Good morning, and welcome to Friday. The Democratic candidates for president debated again last night. There's more about that here. And here’s the Digest.
1. Walz launches shelter initiative. Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has joined forces with foundations and business leaders to increase the number of beds in shelters across the state as temperatures drop. Walz announced the effort Thursday at the Minnesota Women's Indian Resource Center in Minneapolis, a shelter not far from the Wall of Forgotten Natives, a homeless encampment that was shuttered last year. The Minnesota Winter Homeless Initiative includes nearly $5 million immediately to add roughly 150 beds in shelters across the state, including 25 to 30 at the Women’s Indian Resource Center. Beds will also be added at churches in Washington County, a shelter in Ramsey County and in rented homes and apartments in northern Minnesota. The governor’s office started contacting businesses two and a half weeks ago to raise they money, and Walz said he was impressed at how quickly things came together. Donations came in from the Metropolitan Council, family foundations, and businesses like Ecolab, Securian, Anderson Corp. and Wells Fargo. "And I want you to understand what we're talking about here is not theoretical, not a dream, these are happening next week,” Walz said. “These are happening right now." MPR News
2. Public safety hearing excludes new gun proposals. A Republican-led Minnesota Senate panel held a meeting Thursday on existing violence prevention laws rather than the specific gun-control measures that Democrats want to see passed. The judiciary and public safety committee also took no public testimony during the meeting, despite the presence of many gun-control supporters. Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, the committee chairman, defended the approach. “I think there are some people in the past discussion that I’ve listened to kind of have an impression that Minnesota has no laws regarding violent crime. That simply would not be true,” Limmer said. “But I think it’s good to set a baseline for discussion coming later this session.” Republicans on the panel raised concerns about gun violence in Minnesota, especially recent cases in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, is sponsoring legislation that would expand background checks for gun purchases and a measure to allow for extreme risk protection orders, which other states have used to temporarily remove firearms from people who are found to be a risk to themselves or others. Latz criticized Republicans for not taking up either of those bills during the informational hearing. “It seems to me this is more political window dressing than it is a serious attempt to address gun violence in Minnesota, and I think the public will recognize it as such.” MPR News
3. Probation cap proposal spurs comments. A proposal to cap probation sentences for most defendants at five years with an exception for those convicted of homicide or criminal sex offenses garnered hours of emotional testimony at the Capitol complex. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission on Thursday took more than three hours of testimony from dozens of probationers, crime victims, professors, lawyers, community members and others that sought to weigh in on the plan. If approved in their Jan. 9 meeting, the proposal will take effect without legislative intervention. And that irked some lawmakers that feel they'll have to play cleanup in the next legislative session. The change is critical, those with extended probation sentences said, as it could help them find housing, professional and personal opportunities and potentially a pardon from the state later on. "I think we have enough statistics, I think we have enough numbers that this probation cap is necessary and is needed," said Brian Fullman, an organizer with the advocacy group ISAIAH who has a felony on his record. "Do you understand the effect of being on probation for so many years after you've been in jail? You don't feel included. How do you expect us to adopt a certain society when society is telling us, 'We're not ready for you yet. Go back in the oven and wait a little while.'" Fullman sat with Jen Schroeder, a substance abuse counselor serving a 40-year probation sentence for a possession conviction. Schroeder will be on probation until she is 71 unless the sentence is adjusted. Minnesota has clear prison sentencing guidelines, but those guidelines don’t cover probation and supervision sentencing, resulting in different probation lengths across the state. And those discrepancies are "embarrassing," State Public Defender William Ward said. Forum News Service
4. Fraud investigator reassigned at DHS. The top official in charge of investigating fraud at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has been reassigned to another position nine months after the state’s legislative auditor found disarray within her department. Carolyn Ham, who has been on leave from her inspector general position, became the subject of an internal investigation after the legislative auditor found high levels of fraud in the state’s child-care assistance program and distrust between Ham and her team of anti-fraud investigators. DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead told a Minnesota House health committee earlier this month that the internal investigation had been completed and that no disciplinary action would be taken against Ham. Ham will be an administrative officer for a DHS division that provides services to seniors on Medicaid, according to an internal DHS announcement. Ham will retain her $132,800 salary. DHS will soon begin the process of hiring a new inspector general, according to a statement from the agency. House and Senate Republicans expressed frustration earlier this month after hearing that Ham would not be disciplined. “The decision to retain her ... raises questions,” said Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake. “She did not do top tier work as she was running the Office of Inspector General.” Ham released a statement earlier this month saying that she has chosen not to return to the inspector general job “so that both the staff and I can have a fresh start.” “As I said at the outset of this investigation, there was no wrongdoing on my part,” Ham said. Star Tribune
5. Impeachment? It’s a teachable moment. Jen Hesse started her civics lesson on impeachment Wednesday with a bit of grounding — and perspective. She told her students they were witnessing a moment that they would tell their grandchildren about someday. “This is historic,” she said. She'd been taking her students at Forest Lake High School through the impeachment process for the past several months. Now she was setting them loose to do their own research. They needed to figure out who was who in the process and make sure they got key points and perspectives from various news outlets, as well as from both Republicans and Democrats. In the end they're going to have to write a paper, describing their own opinions on whether or not they think President Trump should be impeached. ome teachers shy away from bringing opinions into the classroom on controversial political subjects, but to Hesse, her civics class is all about opinions. She doesn't tell students about her strongly held views, but she does push them to put the work into forming their own well-researched political beliefs. "What I'm trying to teach my students is that, when they make a decision, that they have done the due diligence of research and work to think, to look at multiple perspectives, to ask hard questions, to listen, to really listen,” she said. “All of those are things that I think go into having a great voting career." MPR News
Will there be a Digest next week? It depends on the news. If we don’t see you until after New Year’s Day, have a wonderful holiday season. | 