Good morning. Welcome to Wednesday, and welcome to March.

Republicans at the Minnesota Capitol outlined their tax plan Tuesday and, not surprisingly, it would use almost all of the projected $17.5 billion budget surplus. As MPR’s Brian Bakst reports , it also includes a tax rebate plan, somewhat like the one the DFL governor has proposed: The party is in the minority in both chambers so their ability to craft tax policy is limited this year. But Republicans are more vocally supportive of a rebate-style giveback than Capitol Democrats, despite the fact Gov. Tim Walz is again leading the charge. “There was always an opportunity for a one-time rebate,” said Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne. “We just felt it had to be more than one time.” The Republican proposal would deliver $5 billion in rebates to all Minnesota households regardless of income. The rebates would amount to $1,250 for single filers and $2,500 for married filers. The governor’s proposal would send up to $2,000 back to married couples with income below $150,000 and provide half that to singles also under a $75,000 income limit. There would be another $200 tacked on for up to three dependents. It would require about $4 billion from the state’s surplus. It’s unclear how viable either rebate plan is in the DFL-led Legislature. 

A state run paid family and medical leave program is a top DFL priority which has been moving through legislative committees. Brian has a story on that too: The outer bounds of the leave proposal work like this: An employee could take up to 12 weeks per year of partially paid time off at the birth or adoption of a child or to assist a family member during a major illness. They could claim 12 more weeks to tend to their own health crisis. Bill supporters insist it would be rare for people to use the maximum time of either allowance or the categories in combination. In a recent committee hearing, Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, said many people can’t go that long without their full paycheck. “Imagine if someone does qualify for 24 full weeks in a year. That means that they had a baby and then something horrible happened, right? They had a baby and then they had a stroke. So the vast majority of people will not qualify for 24 weeks,” Mann said. “But when they do, it’s something catastrophic.” Even the potential for an extended outage has business leaders on edge. Aside from the  payroll taxes on employers and employees, concerns include having to spread the workload across existing staff or struggling to find temporary replacements, particularly in high-demand fields. “You can’t just backfill many of these positions,” said Molly Jungbauer, the owner and chief executive of Hollstadt Consulting, an Eagan-based firm that offers IT assistance and management services to other companies. “They’re highly skilled.” 

Over the past few months, the issue of later-in-pregnancy abortions has come up frequently in debates on proposed abortion laws in the Minnesota Legislature. MPR’s Michelle Wiley and Dana Ferguson have a report: During the marathon floor debate on the PRO Act last month, Republican state Sen. Zach Duckworth of Lakeville called the bill a “free for all,” and said Minnesotans expect their legislators to create limits “especially [for abortions] so late in a pregnancy, to try and safeguard and protect life.” Later-in-pregnancy abortions, which are loosely defined but generally understood to be around 24 weeks of gestation, are fairly uncommon. According to data shared by abortion providers to the state Legislature and compiled by MPR News, about 1 percent of all reported abortions from 2008-2021 took place after approximately 20 weeks gestation. After 24 weeks, the number drops even further. In Minnesota, most clinics don’t provide abortions after 20 weeks, according to their posted guidelines, and hospitals and health care providers may have their own internal policies limiting what can be done. Add in state laws limiting when abortions may be performed, and things can get more difficult.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura as Minnesota’s first cannabis commissioner? This Star Tribune story raises the possibility: Minnesota hadn't yet legalized medical marijuana when Ventura's wife, Terry, began experiencing seizures about a decade ago. Several medications didn't work, so the Venturas turned to marijuana as treatment. They obtained it illegally from Colorado until Minnesota created its medical cannabis program in 2014, Ventura said. The former First Lady has been seizure-free since the day she began using it. "Do you break the law, or do you bury your wife? That's how I viewed it," Ventura said in an interview. "We don't want any other Minnesotans to go through what we went through." Ventura has waded back into Minnesota politics to urge the DFL-controlled Legislature to legalize recreational marijuana this year. He testified before committees of state lawmakers a few times over the past month to share his wife's story and speak in favor of marijuana legalization. 

Minnesota’s effort to speed up the restoration of voting rights for people convicted of felonies who have completed their incarceration is giving momentum to similar efforts in other states. NPR reports New Mexico lawmakers are debating similar legislation. Nicole Porter with the nonprofit The Sentencing Project also flagged proposals in a number of states, including Nebraska, Oregon and Illinois, "with very strong prospects for 2023." In Nebraska, people with a prior conviction have to meet a two-year waiting period after their sentence before they can get their voting rights back. Proposed legislation would automatically restore those rights after a completed sentence, which could affect about 20,000 Nebraskans. Some Democratic-led states are exploring going further, with lawmakers in both Oregon and Illinois offering proposals that would see their states join the few places where incarcerated felons never lose the right to vote. Access to the ballot following a felony conviction varies throughout the country. Currently, 11 states deny voting rights to people after they finish their full sentences, including parole and probation, with additional action required in some states. 

Tell MPR News: What do you hope lawmakers accomplish this session?