| Gov. Tim Walz predicts he’d be well-positioned to win a third term if he opts to launch another bid for governor. The DFL governor sat down with Star Tribune reporters Monday and said his team could win , but he stopped short of announcing a reelection bid. “It won’t be me against a theoretical Republican. It will be one of theirs who will bend the knee to Donald Trump, and it will be this bill tanking the economy and Donald Trump having done more stuff,” Walz said. “If we run again, we will win.” Walz said the passage of the federal budget reconciliation bill could have negative effects in Minnesota and could bolster Democrats up and down the ticket next year. Republican members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation pushed back on the governor’s comments and said Minnesotans know “he does not work for Minnesotans.” Walz also said the state should consider additional safety measures at the Capitol following the killings of House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shootings of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. He said there needs to be a balance between public access to the building and security measures that keep lawmakers, lobbyists and members of the public safe.
Some encouraging news is out regarding Sen. Hoffman. His family released a photo of him being discharged from the hospital where he has spent more than three weeks since being shot multiple times. In it, Hoffman is smiling and flashing a thumbs up as he gets ready to wheel a suitcase out. But he's not yet headed home. A family spokesperson said his next stop is a rehab facility and that Hoffman "still has a long road to recovery ahead."
As soon as this week, Walz will name four members of the Board of Regents for the University of Minnesota. Those appointees will hold down one-third of the seats on the 12 member board. The job of selecting regents usually falls to the Legislature, but there was no joint convention this year to elect regents. That means four member terms expired on June 30 with no successor lined up. Walz had opened up applications in June for the posts and at last week’s deadline there were 23 people who put in . Three are for at-large seats, including one designated for a student. The last one will fill a spot reserved for a 5th Congressional District resident. Some big names are among the applicants, including a former ambassador to Norway, a former regent, a nationally prominent professor, an official who has previously led the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities board and others.
A state fraud prevention and agency oversight committee will meet this morning to delve into Minnesota's Medicaid program. The panel is scheduled to hear from top leaders at the Department of Human Services about the department's Office of the Inspector General and about the requirements to be eligible for Medicaid. Republican Rep. Kristin Robbins chairs the committee and said while lawmakers took some steps this year to prevent misuse of state funds, more can be done moving forward. "The main point of this hearing is to understand the state of play, where we're at, what procedures they're using, how fast it's going, how far back are they reaching and then on a go-forward basis, how do we beef this up so that we're ensuring that the Medicaid benefits go to the people who are eligible?” Robbins said. It will also be the first legislative hearing since House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman were shot and killed in their home last month.
Some Minnesota school districts are weighing rollbacks of coverage for weight loss drugs for employees after tracking significant increases in costs tied to the medications. Our colleague Elizabeth Shockman reports that districts around the state are seeing health insurance costs surge as more people turn to Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs to treat diabetes and other conditions. Costs are being borne on school employees who are seeing higher insurance premiums and teachers union representatives say they expect those costs will be a big part of contract negotiations in coming months.
By proclamation, Tuesday is Trooper Mollie McClure Day in honor of a State Patrol trooper who died in an off-duty accident last month. The proclamation from Gov. Tim Walz lifts up McClure’s “professionalism, compassion and deep sense of duty in her nearly four years of service on the State Patrol. “Minnesota extends its deepest condolences to Trooper McClure’s family, friends, and colleagues, and honors the life and legacy of a public servant who exemplified the very best of our state,” Gov. Tim Walz wrote. “Trooper McClure will be deeply missed by all.” A funeral service honoring McClure’s life is set to take place this morning in Jackson, Minn. | 