Good morning, and happy Thursday.
Today is the third anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. MPR’s Jon Collins has a look at what’s changed in Minneapolis since then.
Minnesota Democrats took a victory lap Wednesday, holding a celebratory event outside the Capitol with allies after a session where they secured policy goals they’ve chased for years. MPR’s Brian Bakst and Dana Ferguson report: At the campaign-style rally on the front plaza — complete with a marching band and a photography drone circling overhead — Gov. Tim Walz signed a piece of paper with his “One Minnesota” slogan that was meant to be representative of the new $72 billion budget. The actual bills are still coming his way, although he has formally signed several. Walz and legislative Democrats celebrated the new state budget and a raft of policy changes years in the making. “There's gonna be some — and we heard them talk about it during this session — that ask ‘What's in it for me?'” Walz said before giving a rhetorical nod to dozens of DFL lawmakers and state agency commissioners assembled behind him. “This group said, `What's in it for Minnesota?’” Walz and DFL legislative leaders said the vast tax and spending plans would have broad reach — from the classroom to the environment to highways. “There are countless things in here that improve those lives,” Walz said.
Republicans lacked the votes to stop the DFL-crafted budget and laws that guarantee abortion access, tighten rules around guns, open up more avenues to voting and more. They say they’ll argue in the next election that Democrats went too far, and they predict voters will be upset with increases to the gas tax, local sales taxes and the amount of overall spending. “I think that the partisanship of the Democrats really failed the state,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said. “I don't think the transformation is going to be one that benefits all Minnesotans. You see government growth by 40 percent. You see a lot of special interests that were catered to this session. That's not Minnesota, that doesn't represent Minnesota. It's the people, it's the communities that we need to be investing in. And we completely missed the mark on that this year.” House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said that Democrats tried to work with Republicans and were able to pick up GOP backing on some bills. “We tried to take some of their amendments. When we did, they withdrew their amendments. So I think at a certain point, the Republicans decided that the talking point of this being a Democratic session where they didn't have input was more valuable to them than actually doing the work and providing the input,” Hortman said.
A lawsuit has already been filed against one of the new laws Walz signed. A group of Christian parents and schools sued Wednesday to challenge a new law that prohibits religious universities from offering college credits to high school students. Two Christian families contend they want to use funding from Minnesota’s Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program for their kids to attend two colleges of their choice in the state to get a head start in higher education. They are unable to do so, however, because Minnesota has removed religious schools’ eligibility in the program if they require a statement of faith from students. One Republican lawmaker weighed in after the suit was announced. “This lawsuit is one of numerous legal challenges we can expect as a result of the extreme laws passed by Minnesota Democrats this year despite constitutional concerns,” Rep. Harry Niska, R- Ramsey, said. “During a House floor debate, Democrats admitted they were targeting certain colleges based on their religious beliefs. We explained why this law is clearly unconstitutional, based on recent Supreme Court cases, but Democrats disregarded the facts and proceeded to enact this legislation.”
Brian had this one, too: Minnesota state agencies are setting a target for a year from now to begin issuing retail licenses for legal marijuana sales. A request for vendors offers the timeline for a program buildout after the Legislature approved a bill allowing adults at least 21 years old to possess and buy cannabis. The state is seeking a software vendor to manage applications and information around retail licenses. The bid package says the project would start in July and license applications would start in May 2024. The estimated start of marijuana sales from dispensaries is listed as January of 2025, although that could shift. In the meantime, people will be allowed to grow their own marijuana plants at home within limits beginning this August. They can keep up to two pounds of cultivated cannabis and give away small amounts to people of legal age who they know.
And some direction from the Revenue Department on tax rebates: Taxpayers will not have to apply for this payment. Revenue will use tax year 2021 individual income tax or property tax refund returns to determine eligibility and distribute the tax rebate payments. Rebate amounts for part-year residents will be reduced based on the percentage of the year they lived in Minnesota. A secure online portal for banking and address updates will be available this summer. Taxpayers who are eligible for the rebate payments will be able to access the portal and update their information if necessary. “With the legislation now signed into law, we can begin implementing the tax rebate payments that were targeted to those who need them most,” said Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart. “We know this money is important for Minnesota families and we will allow time for eligible taxpayers to update their address and banking information this summer with the anticipation of sending out the refunds in early fall.” The rebates are $260 for individuals with adjusted gross incomes of up to $75,000 in 2021 and $520 for couples who filed jointly with incomes up to $150,000. People within those limits will get an additional $260 per dependent for up to three dependents.
The Duluth News Tribune reports those higher fishing license fees didn’t make it to the finish line at the Capitol: While the proposal to raise fishing license fees and state park fees was dropped, both of those areas will see large funding increases through the DNR as lawmakers opted to use the budget surplus and hold off on raising more fees. The exception is watercraft licenses, which are going up for the first time since 2007. Just the DNR’s budget alone increases from about $1 billion to about $1.3 billion for the next two fiscal years, by far the largest increase ever. DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen said most every Minnesotan should notice improvements not just in the facilities they use outdoors — parks, trails, wildlife management areas, boat landings and more — but also in how they are staffed, maintained and operated and how they are accessible to more people. | 