For WCCO-TV, Esme Murphy reports, “Gov. Tim Walz is reviving and doubling down on his Walz checks proposal, saying he now wants to give families back $2,000 and individuals back $1,000 from the record surplus. This comes after talks for a deal with the GOP collapsed late last week. ‘It would be a 15-minute special session, a one-page bill … It’s about $2,000 a family,’ the governor said. ‘The biggest thing we can do to improve the quality of life of Minnesotans right now is to put the money back in their hands.’’
At MPR, Ron Trenda says, “Monday highs will be in the upper 90s in many spots: A few triple-digit highs are possible Monday afternoon, even in the Twin Cities metro area. Monday dew points will reach the upper 60s to around 70.”
Says Shannon Prather and Zoë Jackson in the Star Tribune: “Communities across the Twin Cities are adding Juneteenth to the holiday calendar, organizing celebrations and planning a day off for the new federal observance commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans after the Civil War. This is the first year that St. Paul, Ramsey County and Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools are all recognizing Juneteenth as an official holiday, giving workers a paid day off and closing their offices Monday. They join Minneapolis and Hennepin County, which declared Juneteenth a paid holiday in 2021.”
In the Pioneer Press, Kristi Belcamino writes: “On the heels of the CDC this weekend recommending COVID-19 vaccines for children between 6 months and 5 years old, state health officials announced Sunday that appointments are being taken for Minnesota children in that age range at the state-run Mall of America vaccination site. This follows final authorization of the vaccine for this age group. Along with the Mall of America site, vaccines for children will be available at pediatricians, clinics and pharmacies.”
In the Duluth News Tribune, Brady Slater says, “While shipping leaders were thankful of a diverse flow of cargoes buoying May’s shipping totals, there was no denying iron ore shipments remained off pace. Shipments of iron ore from U.S. Great Lakes ports totaled 4.4 million tons in May — a decrease of 20.4% compared to the same month a year ago, and 21.9% below the month’s five-year average, according to the Ohio-based Lake Carriers’ Association last week. It was better than April’s 40% gap, and officials seized upon the industry closing the gap.”
This, at BringMeTheNews, “An 82-year-old woman who fell in her southeastern Minnesota garage wasn’t found until six days later. According to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, the woman received medical care at the scene and then was taken by ambulance to a hospital for care. The sheriff’s office told KTTC-TV that the woman had a leg injury, dried cracked lips and other ailments from six days without help. She was found by her lawn service on June 16, and she believed she fell on June 10.”
Says Greg Stanley in the Star Tribune, “Four Minnesota cities will undertake independent investigations of their drinking water supplies after a lawsuit by a former state employee and an ensuing audit raised concerns about how the state cleans up pollution from thousands of petroleum spills. The Legislature gave $200,000 to the central Minnesota city of Paynesville, which will hire a firm and work with the cities of Alexandria, Blaine and Foley to test the sites of four known petroleum leaks.”
Says WXIA-TV in Atlanta, “Travelers continue to see a high number of cancelations out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — particularly for those flying on Delta Air Lines. On Sunday as of 6 p.m., there were 103 flights canceled to and from the world’s busiest airport. According to a flight tracking service, Flight Aware, 79 of those were Delta flights. As far as delays, FlightAware reports there were at least 246 flight delays at Atlanta’s airport. A majority of them were Delta routes, with 146 flights reporting a delay in their schedule. On Saturday, of the 130 flights canceled to or from Atlanta, 100 were Delta flights.”
For Business Insider, Alia Shoaib writes, “Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, compared Walmart to Nazi Germany after the retailer decided to pull his products from its shelves. While appearing on the Right Side Broadcasting Network on Friday, Lindell described the move as a ‘battle of epic proportions, historic proportion.’ ‘Evil reveals itself, and their true colors come out. Walmart, it just took until now, and they tried to just disguise it, and boom, here they are’, Lindell said.”
Walz sees the polling numbers. In a month or two, it will be $3000, then $4000.
Keep those Trumplicans squirming Walz. They kept wanting money returned to the taxpayers until they realized that Walz would do the same and then he took the wind out of their sails. Love it !
I suppose I can understand the sentiment, but I doubt this makes macroeconomic sense at this time, just as more tax cuts make no economic sense today.
The “surplus” money should be entirely used for investments in the state’s economic capacity, and especially the government services which have been incessantly pared back for 20-some years now. The federal money was largely to help state government during the covid recession; it should be used for that.
We don’t need to subsidize poor life decisions like buying monster pickups and SUVs.
I’m inclined to agree with BK Anderson. I, too, understand the sentiment (and the political attractiveness), but it ought to be resisted. This is one-time money to help states survive the COVID recession, and ought to be used for one-time investments in, as Anderson says, the state’s “economic capacity.” There are likely thousands of one-time or short-term projects that would be just that kind of investment, but that require an infusion of cash to be carried out. Build buildings! Build bridges and/or other infrastructure (i.e., high-speed internet service to every corner of the state)! Pay off any debt incurred during the pandemic that hasn’t already been paid off! Build rural water treatment plants so lakes and streams are not perpetually polluted! Etc., etc., etc.
And in the meantime, avoid longer-term commitments (i.e., tax cuts that reduce state income and/or new programs that increase state costs) that could lock us into financial commitments for long periods.
If a community wants or needs to improve the status of their locality, it is the responsibility of the community to make the upgrades. Why should I “taxpayers” pay for improvements to village, town, city, township Infrastructure that have deterated by neglect and lack of maintenance? In the real world businesses plan ahead, and in a time of need do borrow funds in the form of local bonding or other forms of borrowing for projects. I was raised in a community that used the profits from the local liquor store to pay for maintiance, upkeep and upgrades to local infractructure. The difference is that these are responsible citizens and they don’t expect a handout for everything they may want or need. The simplest way to neuter the worthless DFL is to become self sufficent and ask little or nothing from these politicians as they have Nothing to give and only take from those who work for a living.
I assume you understand that low tax base rural communities that now vote 80% Repub are the ones most clamoring for state aid to “upgrade” their communities. So “conservatives” better be careful what they (supposedly) wish for!
We don’t need any more money in our bloated local government. Minnesota is one of the highest taxed states in the country already.
The use of this surplus has nothing to do with tax rates in MN. No one proposes raising them, obviously.
And cutting taxes (the ubiquitous “conservative” policy for all economic circumstances) during a period of extremely high employment and inflation doesn’t make economic sense, robert.
Hey Pillow Man, welcome to the free market economy. For reasons I can’t understand you’ve chosen to toss your employees under the bus and trash you own business in the service of Donald and his lies, its your decision, but don’t whine when another business makes their decision.
Lindell cannot understand that his merchandise is cheap. His pillows are not selling and Walmart is unloading a bad non-selling product. His pillows cannot compete with the Chinese pillows.
That, and the company’s overexposed CEO is a proud and prominent political crackpot that over half of the buying public likely sees as at best a yapping clown, and at worst a supporter of Trumpolini’s Insurrection.
Pillow Guy should have just come home to run for governor. He’d be just as exciting and qualified as the guy currently running to be our maga savior.