As you no doubt know if you’ve been reading the Digest this week, Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce tomorrow his latest steps to dial back COVID-19 restrictions in Minnesota. We’ll have live coverage of that at noon tomorrow on MPR News. So let’s move past that for now and look at another issue that’s been drawing a lot of attention lately: proposed changes to policing.
It turns out that, like many things in politics, the debate is not new. Twenty years ago the Legislature grappled with similar issues. After considerable back and forth, lawmakers authorized a study of racial profiling. As Brian Bakst reports , despite calls for compiling of race data on traffic stops to be mandatory, it was deemed voluntary. Data wouldn’t be connected to specific officers, as some advocates pressed for. In the end, 65 jurisdictions participated in the study. It found that people of color were stopped by police much more often than white drivers in Minnesota. And the data collection stopped when the study was complete.
That 2001 legislation also sought model policies and more training tied to racial bias. It required the creation of a hotline in the attorney general’s office where people could report complaints of racial profiling. Those complaints were to be turned over to the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board, which was supposed to make summary data public. Those requirements also soon lapsed, and a POST Board official told MPR News in April that it doesn’t have any corresponding complaint information.
Meanwhile, the killing of Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center police officer has been “devastating” for both the community and the police, the city’s police union said Wednesday in its first public statement on the incident, Peter Cox reports . “Our officers come to work to help people and make their lives better. Our entire profession is founded upon our willingness to sacrifice our lives for others and to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” said Chuck Valleau, a Brooklyn Center detective.Wright was shot and killed by officer Kim Potter during an afternoon traffic stop on April 11. Valleau, the union’s acting head, offered the union’s thoughts and prayers to Wright’s family and friends. He also wrote that the department is grieving for Potter, a 25-year veteran of the department.
Back at the Capitol House and Senate negotiators have been meeting to talk about taxes. There’s a big sticking point -- House Democrats passed a bill that adds a new top tier to the income tax. It amounts to a nearly $564 million tax increase on top earners over the next two years. Senate Republicans don’t support any tax increases. Tim Pugmire reports the conference committee cannot reach a tax bill compromise until legislative leaders strike their overall, end-of-session deal. And they can’t do that until they agree on how much money there is to spend. DFL House Tax Chair Paul Marquart of Dilworth said that in the meantime, the panel members will work on as much as they can.
But then it’s a waiting game. “Will there be revenue raisers? Will there not be revenue raisers? We really do not know that until the governor and the speaker and senate majority leader come to agreement,” Marquart said.
Republican Senate Tax Chair Carla Nelson of Rochester said the state’s current fiscal health, including a budget surplus and federal stimulus, lessens the need to generate new revenue. “It’s not about the money. We’re awash in money,” Nelson said. ”So, that should take a lot of pressure off the tax bill, I think, and let us focus on using those resources that we have.”
That wait for a leadership agreement on tax and spending targets leaves a lot of time for posturing and sabre rattling. Could this be an example? Senate Republicans are threatening to withhold funding for state parks, the Minnesota Zoo, the Science Museum and a host of other environmental agencies and projects if the Walz administration doesn’t drop its plans for new “clean car” emissions standards, the Star Tribune reported.
In national news, the social media blackout from Mar-a-Lago continues as former President Donald Trump will still be barred from posting on Facebook. The social network’s quasi-independent Oversight Board voted to uphold Trump’s ban from the platform after his account was suspended four months ago for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. While upholding the suspension, the board faulted Facebook in a statement for the way it made the decision. The board said the ongoing risk of serious violence justified Facebook’s suspension at the time, but said it “was not appropriate for Facebook to impose an ‘indefinite’ suspension.” [ Read more]
And the AP reports : From Washington to Indigenous communities across the American Southwest, top government officials, family members and advocates gathered Wednesday as part of a call to action to address the ongoing problem of violence against Indigenous women and children. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other federal officials commemorated the annual day of awareness as a caravan of female motorcycle riders planned to hit the streets in Phoenix, advocates took to social media, and families prepared for a night of candlelight and prayer vigils. In Washington, an event hosted by federal officials started with a prayer asking for guidance and grace for the Indigenous families who have lost relatives and those who have been victims of violence. Before and after a moment of silence, officials from various agencies vowed to continue working with tribes to address the crisis.
Finally, when it comes to surfing the web, I’m not nearly as erudite as Mr. Montgomery, but apparently a bunch of video from the old Ed Sullivan Show was added to streaming services this week, including this 1969 performance by The Band. Watching it raises again one of the great unanswered questions of humanity: How did Levon Helm sing and play the drums like that at the same time?
