Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday.
DFL leaders at the Minnesota Capitol announced a broad agreement on the outlines of how to use the state’s budget surplus. MPR’s Brian Bakst and Dana Ferguson have the story: Gov. Tim Walz, House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate President Bobby Joe Champion – all DFLers – announced that the $17.8 billion surplus would fund increases to schools, housing initiatives and tax relief. The details will be worked out by legislative committees over the remaining weeks of the session. Legislative leaders are required to make public their budget targets. But it’s rare that the leaders, along with the governor, would strike a deal on those numbers this early in the legislative session. Now, the outline moves to legislative committees to work out the details of how they’ll spend their part of the budget pie. The session must conclude by May 22. “The era of gridlock is over,” Walz told reporters during a news conference Tuesday. “To come together on this speaks once again that government can work together for the people. We can reach compromises, we can get our work done on time, and we can deliver a budget that Minnesotans can be proud of.” The biggest new spending tracked with many of DFL leaders’ priorities: they recommended putting $3 billion more toward pre-K through public schools and college aid, as well as another $1 billion for housing initiatives. And they earmarked $3 billion for tax cuts that they said could include direct rebate checks, tax credits, property tax relief and increases to local government aid. Until the details are filled in, it’s impossible to say whether DFLers will pursue major tax increases to cover some of their tax relief and other spending. The initial Walz budget called for a new capital gains tax and some other tax and fee increases that were partially offset by tax cuts in other areas.
The budget targets also include nearly $670 million to start a paid family and medical leave program. Walz assured supporters at a rally Tuesday that a plan will pass this year. “Paid family and medical leave will get done and will be signed into law. So we've got now to talk to the legislators. Let's work out some of the details,” Walz said. “I can tell you for certain it is in our budget to front-end load this so that we can get it started as soon as possible.” As the plan stands now, an employee would qualify for up to 12 weeks of family caregiving time and the same amount for their own medical crisis. A payroll tax would fund it in the long-term. Supporters say creating a shared risk pool will make it sustainable. Business groups say it's too complicated and too expensive.
Republicans said the DFL budget targets don’t put enough money into tax cuts. "With more than $17 billion in surplus, the paltry amount of tax relief being offered leaves Minnesotans who are already struggling with rising costs behind,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said. House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said Walz was not listening to voters. “Contrary to what Governor Walz might have you believe, this budget is clearly focused on growing government, not giving money back to Minnesotans. This isn’t what Minnesotans have been asking for,” Demuth said in a statement. “Our historic surplus should have been the impetus for tax cuts, not massively expanding government and charging the taxpayer for it.”
That leak of radioactive water at Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear plant was one of the biggest ever in the United States. The Star Tribune reports: A monitoring well at the site registered a tritium level of 5 million picocuries per liter, according to a Nov. 22 report from the plant to the state. Only five other plants across the country have registered leaks of higher concentrations, according to a 2021 report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the most recent available. The lack of risk to the public was one reason state officials gave for waiting months before publicizing the leak last week. After high levels of tritium were found in November, the leak was patched about a month later — and the public wasn't told the extent of the event until March 16. "Tritium is a very low risk, and none of that has left the site," said Daniel Huff, assistant commissioner for health protection at the Minnesota Department of Health. "If there had been the potential of any imminent risk, we would have notified folks immediately." He said he knows some people have criticized the delayed announcement by health officials and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. "We have definitely heard from folks that they want us to, you know, let them know much faster. And we hear that and we get it," Huff said.
The city of St. Paul reached a tentative contract deal with three unions representing nearly 300 city workers, averting a potential strike, reports MPR’s Tim Nelson. A spokesperson for Mayor Melvin Carter told MPR News that mediation concluded Monday night with an agreement, and that employees reported for work on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Laborers International Union of North America Local 363, one of the three unions representing 280 St. Paul city public works, parks, and sewer and water employees, said a ratification vote on the tentative agreement is scheduled for Thursday. The union’s bargaining committee is recommending ratification. LIUNA said the contract offers its members raises of 18 percent to 26 percent over three years, and also would provide increased vacation benefits and paid parental leave.
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