Good morning, and welcome to Monday. Legislators must end their session two weeks from today. Let’s take a look at the Digest.
1. DFLSen. Amy Klobuchar was in Iowa Sunday, raising speculation among some that she has an interest in higher office. She deflected any questions about 2020 plans, saying Democrats have to broaden their base beyond being a bicoastal party. "It's important to have people speaking out at this time of great turmoil who are not just from the coasts, who are Democrats from the Heartland," Klobuchar said after a closed-press, $50-per-person fundraiser with about 50 Linn County Democrats. She made appearances Sunday in Marion and later at a Polk County Democratic Party event in Des Moines - to tell Democrats it's time to put the last election behind them and focus on future elections. Although she often is included on the long list of possible 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, Klobuchar insists her focus is on winning re-election in 2018. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
2. President Trump is expected to announce today that he will nominate Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the 8th Circuit federal bench. It’s part of the president’s plan to reshape the judiciary. Stras, 42, isa former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas and law professor at the University of Minnesota. He was appointed to the Minnesota court by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Stras was on a list of possible appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court that Trump released during the presidential campaign. Theadministration may believe that Senate confirmation and a record of federal judicial opinions will make Stras and the other judges Trump appoints more attractive candidates for eventual elevation to the Supreme Court. (New York Times)
3. If Minnesota lawmakers can resolve the differences in bills that have already cleared the House and Senate in a way that wins the approval of Gov. Mark Dayton they can accomplish one of the biggest reforms to state education policy in recent history by overhauling the way teachers are licensed. The legislation includes input from teachers, school leaders and state officials who have been pushing for years to fix a system many believe is confusing and unfair.The proposed changes would consolidate standards and teacher licensing under a new Professional Educator Licensing Board. It would create a four-tiered system for licenses and streamline the process for credentialingteachers trained out-of-state or in unconventional ways. (Pioneer Press)
4. The vote by Republicans in the U.S. House last week for a bill to scrap and replace the Affordable Care Act appears to have prompted a Democrat to announce a challenge to U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen.Twin Cities businessman Dean Phillips says he moved up his timeline to begin the process to declare as a candidate. He said he expects to officially announce in the coming week. Phillips' family started the Phillips Distilling Co., a Minneapolis company that created Phillips Vodka and Prairie Organic spirits, he also owned Talenti Gelato. He has sold both of those businesses and in recent years has worked on philanthropic issues and co-founded Penny's Coffee, a Minneapolis coffee shop near downtown. (WCCO-TV)
5. A rally in support of President Trump over the weekend drew a larger group of anti-Trump demonstrators and some self-described supporters of white rights. As a small group of the president’s supporters held an orderly rally inside the Capitol rotunda Saturday, the other groups gathered outside on the Capitol steps. State patrol officers stood as a barrier between one larger group protesting Trump and the other which included people who said they were standing for the rights of white people. Throughout the afternoon they exchanged heated insults. It was a tense situation, but no one was arrested. (MPR News)
