Good morning and congratulations for making it to another Friday. Here are some items in the news.
The Washington Post has a look at Minnesota U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer’s support for cryptocurrency interests: At a moment when Washington is becoming keenly aware of the promise and peril of cryptocurrency, Emmer, 61, is about to become one of its most prominent advocates in Congress. In recent years, the Republican from Minnesota has increasingly promoted crypto interests — championing its companies, pushing industry-friendly proposals and chastising critics who in his view stand in the way of innovation. Along the way, Emmer has reaped big bucks from the industry and its top executives, including those from the since-collapsed company FTX. But his sharp deregulatory bent could carry greater significance next year, when Republicans are set to assume control of the House — just as some lawmakers say they hope to enact crypto regulations. Emmer’s fervent support — and his new, powerful perch as House majority whip — could make him a formidable foe of aggressive restrictions on what he has described as the future of finance.
The Walz administration announced grants for broadband internet totaling nearly $100 million Thursday, which it called the largest single investment in broadband in state history. The grants will fund 61 broadband expansion projects around Minnesota, and the companies getting the grants estimate the funding will extend new high-speed internet connections to more than 33,000 Minnesota homes and businesses in 48 counties, the Department of Employment and Economic Development said. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports the money is a mix of state funds approved by the Legislature earlier this year and federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan.
Will the Legislature legalize marijuana?FOX 9 reports that this week, two top lawmakers said they think it'll happen over the next two years. The DFL-controlled House has already passed a bill once, in 2021, though the Senate was in Republican hands at the time, and the GOP didn't advance the measure. Democrats regained the Senate in November's election. "This isn’t something I would see in the near term," said House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, on a legislative panel. "It may well happen in the next two-year period. But we have a lot of things we’re going to be focusing on early and fast." Hortman, who voted for the 2021 legalization effort, said a marijuana bill would need to go through almost every House and Senate committee before coming up for floor votes. State Sen. Nick Frentz, an assistant DFL leader, said the Senate would hold hearings in the new year. But he acknowledged differences within his caucus, which holds a 34-33 majority. "I think it will pass this session. I agree with the speaker, there’s a question of timing," said Frentz, DFL-Mankato. "Our caucus has not had this discussion at any length. I would guess there are some members who have some hesitation."
Protesters gathered outside of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office in Minneapolis on Thursday demanding the U.S. Senate pass the American Dream and Promise Act, MPR News reported. The protest comes as recent court action threatens the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children from being deported.
Minnesota’s workforce shrank during the pandemic and isn’t likely to fully come back.MPR’s Tim Nelson reports Minnesota state demographer Susan Brower addressed the issue this week at a Chamber of Commerce Women in Business gathering. “Despite that strong return of pre-pandemic labor force participation rates, there are still about 90,000 fewer workers in Minnesota than there were before the pandemic,” Brower said. She said the state has one of the tightest labor markets in the country, and she said there’s no easy solution to getting workers on state payrolls. “The number of people we have available to work today in Minnesota is very close to the number of people we will have in 10 years, and 15 years and 20 years unless we see some pretty big changes that we haven't seen in the recent past,” Brower said.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is changing her party affiliation from Democrat to Independent,Politico reported: She will not caucus with Republicans, she said, and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. “Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” she said. Provided that Sinema sticks to that vow, Democrats will still have a workable Senate majority in the next Congress, though it will not exactly be the neat and tidy 51 seats they assumed. They’re expected to also have the votes to control Senate committees. And Sinema’s move means Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — a pivotal swing vote in the 50-50 chamber the past two years — will hold onto some but not all of his outsized influence in the Democratic caucus.
The Associated Press reported: The House gave final approval Thursday to legislation protecting same-sex marriages, a monumental step in a decadeslong battle for nationwide recognition of such unions that reflects a stunning turnaround in societal attitudes. President Joe Biden is expected to promptly sign the measure, which requires all states to recognize same-sex marriages, a relief for hundreds of thousands of couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized those marriages nationwide. The bipartisan legislation, which passed 258-169 with almost 40 Republican votes, would also protect interracial unions by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” After months of talks, the Senate passed the bill last week with 12 Republican votes.
Tell MPR News: What do you hope lawmakers accomplish this session? | 
