Good morning, and welcome to another Monday. 

Expect a late debate in the Minnesota House of Representatives today on the bill to legalize marijuana. MPR’s Angela Davis did a show on the proposal last week and there’s a lot of good information here. 

While the marijuana bill is likely to get a lot of attention today, lawmakers are also working on a new two-year state budget. Some of the bills are already headed to conference committees this week. Here’s a rundown of some of the issues that need to be worked out between the House and Senate, including taxes, school funding, transportation, health care and public safety.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hold oral arguments Wednesday on a property rights case involving a Minnesota woman, Geraldine Tyler, who had her condominium seized and sold by Hennepin County after she failed to pay five years of property taxes. MPR’s Abbey Machtig and Kirsti Marohn report the court's ruling could upend how Minnesota and 11 other states collect the profits from the sale of tax-forfeited properties. A lobbyist for local government says a ruling against the county would have a devastating impact on local taxpayers. Hennepin County seized 571 properties through the state forfeiture law between 2013 until 2022, according to county records. An MPR News analysis of the data found that roughly 1 in 3 of the properties sold by the county generated additional equity above what the homeowner owed in taxes and fees. However, the county has overall lost money by seizing and selling tax-forfeited property since 2013. Legal experts say a ruling in Tyler’s favor could have impacts beyond tax forfeitures. They say any regulation involving property rights could be challenged, even those designed to help low-income residents. 

The Minnesota Senate on Friday passed a trio of proposals aimed at legally safeguarding people who come to Minnesota for abortion and gender-affirming care and outlawing what’s called conversion therapy for minors. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports the moves come as states around the country have banned or seriously limited access to abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. And after 12 states — including Minnesota’s neighbors Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota — have banned gender-affirming care for minors. Passage of the bills in the Senate sends each proposal to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk, and he has said he will sign them. 

In a sudden shift, the state is negotiating an agreement to have Gov. Walz and his family move into the University of Minnesota’s soon-to-be-vacant presidential residence while the governor’s mansion undergoes repairs. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports it would mean breaking a $17,000 a month rental deal for a suburban home that was due to house the first family for more than a year beginning this summer. The deal with the university, which still needs signoff from the Board of Regents during a special meeting on Monday, is a fraction of the price — $4,400 per month plus utilities. University Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations Myron Frans said state officials contacted the school about the possibility after President Joan Gabel announced her upcoming departure. “It was one of those situations where the opportunity for the governor to take residence here and the fact that the residence was going to be open came at the same time and it worked out really well,” said Frans, a former agency commissioner under Walz. 

A number of Republican legislators have signed onto a bill to create a commission to study and recommend a pathway for border counties in Western Minnesota to leave Minnesota and be annexed by the Dakotas. House File 3278 is sponsored by Rep. Matt Grossell of Clearbrook. Former MPR News Reporter David Montgomery took a look at a similar proposal a few years back and concluded it’s unlikely to ever happen: Minnesota would go from a population on par with Wisconsin and Colorado to one closer to Oregon or Oklahoma, while South Dakota would rise from one of the smallest states to in between New Mexico and Kansas. The seceding counties are also relatively poor, with a gross domestic product — the sum of all goods and services produced within its borders — of around $51,000 per person, compared to $63,000 for current South Dakota and $69,000 for current Minnesota, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis figures. The counties remaining in Minnesota would have a new per capita GDP around $76,000. 

Tell MPR News: What do you hope lawmakers accomplish this session?