Good morning, and welcome to a newsy Thursday. 

A rebooted push to provide bonuses to workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic is creating a fresh standoff that could become intertwined with another urgent issue – fixing a hole in the state unemployment fund, MPR’s Brian Bakst reports. The House Workforce and Business Development Finance Committee voted 9-4 on Wednesday -- nearly along party lines – to advance a $1 billion bonus plan. It’s four times the size of a proposal Senate Republicans say they support. The House DFL bill would make up to 667,000 workers eligible from a range of industries. It would apply to some health workers, emergency responders, food workers and child care employees among others. Income limits would apply, and eligible employees would need to verify they worked a minimum number of hours between March 2020 and June 2021. Checks could total up to $1,500 each. “These are the Minnesotans who have been on the front lines of this pandemic and kept our economy moving at great risk to their own health and that of their families,” said the plan’s sponsor, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope. The bill would pay for the checks from a state budget surplus. 

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson will pay back the county for damage to a vehicle he crashed while he was driving drunk back in December , reports MPR’s Peter Cox. Hutchinson has agreed to pay the county $47,711.69 for the damaged vehicle, according to a county spokesperson. Hutchinson crashed his county-owned SUV in the early morning hours of Dec. 8. He was driving east on I-94 near Alexandria, where he'd attended a Minnesota Sheriff's Association conference. Hutchinson later pleaded guilty to one count of DWI. Vehicle data revealed he had been driving in excess of 120 miles per hour before he crashed. He came under fire for drinking and driving, and a majority of the county board said he should step down. But Hutchinson says he plans to finish out his term, which ends in January. He says he will not seek re-election.

And more details dribbled out on the snowmobile accident involving two state senators. That’s what happens when no one tells the whole story right away. Here’s the latest from Dave Orrick at the Pioneer Press: A Minnesota state senator who was injured in a snowmobile crash last week was essentially run over by a fellow state senator who couldn’t avoid him, according to Department of Natural Resources reports. The reports, obtained Wednesday by the Pioneer Press, contain a more comprehensive  — and different — account of the crash that left Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, with numerous broken bones than reports previously released by the Morrison County sheriff’s office.The most detailed DNR report, made by the agency top enforcement official who witnessed the entire event, states that after Jasinski was thrown from his sled, he was struck by a snowmobile driven by Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, who was riding behind Jasinski.

MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reportsFirst LadyJill Biden credited the American Rescue plan for helping Minnesota families afford child care. “We helped states like Minnesota safely keep open child care centers, and family child care providers—and boost pay for their workers. We supported high-quality providers that enrich children’s lives. And we helped make them more affordable.” Biden was at the University of Minnesota’s Child Development Laboratory School Wednesday where she Biden took part in a round table with Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota’s First Lady Gwen Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, among others. Gwen Walz said Minnesota has ordered COVID-19 vaccines for children aged  six months through five years and those will start to be administered soon. Federal regulators are reviewing safety data on those vaccines now and are expected to make a decision on their authorization in coming weeks.  No Republicans voted for that COVID-19 relief bill and the GOP was quick to respond to the first lady’s visit. State Republican Party Chair David Hann called it a taxpayer funded campaign trip. “President Biden, Gov. Walz and Democrat leaders have pursued a reckless, government spending-spree to buy votes,” Hann said in a statement. “In fact, these policies have led to out-of-control inflation and economic disruption. In addition, Gov. Walz and the Democrats' heavy-handed regulation of our schools has jeopardized our children’s education.” 

Speaking of COVID-19, the situation is improving in Minnesota,MPR News reported. Key metrics tracking the spread of COVID-19 in Minnesota continue to show the current surge in retreat, with new and active cases, positive test rates and hospital bed use all falling steadily. Wednesday’s numbers build on recent evidence of an ebb in the pandemic wave that started climbing in late summer and slammed Minnesota following the year-end holiday season. Data from the Minnesota Department of Health indicates new cases and the positivity rate peaked about a month ago. That likely represents when COVID-19 peaked in the Twin Cities metro area, which was whacked by COVID’s omicron mutation before the rest of the state. Hospitalizations are still relatively high — 1,161 — but trending down. Intensive care demands are at their lowest point since early September, with 179 COVID patients currently occupying ICU beds.

Emma Nelson of the Star Tribune reports that opponents of legal abortion at the Minnesota Capitol have lined up a slate of bills they hope will pass if the Supreme Court overturns Roe versus Wade. "It does give me optimism and absolutely, there is an increased energy," said Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, who has introduced four bills this session that would make it more difficult to obtain an abortion in Minnesota. "Those of us that have had a passion for this — it's been a long haul, but we're in a window of time where we have a great opportunity to have influence over this." On the other side of the issue a group of legislators formed the Reproductive Freedom Caucus in September after a new Texas law — which bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — went into effect and the U.S. Supreme Court opted not to block it. "We really feel that we need to ring the alarm bells — that the urgency of this moment is real, that the ability to access comprehensive reproductive health care in the United States is in real danger," said Rep. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, a caucus member and an OB-GYN. "It has been for a long time, but that danger is accelerating right now."

Also from the Star Tribune: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is holding up the confirmation of Andrew Luger as U.S. Attorney for Minnesota because of what he sees as a lax prison sentence for a man who started a deadly fire during the rioting that followed the murder of George Floyd. Luger had nothing to do with the sentencing.