Eight Minnesota DFL lawmakers have proposed a bill that would penalize cities and counties that do not fly the 2024 Minnesota state flag. 

“The commissioner of revenue must reduce the aid to a county or city … ten percent if the county or city flies or otherwise makes use of a state flag other than the design of the state flag as certified in the report of the State Emblems Redesign Commission,” the proposal says.

State DFL Rep. Mike Frieberg is one of the authors of the bill.

“I’ve been a little disappointed in the cities around Minnesota that have been kind of manufacturing this culture war over this state flag,” said Freiberg. “I felt like it was important for there to kind of be a statement legislatively in support of the new state flag, which is the official state flag.”

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is also running for Minnesota governor, says the bill has no chance.

“That bill is dead on arrival. There is no way this bill is moving through,” said Demuth. “To know that Democrats are trying to take funding away from our police and fire, from our cities, it’s ridiculous. We have real work that could help Minnesotans.”

On Monday, the Inver Grove Heights City Council voted to fly the old state flag on city property after more than an hour of public comment, joining other cities across the state, including Elk River, Champlin, Zumbrota and Plainview, in doing so.

Inver Grove Heights officials expect the switch back to the old flag will cost around $500 and take a few weeks to complete.

In 2023, the Legislature, which was DFL-controlled at the time, created a flag commission tasked with redesigning the flag and the state seal. The newly created symbols took effect in 2024. Freiberg helped lead the effort as lawmakers criticized the flag design and depiction of Native Americans.

“The old flag is not only kind of boring but also kind of racist,” Freiberg said.

Demuth says the flag commission’s decision process didn’t truly represent people across the state.

“They felt as Minnesotans, they were disrespected in the process and everyone I have talked to wants the old flag back or at least a choice in the matter,” she said.

The redesign commission said it heard over 20,000 public comments and considered more than 2,000 designs.

“We heard from thousands of Minnesotans as part of the flag process. It’s the job of the Legislature to choose the state symbols. That’s what we did. We followed the process,” Freiberg said.

A veteran St. Louis journalist was killed in a freak accident Thursday when two tires came flying off a tractor-trailer and crashed through the roof of his vehicle.

Local media mainstay Ray Hartmann, 73, was driving eastbound on I-64 near I-270 in St. Louis when two tires went airborne after zooming off a tractor-trailer ahead of him and struck the roof of his car around 2 p.m., KMOV reported, citing the Missouri State Highway Patrol. 

Hartmann died at the scene of the freak accident, according to a statement issued by his long-term friend and attorney, Andy Leonard, 5 On Your Side reported. 

“The news covered the accident last night, and I can confirm that Ray was in his car when a tire crashed through his windshield. We believe that he died at the scene,” Leonard said in the statement. 

He is survived by his wife, Kerri Hartmann, and their two children, Ben and Brielle, who were each away at college at the time of the accident.

“It’s such a tragic loss. He was dearly loved. We’re going to miss him so much,” Kerri Hartmann told 5 On Your Side in a statement.

Hartmann was a much-loved mainstay within St. Louis media for almost 40 years, making his mark in print journalism first before moving in front of the camera. 

He is known for founding the Riverfront Times and St. Louis Magazine and for spending nearly four decades on Nine PBS’ debate program, “Donnybrook,” which he co-founded in 1987.

He took a step back from the media in 2024 to run for Congress in Missouri’s 2nd District. He won the Democratic primary but lost to incumbent Ann Wagner, according to 5 On Your Side.

“His departure was too soon,” said Charlie Brennan, Hartmann’s long-term friend and host of “Donnybrook.”

“I think he had books to write, columns to write, causes to champion, and I’m very sorry that he’s not going to be around to get to those,” he said.

Fellow panellist Alvin Reid said that the late journalist was determined to make a difference in the Gateway City, no matter what show he was on. 

“Ray was determined to make a difference in St. Louis. He wanted to make a difference on every show,” Reid said. 

“As long as we do this show, Ray will be a part of this show and a part of St. Louis,” he said.

Even with his illustrious and accomplished career, Hartmann’s colleagues remembered him first and foremost as a proud husband and father.

“I’m already missing him,” Reid said. “I really do feel like I’m talking about Ray in the present. I can’t believe I’m talking about Ray in the past. That hasn’t really hit me yet.”

The investigation into Thursday’s fatal crash remains ongoing.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska on Friday will become the first state to enforce work, volunteer or education requirements for new Medicaid applicants, eight months before the federally mandated requirements kick in.

Advocates worry that the state is launching so rapidly that key details remain unresolved and some people who are eligible for coverage will lose it.

State officials say they’re prepared, training staff and sending letters, emails and texts to people who could be impacted.

Health policy experts, advocates and other states will be watching closely.

“It can be used as a lesson for other states, both where things go well and where things don’t go well,” said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

The law is expected to leave some without insurance

The work requirement is part of a broad tax and policy law that President Donald Trump signed last year. Nebraska Republican Gov. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced in December that the state would implement it eight months before it was required, saying the aim was “making sure we get every able-bodied Nebraskan to be a part of our community.”

The state had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S. in February: 3.1%

The federal policy won’t apply to all Medicaid beneficiaries, just those who are enrolled under an expansion that most states chose to make to allow more low-income people to get healthcare coverage.

Under the change, many Medicaid participants ages 19 through 64 will have to show that they work or do community service at least 80 hours a month, or are enrolled in school at least half-time. They’ll also have their eligibility reviewed every six months rather than annually, so they could lose coverage faster if their circumstances change.

Exceptions will be made for people who are too medically frail to work or in addiction treatment programs, among others.

An Urban Institute report from March estimated that the changes would mean about 5 million to 10 million people fewer people nationally would be enrolled in Medicaid than would have been otherwise.

Choices states make about how to run their programs are expected to be a major factor in exactly how many people lose coverage.

“The higher the administrative burden, the more likely people are found noncompliant and disenrolled,” said Michael Karpman, who researches health policy at Urban.

Nebraska plans to use data to help determine who qualifies

Not everyone who has coverage will need to submit proof that they’re working.

The state says it will first match enrollees with other data it has to see if participants are working or exempt. The state says it has that information for most of the roughly 70,000 people enrolled in Medicaid through the expansion.

That leaves between 20,000 and 28,000 who would have to provide more information, plus an average of 3,000 to 4,000 new enrollees each month.

At first, they will just need to show that they met the requirements in just one month of the previous 12. The time frame will shift to six months in 2027.

There’s some flexibility. For instance, instead of showing they work 80 hours in a month, someone could instead provide records that demonstrate they earned at least $580, the amount someone earning minimum wage would make in 80 hours.

People who don’t submit requested information within 30 days of being asked could have their applications denied or lose coverage they already have.

The change is causing worry and confusion

Bridgette Annable, who lives in southwest Nebraska, received a letter saying she must meet the work requirements or lose the benefits that pay for her insulin and diabetic supplies.

The 21-year-old mother now has a part-time job, despite being advised against it to protect her mental health. She’s worried about her ability to keep working.

“I am working 30 to 25 hours a week — as much as my employer can provide,” Annable said. “Although I call out of work often due to fibromyalgia pain and bipolar episodes that leave me too tired to leave the house. I have enough energy to take care of my daughter and do some cleaning, but that’s about it.”

Amy Behnke, the CEO of the Health Center Association of Nebraska, said that staff members who help people enroll with Medicaid and their clients have a lot of questions, including some that the state hasn’t yet answered.

Some examples: Apprenticeship programs are supposed to count for work requirements, but does that apply only to those certified by the state’s labor department? There’s an exemption for people who travel to a hospital for care, but there’s not clarity on how far the journey must be.

KFF’s Tolbert noted that the state issued its 295-page list last week of conditions that could qualify someone as medically frail. “We don’t know if it’s a comprehensive list,” she said.

“The speed at which we are choosing to implement work requirements hasn’t left a lot of space for really meaningful communication,” Behnke said.

And Nebraska could have to make changes after the federal government provides guidance that is expected in June.

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Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.