Good morning, and happy Thursday. 

Why are some schools cutting staff and spending after the Legislature approved a big boost in school spending? MPR’s Elizabeth Shockman has a look: “Yes, there was a historic level of funding approved for education,” said Scott Croonquist, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. “But at the same time, we’re coming off, obviously, a historic pandemic, which included, as a result, historic inflation,” he said. “And then, in addition to the historic funding, really, there are some historic new expectations and requirements for our school districts coming out of the legislative session.” Some schools are also seeing lower enrollment, which means less per-pupil money. 

Adults buying cannabis gummies, seltzers and other retail products in Minnesota will pay a new 10 percent tax starting Saturday.  MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports  the first phase of a new state law creating a tax and regulation system for cannabis is set to take effect that day. It’s the first step for the sweeping adult use legalization package that will make Minnesota the 23rd state in the country to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Minnesotans will be able to grow their own in limited quantities beginning next month. The marijuana law is just one of a host of new measures that take effect on July 1, as the new two-year state budget cycle begins. Also beginning Saturday, $70.3 million will flow from the state’s general fund to the new Office of Cannabis Management to get it up and running. The office will set cannabis industry standards, prohibit packaging that could be attractive to children and set personal use limits. It will eventually license marijuana dispensaries, but it’s expected to take up to a year for dispensaries to open. 

A new audit of the Southwest Corridor light rail project raises concerns about the Metropolitan Council’s oversight of its contractors, specifically regarding change orders on the massive transit project. MPR’s Tim Nelson reports  the Office of the Legislative Auditor issued its report Wednesday, the latest in a series of reviews of the light rail project between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie that’s years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. The new audit found the Met Council did not hold contractors accountable to contract requirements and paid contractors for changes without ensuring those added costs were valid. Changes were supposed to be proposed in detail and explained in writing with a cost estimate. A consultant was supposed to come up with an independent cost estimate and the project staff was supposed to come up with a final figure. 

The Minnesota Board of Pardons met for the first time Wednesday under new rules. Rochelle Olson at the Star Tribune reports:  The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted the first 2-1 pardon in state history to a St. Paul Public Works employee on Wednesday. Walter Hooper Jr. cried as he testified to Gov. Tim Walz, Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea and Attorney General Keith Ellison about his troubled past. He cried again as he said "thank you" to the panel after the vote. The vote was the first under a new law passed during the recent legislative session and long supported by Walz. In the history of the board — dating back to 1905 — pardons could be granted only by a unanimous vote. Now a petitioner need receive only two of the three votes, provided one is the governor. In the first eight cases before the board Wednesday, the votes for five petitioners were unanimous. The votes for the three remaining petitioners were split, with Gildea dissenting on all three. 

A proposal to put rent control on the ballot in Minneapolis failed Wednesday because some supporters on the city council were absent to observe a religious holiday. MinnPost had the story:  Aisha Chughtai, Jamal Osman and Jeremiah Ellison were not present at Wednesday’s council meeting as they celebrated one of Islam’s two most important holidays. Chughtai and Osman authored the rent control proposal. Their absence left only four out of 13 council members to vote in favor of advancing the measure to committee: Council President Andrea Jenkins as well as Robin Wonsley, Jason Chavez and Elliott Payne. With the authors and Ellison gone, supporters were powerless to stop the council’s rent control critics from voting to “return the item to authors” — seemingly ensuring that the issue would not advance to a final vote in time for an Aug. 25 deadline for placing an issue before voters this fall.