Good morning, and welcome to Thursday. State budget officials will release their latest forecast on Minnesota’s financial situation later today. While we wait for that, here’s the Digest.
1. Minnesota sues top e-cigarette maker. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court against Juul Labs, the nation’s leading maker of electronic cigarettes. The anti-vaping lawsuit alleges the company illegally marketed flavored e-cigarettes to children and violated several consumer laws, including fraud. “We want them to stop engaging in deceptive practices, stop targeting youth, and we want them to compensate people for the harms that have been caused,” Ellison said. The lawsuit seeks to declare that Juul created a public health nuisance with its vaping products. Ellison wants the court to order the company to stop its marketing to kids and fund corrective public education to help people stop vaping. Juul contends that its vaping products are a healthier alternative to smokers trying to quit combustible cigarettes. Ellison said the lawsuit will challenge the company on that point. “For them to claim that what they’re selling is safe or relatively safe, it’s certainly something that we don’t agree with, and we think we’ll be able to prove that.” MPR News
2. Trump administration moves to cut food stamps. Thousands of Minnesotans could lose access to food stamps when a federal rule change goes into effect next year tightening work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).Federal officials say about 7% of those on SNAP are able-bodied adults without dependents and that the rule change will save the government $5.5 billion over five years. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the change is about “restoring the original intent of food stamps ... moving more able-bodied Americans to self-sufficiency.”But advocates who serve Minnesotans who rely on SNAP argue that the change will make it difficult for those who need help to get it and put even more pressure on food shelves and other community programs. The population of able-bodied adults without dependents has been targeted by some as people who are too lazy to work, said Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota, a public policy advocacy and hunger relief agency. But, she said, “that couldn’t be further from the truth. Many in that population include veterans with PTSD, the homeless and those with mental health issues. Star Tribune
3. Second Democrat announces challenge to Omar. A new Democratic candidate has jumped into the race for Minnesota’s 5th District, challenging freshman incumbent Ilhan Omar for the party’s nomination in the 2020 election. Antone Melton-Meaux, an attorney and volunteer minister who lives in the uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, announced his campaign Wednesday morning. He said he’s running on creating opportunities for people in the community and would be focused on the district as a member of Congress. “My wife and I are raising our children in Minneapolis and we love this community, but we also see the challenges ahead,” he wrote. “I want to work to create for our District the kinds of opportunities I’ve been so fortunate to enjoy throughout my life. Most importantly, as your next congressperson, I am and always will be focused on the Fifth.” Melton-Meaux runs his own mediation practice and is a volunteer minister at Salem English Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. He’s the second Democrat to announce a challenge to Omar, a former state legislator who is serving her first term in Congress. Ervan Katari Miller was the first Democrat to file paperwork to run against her. MPR News
4. UMD makes cuts. The University of Minnesota Duluth says it will lay off 29 faculty and staff members — plus 13 graduate teaching assistant positions — to help cut more than $5 million from its budget for next year. Administrators say it's a way to deal with a recurring budget shortfall caused by declining enrollment, flat revenues and growing costs. The cuts are meant to create a balanced budget for the 2020 fiscal year by eliminating UMD's recurring deficit of about $4 million and meeting a required $1.2 million systemwide reduction, Chancellor Lendley Black wrote in an email sent Wednesday morning to staff and students. “This is difficult,” Black said. “While there are solid financial reasons for doing this work, it does not reduce the pain that our employees will feel and the concern from our students and community.” Faculty and staff had feared as many as 50 layoffs. Black said the university was able to lessen the impact by “utilizing alternative funding, open positions and retirements” that equated to about 30 full-time positions. MPR News
5. Duluth mayor apologizes for poor snowplowing. Mayor Emily Larson called a press conference Wednesday morning to acknowledge "that we have not fulfilled our commitment on this snowstorm this time for neighborhoods and residents." "I was raised that you step into shortcomings, and you own them, and you let people know that you will strive to do better," she said. Four days after a Saturday night snowstorm blanketed the city with 21.7 inches of snow, portions of the city remain impassable, forcing the closure of the Myers-Wilkins and Lowell elementary schools for a third straight day. Larson also acknowledged "that there is a major gap in what we were able to accomplish before this morning, and that was the East and Central Hillside neighborhoods. Because of that, Superintendent (Bill) Gronseth had to make a decision to not have school." Reflecting on that decision, Gronseth said: "It was a matter of balancing the safety of our students as well as getting our kids back to school and we felt comfortable enough to open the rest of our schools." Duluth News Tribune | 
