Good morning, and welcome to another Friday. 

On the radio today I will talk to DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and later to Republican House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth about what’s been done and what remains to be done as the Legislature enters its final stretch. Tune into MPR News at noon. 

The Senate is expected to vote today on the judiciary and public safety budget bill that now includes two new proposed gun laws, one that would expand background checks to private transactions and another that would allow extreme risk protection orders, which would allow authorities to temporarily take guns from people deemed to pose a risk. A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll finds broad support for the measures. On the proposal to require background checks on all private gun sales, 74 percent of Minnesotans approve of the idea, with just 21 percent opposed. The support is widespread, with 79 percent support in urban areas, 78 percent in suburbs and 62 percent in rural areas. It’s a similar story on the “red flag,” or “extreme protection” law. In the survey of 681 registered voters across the state, 63 percent support the proposal, while 26 percent are opposed. 

Lawmakers trying to fashion a deal on legal sports betting hope to keep the issue in play in the Minnesota Legislature’s final days. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the Senate Taxes Committee plans to review the bill later today. Sen. Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights, said he’s still trying to find an agreement that will satisfy Minnesota’s Indian tribes and horse tracks. “I do believe we are moving closer every single day,” Klein said. “And I think there's a good possibility that an agreement may be reached and that this legislation could be accomplished this session.” It would mark a large expansion of gambling in the state. Some senators of both parties are raising concerns about problem gambling. Other lawmakers don’t like giving tribal casinos exclusive access to host betting on-site or through mobile platforms. 

Minnesota is about to formally align with a group of states that want to change how presidents are elected.  A provision of a budget bill nearing final passage would make Minnesota part of the National Popular Vote compact. That seeks to award Electoral College votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. But that arrangement doesn’t kick in until the number of member states reaches a 270-electoral vote threshold. “This means Minnesota is signing on the dotted line in terms of devotion to a principle that, just as with every other election under the sun, the top vote-getter wins. We want to do the same, especially when it comes to the presidency of the United States. So it's a matter of principle, but it's also a matter of preparedness,” said Secretary of State Steve Simon, who supports it. Minnesota would be the 17th state to join and bring the membership total to 205 votes. Full enactment is unlikely to come before the 2024 or even 2028 presidential elections. 

An emergency funding package could bring millions of dollars in aid to the city of Windom, which is facing the possible closure of the HyLife pork processing plant. One thousand workers could lose their jobs. Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne, whose district includes the plant, says he is asking for money to complete a wastewater plant and multi-family housing linked to the plant, as well as support for local schools, which stand to lose about 100 students should the plant close. “At the end of the day, there will be a portion that I'm asking for as a definite grant to the city of Windom and the other money would be available, if indeed the plant closes, and there is no prospective buyer for it.” Weber is drafting the aid package for possible inclusion in the tax bill. 

In a nearly unanimous vote, Minnesota Senate lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would criminalize people who non-consensually share deepfake sexual images of others, and people who share deepfakes to hurt a political candidate or influence an election, the Associated Press reported. Deepfakes are videos and images that have been digitally created or altered with artificial intelligence or machine learning. Deepfake pornography and political misinformation have been created with the technology since it first began spreading across the internet several years ago. That technology is easier to use now than ever before. The bill would allow prosecutors to charge people with up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines for disseminating deepfakes. To become law, the bill must still go through a conference committee and get signed by Gov. Tim Walz.

The Star Tribune reports the Legislature is considering closing a state park and returning the land to the Dakota people : The 1,300-acre Upper Sioux Agency State Park, composed of rolling prairies and wetlands at the confluence of the Yellow Medicine and Minnesota rivers, would be returned to the Upper Sioux Community that was forced out after the six-week US-Dakota War of 1862. It would mark the first time in decades that the state of Minnesota relinquished a state park. "There are points in time where we have the opportunity to do the right thing," said state Rep. Zach Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids. "And this is the right thing, to return this land at this time." The park was the site of the Upper Sioux Agency, a government-run complex responsible for paying the band of Dakota the money, food and supplies owed to them under the treaties that gave the United States much of what is now Minnesota. 

Correction: I dropped a decimal point in yesterday’s email. The cost of the higher education bill headed to the governor’s desk is $4.16 billion.  

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