Good morning. This will be the final CapView of the week. I'll be back Monday.
Yet again, the U.S. House tried to pick a new speaker and couldn’t get there. A stalemate over one of the critical posts in the federal government is now two weeks old. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan fell well shy of the needed threshold to gain the gavel. He insists he’ll keep at it, with another vote as soon as this morning. NPR wraps up the activity here. Republican hardliners and more moderate members can’t agree on a path forward. Talk is increasing about a temporary rule change that would allow the House to operate while the speaker fracas sorts itself out.
Minnesota’s delegation split its votes along party lines. All four Republicans backed Jordan; all four Democrats supported House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for the job. Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer attracted one vote for speaker, from Colorado Rep. Ken Buck. Immediately after the vote, Buck went on CNN to say he really doesn’t want to saddle Emmer with an ugly job and suggested he voted Emmer out of spite. He later clarified that he made a joke that fell flat.
We’re within three weeks of the next election. It’s a mostly local affair, with school board seats and levy referenda, city council positions, mayoral races and more on the ballot. MPR News reporter Dana Ferguson looked into the change in tone by conservative groups around early voting. They’re pushing it – despite the stigma prior party leaders had cast around it. One Republican strategist told Dana they’re starting now in hopes of getting new habits to sink in ahead of a higher-stakes 2024. “Turning a tanker ship, you can’t do it overnight,” Jennifer DeJournett said.
A flag frenzy has taken over. Dana also got an update on the crush of submissions for a new state flag and official seal. As of yesterday, there were 776 entries by the public. A task force is accepting designs through Oct. 30 and will go through a winnowing process after that.
Another impending deadline surrounds new state child care grants. From now until Oct. 25, child care providers across Minnesota can apply for monthly payments to help increase worker wages. MPR’s Kyra Miles writes that the state is gearing up to divvy up $316 million in payments to prop up wages of child care workers. It’s called the Great Start Compensation Support Program.
Minnesota’s budding cannabis industry will need adequate supply before regulators permit retail sales. A state economic development agency has approved a $10 million loan for a company that plans to build a major cannabis growing and manufacturing facility in Grand Rapids at the site of a vacant lumber mill. MPR’s Dan Kraker has plenty of details. Lawmakers legalized use and possession of marijuana for adults 21 and older. But broad retail sales await the green light and might not happen until early 2025.
We’re still looking to build out the MPR political team. So check out the reporting jobs we have open: This one and this one.
The daily digest will be on pause for the rest of the week and return on Monday. When my predecessor and mentor Mike Mulcahy retired, he told colleagues not to let life pass us by. He urged us to take vacations with family, even if things seem busy at work. I’m heeding that advice and joining mine for a rare MEA week getaway. Wish me luck (and patience)!
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