Good morning. Sources tell me that odd coating on the ground is called snow.

Voting alert: Today is the final day to pull back and spoil your early ballot if you’ve had a change of heart in the presidential primary. After the close of business, local election officials can begin separating those ballots from secrecy envelopes and feeding them into ballot counter machines. The actual tabulation won’t happen until polls close on primary election day on March 5. More FAQs here.

Legislative hearings are sometimes strictly about bill consideration, sometimes mainly about issue elevation or occasionally about both. Yesterday’s House Commerce Committee was one of those blends. The panel heard from a climate researcher and insurance industry types who were on the same wavelength: Severe weather events are growing more frequent and more costly. Clay Masters reports that a bill adding more consumer protections during disaster response was sent forward, but the discussion of climate costs was the main topic. “Climate change, people think is the thing that's happened for their kids and grandkids but it's actually something that you're paying for right now,” Chair Zack Stephenson said as he opened the hearing.

Minnesota State Patrol Chief Matt Langer is retiring from the force after 25 years. In a statement, Langer said he is leaving the Department of Public Safety to take a position as the director of global policing for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Langer began his career with the Minnesota State Patrol in 1999 and has been the chief for the past 10 years. He’s been in charge through the civil unrest after George Floyd’s murder, the implementation of a hands-free cell phone use law for drivers and the rollout of legal marijuana, which will have implications for driving under the influence enforcement. Jon Collins writes about Langer’s tenure here.

An undeniably adorable group of “lobbyists” helped make a case to legislators yesterday, cooing and kicking off their tiny shoes as their parents argued for a law to require that health insurers cover infertility treatments.  The bill, which got partway last year, is back on the docket this session. Backers told reporters that it can be financially daunting to bear the cost alone. At the news conference, Miraya Gran and her husband, Andy, went through several cycles of IVF before becoming pregnant with their daughter, Isla. Gran said their insurance didn't cover the treatment and they took out a second mortgage to cover the cost. "The horrific emotional pain of infertility is devastating enough. But to add on the crippling financial impact was an extremely difficult time in our lives,” Dana reports that Minnesota would become the 22nd state to enact an infertility coverage law. Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, said the proposal wouldn’t stipulate a maximum number of times that a person could undergo IVF or other treatments and still be eligible for insurance coverage.

Minnesota lawmakers are thinking through benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence for state government. A panel of IT professionals and government stakeholders has been sorting through them. The expansion of voice assistance, data analysis and other automated features that AI is known for poses complex questions for state leaders. Minnesota’s Chief Information Officer and IT Services Commissioner Tarek Tomes says the state can capitalize on technology to help people navigate government programs. “They're going to be quite a few low hanging fruits,” Tomes told the Senate Taxes Committee yesterday. “And they're going to be in this kind of a safe space, they're not going to be, I don't think, the incredibly controversial ones. And I think you know we're going to continue to carefully assess.” DFL Senator Ann Rest says it's wise to get ahead of the curve. “To have us look at it right now and not, as we so often do, kick the can down the road.” Uniform standards, a review process and training for employees are in the works.

In Wisconsin, the Legislature passed a bill guaranteeing admission to UW campuses for top high schoolers. The University of Wisconsin-Madison would be required to admit all high school students who finish in the top 5 percent of their class and other campuses would have to admit those in the top 10 percent, part of a deal reached between the Legislature and the university that would also limit diversity positions at the system’s campuses in exchange for money to cover staff raises and construction projects. The university said in a statement it supported the guaranteed admission proposal “because it will help encourage the top students in Wisconsin to remain in-state for their postsecondary education and will encourage more of these students to remain here after graduation.” 

Speaking of colleges, Dana is tracking a bill that would expand voting opportunities on Minnesota college campuses. The Minnesota House Elections Committee has advanced a proposal to let college campuses set up early voting sites. Yesterday, the committee endorsed the measure letting campuses with 1,500 students or more request to set up temporary voting locations for at least one day. The bill's backers say the change could increase access for younger voters. Republicans raised concerns about who pays for the extra voting stations and which campuses qualify. The bill moves next toward a full House vote.

A new state law is prompting a Rochester school to change a mascot. Last year, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law to end the use of Native mascots in Minnesota public schools. Catharine Richert reports Dakota Middle School’s bison mascot will be replaced after the district was denied an exemption to the new rule by federally recognized tribes in Minnesota and the tribal Nations Education Committee. Principal Levi Lundak said when the school opened two years ago, the mascot was chosen in conjunction with the district’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee and native students and their families. A Native artist created the school’s mascot. Lundak said they will partner with the same groups to pick a new mascot, which should be selected before the beginning of the next school year.