Good morning and happy Monday, which for some of us is a holiday. Here's the Digest.
1. Klobuchar has momentum but can her campaign ramp up? When Las Vegas residents Ken and Jayne Hamm watched Amy Klobuchar tout her surprising third place finish in New Hampshire last week, the Minnesota senator wasn't someone they had seriously considered supporting. But less than a week later, the couple sat patiently as they waited to see Klobuchar in person at a rally in Las Vegas' Sun City neighborhood. "She wasn't on the radar," said Ken. "(But) when she came up in the top tier in New Hampshire, we began to look at more at her and wanted to listen to her." Jayne, who previously volunteered for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, agreed: "We weren't really considering her. We were firmly with Elizabeth Warren. (New Hampshire) changed our mind." Voters, in a way to burnish their own independence, often argue that earlier contests do little to influence their vote. But those considering Klobuchar here in Nevada -- like the Hamms -- are proud of the fact they are now considering her and have fully embraced the fact that her third place finish nearly 3,000 miles away has shifted their views. CNN
2. Klobuchar says campaign has raised $12 million in about a week. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says her Democratic presidential campaign has raised $12 million over the past week, citing greater voter interest after her performance in New Hampshire. The Minnesota senator told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that she is benefiting from a surge of people who have discovered her campaign after the New Hampshire debate on Feb. 7 and a better-than-expected third-place finish in the state’s primary. In comparison, Klobuchar reported bringing in $11.4 million total for the last three months of 2019. She's billing the fundraising support as momentum that will allow her to be competitive on the airwaves heading into the Nevada caucus and Super Tuesday contests in early March. The Associated Press
3. Walz wants Legislature to ban conversion therapy. Gov. Tim Walz and LGBTQ activists rallied at the State Capitol on Friday to demand that the Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate pass a ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, a discredited practice that seeks to turn gay people straight. The proposal passed the Democratic-controlled House last year but an effort to amend it onto a larger bill on the Senate floor by Sen. Scott Dibble failed late in the session. The Minneapolis Democrat, who is openly gay, said he plans to reintroduce it this year, though he acknowledged in an interview that enacting it will be an uphill fight. But he has an ally in the Democratic governor. Walz pointed out to a crowd of about 100 people in the Capitol rotunda that 19 other states have enacted conversion therapy bans, most recently conservative Utah last month, while a Republican-controlled legislative committee in Oklahoma approved a ban Wednesday. “The idea that this absolutely discredited, Byzantine, torturous way of telling our children they are not who they are has got to end and will end,” Walz said. The Associated Press
4. It’s time to apply for a Real ID . Minnesota driver’s licensing officials said Friday they’re concerned too many people will delay applying for security-enhanced ID cards that will get them through airport security come fall and urged them to get in line by June. Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington told state lawmakers it’s taking months to process applications for the IDs. He shared the nightmare scenario in his head about those traditional school holiday getaways to Disney World in October. “Mom, dad and grandma are at the airport getting ready to go down to the happiest place on the earth and they walk up and they don’t have Real ID,” Harrington told members of the Driver and Vehicle Systems Oversight Committee. By October, Real ID will be one of the few forms of ID that transportation security agents will accept at checkpoints. Passports or passport cards are also valid. Harrington said the federal deadline appears to be set in stone. MPR News
5. Lawmakers want Lessard-Sams Council meetings on video. At a recent meeting of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, members of the 12-person board discussed the health of Minnesota’s watersheds, outcomes of the state-funded projects it vets, invasive species research and talk of whether people asking for money should disclose if Chronic Wasting Disease has been found in deer on their property. But while audio from the five-hour meeting was live-streamed and archived, there is no video of the event. Few of the Lessard-Sams meetings are ever videotaped, which some state lawmakers argue is a barrier to transparency — especially since the committee makes recommendations for how the state should distribute $100 million in state grants each year. “There’s a different level of accountability when someone can see a video of you,” said state Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, a Roseville DFLer who sits on the council. Becker-Finn and state Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, are now pushing for video coverage of the Lessard-Sams council and the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, which also helps dole out millions in taxpayer dollars for conservation efforts. MinnPost
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