Good morning, and happy Friday. 

On the radio today I’ll talk to Attorney General Keith Ellison about everything he’s been working on (spoiler alert: it’s a lot). Then Secretary of State Steve Simon will give an update of new election laws in the works. And I’ll talk to presidential historian Timothy Naftali of New York University about the charges against former President Donald Trump.  Tune in at noon on MPR News.

Ellison will intervene in the case of two teenagers accused of shooting and killing a woman at the direction of her ex-boyfriend. Ellison publicly disagreed with Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s decision to offer the two juveniles plea deals in the killing of Zaria McKeever, 23, in November 2022. Late Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz assigned the case to Ellison  after Ellison requested it. “I have absolute confidence in Attorney General Ellison,” Walz said in a statement. "He has requested this important case and stepped up once again to serve the people of Minnesota. I know Keith will work tirelessly to seek justice and bring a modicum of peace to the grieving family.” In a letter to Walz dated yesterday, Ellison said he had asked Moriarty to agree to let him take the case and that she refused. The letter says, “I do not make this request lightly and I do not expect to have to make a request like this again. I am mindful that county attorneys are elected by their constituents to make difficult decisions. But the decision by the county attorney in this case is wrong and will have long-lasting consequences for the integrity of the criminal justice system.” 

Moriarty expressed concerns about the action in a statement  that reads in part: “Prosecuting a juvenile for homicide without seeking an adult certification is not unprecedented in Minnesota. But the Attorney General’s decision to insert himself in a prosecution when an elected County Attorney is actively prosecuting a case is unprecedented. Inserting himself in these cases simply because he disagrees with the choice I was elected to make is deeply troubling and should alarm prosecutors across the state. This decision undermines the longstanding constitutional authority, autonomy, and responsibility of elected prosecutors. It threatens the very core of a local prosecutor’s well-settled discretion and role as an elected official accountable to the people to prosecute crime in the county. This is why the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association unanimously voted to oppose the Attorney General asking the Governor to give him the case, despite the Attorney General asking for their support. This is also why they oppose the Governor exercising his authority when a prosecutor is actively prosecuting a case.”

Former Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson has lost his job with the Metro Transit police force. The Star Tribune reports: The firing follows an internal investigation that found Hutchinson violated Metro Transit Police Department's policies by being arrested for driving while intoxicated and crashing his sheriff's vehicle in December 2021, and by creating a hostile work environment while serving as sheriff. He pleaded guilty in the DWI case, and his peace officer license was suspended for 30 days. Metro Transit Police Chief Ernest Morales III wrote in the findings that Hutchinson's behavior reflected negatively on the chief, the department and law enforcement in general. "Your behavior demonstrated poor judgment and reflected poorly on all of us in the department," Morales wrote. 

St. Paul officials held a news conference at their “hot mix” asphalt plant Thursday to call attention to their efforts to fix potholes. The Pioneer Press reports Mayor Melvin Carter used the occasion of the plant’s re-opening to promote what’s arguably his top legislative priority this season — a proposed local sales tax increase intended to raise nearly $1 billion over the next 20 years to reconstruct St. Paul’s arterial roads and complete major parks projects. “Our streets are talking to us right now,” said the mayor, who blamed “a generation of underinvestment in our streets” and a humid winter with record snowfall for the sudden proliferation of moon craters across the city. “This work is going to require all of us to make an investment.”

But as Max Nesterak at the Minnesota Reformer reported this week, local sales tax increases are running into a roadblock in the House Taxes Committee: Rep. Aisha Gomez, DFL-Minneapolis, who chairs the committee, says she doesn’t plan to schedule tax committee hearings for any of the three dozen local sales tax bills totaling more than $2.75 billion that have breezed through the Senate with bipartisan support. “It’s about principle to me,” Gomez said. “We want funding to be equalized across our state. And we have a tradition of that in Minnesota, of making sure that the quality of somebody’s life … doesn’t depend on the accident of where they were born.” Gomez says the proliferation of local sales tax hikes, which must be approved by the Legislature and local voters, are inequitable for two reasons: They hit low-income Minnesotans harder, and they privilege cities and counties with retail bases large enough to raise revenue off a sales tax increase.

MinnPost has an interview with the chief sponsor of the paid family and medical leave bill, Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina : Mann said she wishes more time was spent talking about the positive impacts on women’s health than on costs. “We have all these programs that are meant to help families, financially and physically and emotionally and medically. And we don’t talk about those things,” she said. “And you can see, even in our hearings, the vast majority of the conversation is how will businesses do? And we miss the point of this program in the first place entirely,” she said. “The rest of the world does this, the rest of the world. And so for us to say, this cannot be done, it’s just a false statement,” Mann said. “I understand the fear, but these fears are unfounded.” “For the average Minnesotans, about a cup of coffee a week is what we’re asking,” Mann said of the premiums. 

Don’t buy your ticket yet, but that plan to revive passenger rail between the Twin Cities and Duluth appears to be on track. The Duluth News Tribune reports: A long-sought passenger rail line between Duluth and the Twin Cities still appears closer than ever to reality this year, with both the House and Senate versions of a transportation budget including funding for the service. Advocates of the Northern Lights Express rail project, who have been pushing for years to restore Twin Cities-Duluth passenger rail travel, still say this year is the closest the state has come to funding the line. Estimates have placed the price tag of NLX at $450 million — but Minnesota would only have to chip in 20 percent of the total, as the federal government would pay $4 for every $1 from the state. As Democratic-Farmer-Labor majority lawmakers prepare their major budget bills, both the Senate and House transportation packages, or omnibus bills, contain funding for NLX. But there’s a key difference between the proposals: The House version calls for $194 million to get the line started, whereas the Senate version calls for $50 million.

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