Good morning and welcome to Thursday.
Gov. Tim Walz says he does not support total elimination of state taxes on Social Security income. Walz was interviewed this morning by MPR’s Cathy Wurzer. Earlier this year lawmakers reached an agreement on a tax bill that would have eliminated taxes on Social Security benefits, but the bill got hung up in the closing hours of the session and never passed. A quartet of newly elected DFL senators said last week they want to eliminate the tax, because Minnesotans told them during the campaign that’s what they want. Walz said today he supports raising the threshold for where the tax kicks in, but not outright abolishing the tax. “I don’t think those at the top of the line–millionaires and billionaires–are concerned about the Social Security tax,” Walz said, suggesting that he would support cutting the tax for 90 percent of Social Security recipients, but not for the top 10 percent of earners.
Student leaders representing the Morris, Duluth and Twin Cities campuses on Wednesday called for Steve Sviggum to resign from the University of Minnesota’s board of regents, saying Sviggum used his time at a Morris meeting last month to “justify” his prior remarks about racial and ethnic diversity, leaving students convinced an October apology for the remarks was not sincere, MPR News reports. “Regent Sviggum didn't seem to internalize anything we told him during that meeting. He had an opportunity to learn from, or at least directly apologize for his mistakes, and he didn't do either,“ Hal Johnson, a Morris student representative to the board of regents, said in a statement Wednesday after the Sviggum meeting. Johnson said he attended the lunch. There was no immediate response from Sviggum, a former Minnesota House speaker.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says he’ll veto a 3 percent annual cap on rent increases if it reaches his desk.The Star Tribune reports: "It's not happening," Frey said Wednesday. "If it moves forward to my desk, I will veto it." Frey's clear opposition, given in response to reporters' questions, underscores the uncertainty facing the prospect of rent control in Minneapolis as the idea enters its next phase on a potential path to voters. The issue is heading to the City Council, where a majority of the members would be needed to put a specific policy on the November 2023 ballot. A supermajority of nine would be needed to override a mayoral veto.
After months of negotiations and a three-day strike in September, nurses at 15 Minnesota hospitals have voted to ratify their new contracts.MPR’s Michelle Wiley reports the three-year contract gives nurses a bigger say in staffing and includes wage increases of 18 percent in the Twin Cities, 17 percent in the Twin Ports. Victoria Zeehandelaar, a nurse at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, said the union now has contract language and provisions to retain and recruit nurses. “For decades, nurses at Methodist have only had vacation and sick time to use for extended illnesses and injuries. But starting in 2024, we will have short term disability benefits available to us.” The Twin Cities Hospitals Group, which includes Methodist, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ratification vote. Nurses at St. Luke's Lake View in Two Harbors continue to bargain, though they've called off their strike action.
Residents of the small town of Elko New Market are pushing back against a California company’s plan to build a bottled water plant in their community south of the Twin Cities in Scott County.MPR’s Kirsti Marohn reports that Niagara Bottling is proposing to invest $125 million to build a 425,000-square-foot facility in the city’s industrial park, just off Interstate 35. It would draw from the city's water supply — which comes from the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer — for production of its bottled beverages. City officials say the project would bring jobs and economic growth to Elko New Market, which has about 5,000 residents, and would be a catalyst for development in the city’s fledgling industrial park. But Niagara’s plan has generated strong opposition from some residents who think it’s a bad idea for environmental and ethical reasons.
Minnesota senators who live far from the Twin Cities are getting a bump in their maximum allowance they can use to rent housing near the Capitol. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports that on Wednesday the Senate Rules and Administration Committee approved a 10 percent bump to the rent reimbursement cap. It will allow for qualifying senators to access $2,200 per month starting in 2023. Secretary of the Senate Cal Ludeman said satisfactory housing is getting harder to come by and rents are rising. He said 27 senators whose regular residence is at least 50 miles from the Capitol get the allowance now. “The Senate pays the lease cost and other associated costs to the senator,” Ludeman said. “There are five senators right now who are receiving the full $2,000 a month maximum housing allowance. There are another five senators who are close to the maximum.” The House rental reimbursement limit is currently $1,800 per month.
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