stories.)

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Minnesota

Two St. Stephen residents involved in injury crash on Highway 55 near Buffalo

Published

on

Two St. Stephen residents involved in injury crash on Highway 55 near Buffalo


Two St. Stephen residents were involved in an accident Christmas Eve morning.

The accident took place at roughly 7 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 55 and Highway 25 in Buffalo, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Road conditions were listed as wet at the time of the accident.

St. Stephen’s Hunter Merten, 24, and Amber Burns, 25, were heading west on Highway 55 when their Ford F150 collided with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep was heading east on Highway 55, and was allegedly turning northbound onto Highway 25 at the time of the accident.

The Jeep’s driver, 22-year-old Dakota Dimond of Maple Lake, was transported to Buffalo Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to the incident report. Burns was also taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Advertisement

All persons involved were wearing seatbelts.



Source link

Continue Reading

Minnesota

Blackhawks leave Minnesota empty-handed again entering holiday break

Published

on

Blackhawks leave Minnesota empty-handed again entering holiday break


ST. PAUL, Minn. — Most NHL arenas have been houses of horror for the Blackhawks in recent seasons, but none more so than the Xcel Energy Center.

The Hawks’ 4-3 loss Monday marked their eighth consecutive defeat in Minnesota, where they haven’t won since the 2018-19 season. The Hawks have lost 14 of 15 games against the Wild in any location since 2020.

Wild defenseman Brock Faber, who narrowly lost out on the Calder Trophy to Hawks star Connor Bedard last season, scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period. The Hawks weren’t able to penetrate the Wild’s 1-1-3 neutral-zone trap very often after that.

The Hawks enter the NHL’s three-day Christmas break with a 12-21-2 record, having dropped back-to-back games since their three-game winning streak.

Advertisement

‘‘When the game is on the line . . . we’ve got to be willing to go and play offensively,’’ interim coach Anders Sorensen said. ‘‘We sat back a little bit too much there. I thought we did that in the home games we played, but these past two road games, not so much.’’

Sorensen’s system changes have made the Hawks more aggressive to start games, but he agreed that the team subconsciously tends to fall back on conservative habits at times in crucial later-game situations.

So how can they break those habits?

‘‘Talk about it, work on it, show it,’’ Sorensen responded. ‘‘It’s going to be a process, for sure.’’

One bright spot was young forward Frank Nazar bouncing back from a rough outing Saturday against the Flames with a strong performance. Sorensen gave Nazar a season-high 16œ minutes of ice time, and the Hawks generated an 11-5 advantage in scoring chances with him on the ice.

Advertisement

Nazar also notched his first NHL point of the season with an assist on Nick Foligno’s goal in the second period, although the Wild responded within a minute to tie the score. That continued an ongoing Hawks problem with conceding quick-response goals.

‘‘[I] felt a lot better out there,’’ Nazar said. ‘‘I came back after that [Flames] game wanting to do better and not happy with myself, so [I tried] to do my best today.’’

Bedard, who scored the Hawks’ first goal, now has 11 points in nine games under Sorensen. He’s creeping back toward a point-per-game pace with 30 points in 35 games this season.

Swedish roots

Goalie Arvid Soderblom, the Hawks’ lone Swedish player at the moment, never crossed paths with Sorensen before joining the Hawks’ organization. Soderblom grew up in Gothenburg, which is on the west coast of the country, whereas Sorensen grew up and coached in Sodertalje, a city near Stockholm on the east coast. The cities are about a four-hour drive apart.

Nonetheless, Soderblom has heard that the hockey community throughout Sweden is excited about Sorensen becoming the NHL’s first Swedish-born head coach.

Advertisement

‘‘Of course, you see it has been recognized at home, and people are happy for him,’’ Soderblom said. ‘‘It’s great for Swedish hockey . . . to show that it’s possible. There’s a lot of great coaches in Sweden, so hopefully he can show the way and we can have some more coaches over here.’’

Kubalik’s decline

Looking back at the 2020 Calder Trophy voting results is a mind-blowing exercise.

The top two finishers were Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, who since have won Norris Trophies. In third was ex-Hawks forward Dominik Kubalik, who now is playing in Switzerland. Behind Kubalik — in fourth place — was Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, who also has turned into a world-class star.

Kubalik’s fall out of the NHL has been as steep as his rise into it. He erupted for 30 goals in 68 games for the Hawks in 2019-20, but he was so awful on the Senators last season that he couldn’t even get an NHL contract as a 28-year-old this past summer.

Notes

The Hawks won’t play again until Friday at the Sabres, who finally snapped their 13-game losing streak with a 7-1 blowout Monday of the Islanders.

Advertisement

• It seems likely the Hawks will keep Nazar and defenseman Kevin Korchinski in the NHL for the time being, rather than sending them back to the AHL.

Sorensen said Monday, with regard to Korchinski specifically, that he’s ‘‘playing well, so we’ll keep playing him here.’’





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending