| Good morning. and happy Monday. Time to start a new work week whether we’re ready or not. Maybe you haven’t been following the news too closely and missed Republican Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt’s decision to give House members a raise after all. Here’s some other news you may have missed, courtesy of the Digest. 1. As you have no doubt heard by now, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges shook up the city’s police department late Friday by forcing Chief Janeé Harteau out and picking assistant chief Medaria Arradondo as the new boss. Arradondo was born and raised in Minneapolis. He joined the force in 1989 and slowly moved through the ranks. Harteau appointed him as her assistant chief in April. Arradondo has spent much of his career trying to mend relations between the department and communities of color. But support for him to be confirmed as chief is not universal. ( MPR News) 2. Minnesota has repaired or replaced about 120 bridges in the past decade as part of a special funding program authorized after an Interstate 35W span plunged into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring 145 others. State leaders set aside $2.5 billion for the program over the past decade, allowing Minnesota to more aggressively tackle a backlog of bridge repairs. It also has left the state with one of the lowest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the nation. ( Star Tribune) 3. Gov. Mark Dayton complains recent changes to the Minnesota estate tax benefit “only a handful of the richest people in Minnesota.” But top Republicans say families shouldn’t have to pay twice for being successful. It’s one of the reasons Dayton is appealing his court dispute with the Legislature to the Minnesota Supreme Court after he lost in district court. The tax bill Dayton reluctantly signed earlier this year exempts more large estates from Minnesota’s tax. ( MPR News) 4. The uncertainty surrounding the health care bill in Washington has left the future of the Affordable Care Act’s medical device tax up in the air. The Republican bill awaiting action in the Senate kills the tax, which is currently suspended until the end of the year. The latest budget estimates show repeal of the tax will remove $19.6 billion from the federal revenue stream from 2018-2026. The House has passed multiple bipartisan bills repealing the tax only to have them flounder in the Senate, where repeal was seen as an attack on the ACA. After 79 senators, including Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, cast nonbinding, symbolic votes opposing the tax, a two-year moratorium on collection was placed in the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Both senators initially voted for the tax. Klobuchar and Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen believe it will be killed no matter what bill finally passes. (Star Tribune) 5. Minnesota Republican Party Chair Jennifer Carnahan surprised political insiders when she beat several party veterans despite having just one bit of political experience on her résumé: a losing bid for state Senate in 2016. Now she’s learning the ropes of building a state political party, meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House and trying to lead Minnesota Republicans out of years of financial struggles and a losing streak in statewide races that stretches back more than a decade. Still, she calls herself an outsider as Republicans gear up for some big statewide races next year. ( Star Tribune) | 