Good morning. So long snow! Temps could tickle 50 today and, after a brief cooldown, it is slated to get noticeably warmer.

Lawmakers are finding it difficult to stay in front of technology being used against public officials, whether that’s distorting their words to sending police to their doorstep. Dana Ferguson writes about a couple of bills that attempt to clamp down on deep fakes and swatting. It’s not the first time lawmakers have tried to head off problems that hit home for them. And there’s disagreement on what route is the best one. As House Speaker Melissa Hortman told Dana, “I think we definitely should take action but I think it will be very difficult to control and voters are going to need to not be patsies to those who would prefer misinformation.”

A former FBI informant that fed authorities information about a Ukrainian scheme alleging wrongdoing by Joe Biden and his son has admitted to fabricating claims. Court documents say Alexander Smirnov told authorities he made up the story with the help of Russian intelligence officials. It has become a key talking point among congressional Republicans investigating the president and his family for business matters prior to his 2020 run. NPR has details on court filings in the case, which says Smirnov tried to pass along other types of misinformation in an attempt to meddle in this year’s election.

Any parent with a kid in sports knows that the adults sometimes have more trouble containing their emotions than the young athletes. State lawmakers are considering legislation that would increase penalties for assaulting a sports official. It’s not the first time that the Legislature has tried to get tougher on sideline intimidation. DFL Rep. John Huot, himself a sports official in his spare time, said it’s time to act because Minnesota is losing youth sports referees every year. “This year has gotten a little bit strange. Even I had an incident here in St. Paul recently, where I was actually afraid to walk out to my car and I've never had that in 19 years,” he told a committee yesterday. The bill currently would make assaulting a sports official a gross misdemeanor. Lawmakers expressed interest in addressing the issue and decided to work more on the bill before passing legislation out of the House Public Safety Committee. 

There’s a bipartisan move afoot to honor a former legislator who was adored on both sides of the aisle before his death from ALS. The tribute to the late-Sen. David Tomassoni would name a stretch of Iron Range highway after him. The bill, led by Republican Sen. Rob Farnsworth and being sponsored by members of both parties, is due for its first hearing today in the Senate Transportation Committee. A segment of Highway 169 would be called the “Senator David J. Tomassoni Memorial Cross Range Expressway.” Tomassoni died in 2022 after a nearly 30-year Capitol tenure. Tomassoni spent most of his career as a DFL lawmaker but became a Republican-aligned independent during his final term.

It was a busy day for housing advocates at the Legislature yesterday.  Ellie was there as a group of bipartisan legislators voiced their support for a bill that aims to eliminate certain residential zoning requirements in Minnesota and facilitate the development of more affordable housing across the state. The bill aims to reduce barriers that are driving up the cost of building certain types of homes, including parking and minimum lot size requirements. Later, activists and legislators gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to call on legislators to secure $500 million in Housing Investment Bonds to build more affordable housing. Both come on the heels of a session where lawmakers put about $1 billion into housing programs in the current budget.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce released its report on the environmental permitting process yesterday.  The report found that it’s taking an average of 656 days to complete and issue a Tier 2 air permit, the type of environmental permit needed for larger projects and require a period of public comment. The state’s goal for issuing these permits is 150 days. DFLers have said they are open to having discussions around permitting. The chamber said it’s important to balance economic and infrastructure needs with environmental concerns. The business group outlined several recommendations in the report, including separating construction and operating permits into different processes to prevent a backlog. You can read the report here.