Good morning, and congratulations for making it to another Friday.
On the radio today I’ll talk to two first-term DFL state Senators from northern Minnesota–Rob Kupec and Grant Hauschild. I’ll also talk to Republican Sen. Eric Pratt and more. Definitely worth tuning into MPR News at noon.
The Minnesota House passed a bill early this morning that would prevent state courts or officials from complying with child removal requests, extraditions, arrests or subpoenas related to gender-affirming health care that a person receives in Minnesota. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports physicians who practice gender-affirming care in Minnesota and families who’ve sought it out for their transgender children or teenagers said it would go a long way to ensure that they can continue to access treatment without fear of other states’ laws getting in the way. They also said it would send a message to transgender people that they are welcome in Minnesota. Eight states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — have issued all out bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, including medication and surgical services. Meanwhile, Arizona has outlawed surgical treatments and dozens of other states have bans under consideration. That has meant that transgender youth and their families have had to look to other states for care options. “Forced detransition is a violence against my community that I can barely begin to imagine. That is what is happening in states across America,” bill author Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, said. “To all those families across the United States that are afraid and wondering where they can go for help, Minnesota is saying we see you, we love you, and you belong here.” Republican lawmakers in states that have imposed bans, as well as in Minnesota, have raised concerns about long-term impacts of gender-affirming treatments for transgender children or youth. “The bill makes Minnesota a sanctuary state for so-called gender-affirming care, while simultaneously infringing on the fundamental right of parenting,” Minnesota Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, said ahead of the floor debate Thursday. “It allows children, regardless of age, to seek and receive radical medical treatments.”
Meanwhile in Iowa, the Associated Press reportsGov. Kim Reynolds has signed a pair of laws restricting the bathrooms transgender students can use and banning gender-affirming medical care amid a flood of legislation nationwide targeting the trans community. Reynolds, a Republican, met with parents of transgender children to discuss the bills before signing them Wednesday, The Des Moines Register reported. “My heart breaks,” Reynolds told reporters. “I’ve sat down and met with them. It’s not easy. It’s not easy for me either. It’s not easy for our elected officials to make these decisions. So I just, I hope they know that.” Her endorsement of the laws, which took effect immediately, came just one day after Arkansas's governor signed a similar bathroom law. And a bill in Idaho is awaiting its governor's signature.
Gun legislation made a small but significant step forward in the Minnesota Legislature on Thursday, keeping a set of bills moving toward what could be difficult votes for majority party DFLers. MPR’s Brian Bakst has the story: The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee had been a previous chokepoint for firearms bills. With a change in partisan control of the Senate, three bills were approved either on party-line or divided voice votes. One requires more documentation and permitting around private transactions involving handguns and semi automatic rifles when those transfers aren’t between family members. Another increases prison sentences for those possessing a machine gun or short-barrelled shotgun. The third, a “red flag” proposal, makes it easier to take guns from people deemed to be a threat through what are known as extreme risk protection orders. DFLers and Republicans on the committee found one area of agreement: Gun violence in Minnesota is a problem. “Gun violence destroys lives, ends lives, destroys families, traumatizes communities and has people often living in fear,” said Committee Chair Ron Latz, DFL-Saint Louis Park, who authored the bills. “We do recognize the proliferation of gun violence,” said ranking Republican Warren Limmer of Maple Grove. When it comes to what to do about it, they parted ways.
Xcel Energy says it will power down its Monticello nuclear power plant after monitoring equipment on Wednesday detected more radioactive tritium was leaking into groundwater. MPR News reports after identifying the source of the leak in November, Xcel implemented a short-term solution to capture water from a leaking pipe and reroute it back into the plant for reuse. The fix was focused on preventing any new tritium from reaching groundwater until Xcel could install a replacement pipe in April. In a statement on Thursday, the utility said the short term fix was “no longer capturing 100 percent of the leaking water. The new leakage — anticipated to be in the hundreds of gallons, a much smaller amount of water than previously leaked — will not materially increase the amount of tritium the company is working to recover and does not pose any risk to health or the environment.” There’s no plan yet for when the plant will restart.
The Minnesota senator leading the paid family and medical leave push is modifying her bill to respond to concerns. Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, said Thursday the changes would cap the total time an employee could take off with partial pay in a year at 20 weeks. It had been a maximum of 24 weeks in prior versions, half for family bonding or caregiving and half for a person’s own health complications. Mann framed it as a compromise. “The culmination of months of conversations with businesses, with schools with higher education, with workers, and with all of our members. And so all the conversations we took, we took all of their recommendations, and we made all these changes,” Mann said. “And because of that, I think I think we'll have the support that we need.” Mann also added subsidies to provide help with premiums for companies with fewer than 30 workers. And she moved to exclude seasonal employees – those on a payroll for fewer than five months in a year.
And the Associated Press reportedMinnesota pollution and health officials made the case at the State Capitol on Thursday for legislation to restrict nonessential uses of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, and for the $45.6 million that Gov. Tim Walz has requested in his budget to prevent, manage and clean up the ubiquitous compounds. State agencies launched a drive two years ago to protect communities from PFAS, which don't break down in the environment but accumulate in human bodies. They've already tested water supplies for 98 percent of the state's population, pioneered new clean-up technologies and started statewide monitoring. "PFAS is an urgent public health and environmental issue facing Minnesota and the nation,” Katrina Kessler, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said at a briefing for reporters. While PFAS are usually found at low levels in Minnesota, there are hot spots across the state. They've been found in 42 percent of Minnesota's community water systems, not including private wells, said Dan Huff, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health. While very few systems are at levels considered at risk, he said, more tests are expected to be completed later this month.
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