Good morning. Midweek already? We’ll take it.

President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon more than 1,500 people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack and commute the sentences of others serving time for it dominated coverage yesterday. Some fellow Republicans voiced displeasure with the action, knowing that law enforcement was injured during the uprising. In Minnesota, Matt Sepic reports that the Trump action is a reprieve for more than a dozen Minnesotans. The action also halted a trial for two southern Minnesota men that had been scheduled to resume this week. Ten of the 14 Minnesota defendants were charged with felonies. But most were not accused of hurting police, just getting in their way as they tried to hold back the mob.

Attorney General Keith Ellison is among the 18 Democratic attorneys general suing over one of the first executive orders from President Trump. Ellison and the others say Trump’s order attempting to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. The lawsuit contends Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to undo what they insist is a constitutional protection. The case seeks to overturn the order or at a minimum block any effort to enforce or implement it. The birthright citizenship order is among dozens of executive proclamations from Trump that seek to reorder government or make sweeping changes to immigration, the federal workforce or security clearances for those who have criticized him. Other lawsuits are likely, but Trump’s allies say he’s accomplished part of his goal in just putting the issues front-and-center with the public — and checking off promises he made in the campaign.

House Democrats are keeping up their boycott of the Capitol into a second week. And that has them busy with constituent and interest group meetings closer to home. Dana Ferguson reports that there’s not been much traction in negotiations between legislative leaders over a power-sharing agreement. Meanwhile, 66 Democrats have been filling their time visiting schools, police departments, capital investment project sites and more. The representatives say they’ve got a good sense of legislative priorities for the areas they represent, meanwhile Republicans say they’re not doing their jobs.

House Republicans have introduced a set of bills they say would keep better tabs on government spending. One would track whether state agencies have implemented recommendations made by the Office of the Legislative Auditor. Another bill would create a state Office of the Inspector General. Rep. Patti Anderson of Dellwood is the sponsor – and she’s also a former state auditor. She said such an office would prevent multimillion dollar fraud scandals, which have hit several agencies in recent years. "The Inspector General's office would have the ability to go into any state agency, to have subpoena power, to go into any receiver of funds and get information. If there is fraud, suspected fraud, it would have the ability to tell the agency to stop payments. The proposals are moving their way through committees, but won't get to final votes until GOP and House Democrats break a deadlock over House operations.

Every year, the law legalizing marijuana requires the Office of Cannabis Management to submit a series of reports to lawmakers. The mid-January reports are meant to assess the state’s progress in implementing legal sales as well as capture other use and regulation trends. There are lots of pages in each but a couple stood out in one report filed last week . It described inspection efforts of places that might be selling cannabis flower illegally (remember, no licenses have been issued yet). The report said OCM conducted 2,388 inspections over the first 10 months of 2024. It found 134 sites were found selling illicit cannabis flower and “in collaboration with the inspector on site, the retail business entities voluntarily destroyed 199.92 pounds of cannabis flower worth a retail value of $607,316.” Four entities were fined $10,000 each. Officials say they’re also encountering challenges of businesses “gifting” cannabis along with other purchases and they are trying to stay on top of “online cannabis sales and mobile cannabis delivery services, peddler stands selling product at family friendly events like the Minnesota State Fair, and other large public cannabis events.” MPR’s Nicole Ki had more on what was in the reports.

We’re continuing to comb through the hundreds of pages that make up the Gov. Tim Walz budget for things that didn’t get a lot of rollout attention. Brian asked Walz last week about fees for outdoors activities. He said there were some but couldn’t recall specifics during a live interview. The Department of Natural Resources budget materials has those details . Walz is proposing to raise more for park services and upkeep by increasing the cost of daily and annual vehicle permits. The yearly passes would go up $10 to $45 for the first regular pass (it’s less for a second permit or disability and motorcycle permits). Daily fees would go from $7 to $10 while group permits would also rise a few bucks. All in, the higher fees would amount to about $3 million in extra revenue per year. At the same time, Walz is proposing a reduction in hunting and fishing fees for more service-connected disabled veterans, asking them to pay only $5 for the costs of maintaining the electronic licensing system.

The Department of Administration budget seeks almost $3 million to keep rent-free portions of the State Capitol and its grounds operating as it is now. The agency’s budget proposal, included in the broader plan released last week, cautioned that without the extra money there could be rollbacks. They include: Closure of the Capitol building on Saturdays, an end to after-hours events, less mowing and ground maintenance, an elimination of flower planting and a reduction of cleaning of the building.