Capitol View for July 27

Good morning and happy (hot) Thursday.

Twenty-two attorneys general, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, urged a federal court Wednesday to reject a proposed $10.3 billion settlement over contamination of U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially dangerous chemicals, saying it lets manufacturer 3M Co. off too easily. The Associated Press reports the deal announced in June doesn't give individual water suppliers enough time to determine how much money they would get and whether it would cover their costs of removing the compounds known collectively as PFAS, said the officials with 19 states, Washington, D.C., and two territories. In some cases the agreement could shift liability from the company to providers, they said. “While I appreciate the effort that went into it, the proposed settlement in its current form does not adequately account for the pernicious damage that 3M has done in so many of our communities," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, leader of the multistate coalition. 3M spokesman Sean Lynch said the agreement “will benefit U.S.-based public water systems nationwide that provide drinking water to a vast majority of Americans” without further litigation.

Last week Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told police in his city not to enforce laws against hallucinogens, and a state task force set up by the Legislature this year will look at the issue of using psychedelic drugs for mental health care statewide. The Star Tribune reports: A recent article in the Journal of Neurological Sciences by three doctors at the Mayo Clinic notes that human studies with psychedelics have shown promise, "demonstrating rapid and sustained clinical benefits of these compounds for a variety of psychiatric disorders" that other medications had not. "My first thought was it's just hippie nonsense," said Dr. Manoj Doss, a therapist and CEO and founder of Institute of Integrative Therapies, which has been offering psychedelic therapy sessions in Eden Prairie for several years. "But the set and setting changes the use of this medicine to therapeutic." Psychedelics are still a Schedule I drug, so Doss can only do ketamine-assisted therapy for now, but he's seen the benefits. Patients do therapy sessions before they take the drug in a controlled environment under monitor of a medical expert. His offices have mid-century modern décor that incorporates nature to put patients at ease. They listen to a curated playlist through headphones that block out ambient noise. "What's been shown is it decreases the activity in the fear processing part of the brain and allows people to process things," he said. "Psychedelics can shake up the snow globe and give you a fresh coat of powder to ski on."

As we’ve noted here, marijuana possession and use becomes legal for Minnesotans 21 and older next week. MinnPost has a story that says sponsors of the legal marijuana law meant to repeal penalties for people under 21, but they didn’t quite get there: Sponsors and drafters of Minnesota’s new recreational marijuana law say they intended to remove legal penalties for underage people who use or possess small amounts of marijuana. While the law states that such acts are illegal, it removed the penalties for violations. But their attempt to cancel sanctions for marijuana use by those under age 21 by removing charges and penalties from state law might have failed to complete the task. Another section of state law not amended by the new recreational marijuana law, also known as House File 100, contains a default penalty — a petty misdemeanor — for any acts that are made illegal but lack specific penalties.

A Canadian company operating one of the largest solar panel manufacturing plants in the US on Minnesota’s Iron Range plans to open another facility in the Twin Cities, reports MPR’s Dan Kraker. Heliene, based in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario, intends to invest about $145 million to build a facility that will manufacture solar panels and individual solar cells, the building blocks of larger panels. CEO Martin Pochtaruk said he doesn’t know yet where in the metro the new plant will be located. The company plans to begin searching for an existing building this fall. Pochtaruk said Heliene will first build two manufacturing lines to make solar panels, or modules. He hopes to have those lines installed by the fall of 2024. He said that phase of the project would employ about 250 people. Currently there are no solar cells manufactured in the U.S. But that’s expected to change soon. In addition to Heliene, Pochtaruk said several other companies have announced plans to manufacture solar cells domestically, boosted largely by tax credits included in the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

There was lots of national news in the past day including Hunter Biden’s plea deal falling apart, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates again, and Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze during a news conference.

And then there’s this from the Associated Press: The U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, a former Air Force intelligence officer testified Wednesday to Congress. The Pentagon has denied his claims. Retired Maj. David Grusch's highly anticipated testimony before a House Oversight subcommittee was Congress' latest foray into the world of UAPs— or “unidentified aerial phenomena," which is the official term the U.S. government uses instead of UFOs. While the study of mysterious aircraft or objects often evokes talk of aliens and “little green men,” Democrats and Republicans in recent years have pushed for more research as a national security matter due to concerns that sightings observed by pilots may be tied to U.S. adversaries.