Meanwhile, the legislation — which passed late Monday night — did not include a proposal to provide one-time $500 checks to those in the Minnesota Family Investment Program, which provides assistance to low-income families with children.
Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders have pledged to come up with a bill to help bars, restaurants and other businesses closed in the latest pandemic shutdowns.
The data needed to draw political districts is supposed to be delivered by the Census Bureau by April 1.
The plan was to use $100 million of Minnesota’s federal CARES Act money to pay for the COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program.
Welcome to the world of economic forecasting in the midst of a global pandemic.
State officials released the latest forecast for revenue and spending on Tuesday, and it offered better news for a governor and state Legislature seeking ways to help those hurt by the latest pandemic-related closures.
On Monday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency cleared the way for work to start on the pipeline project. Yet hurdles remain, including ongoing lawsuits and the threat of protests along the route.
In its appeal, the ACLU restates its claim that voting is a fundamental right — and that the state has not provided a rational reason for denying that right to those who’ve been released from incarceration.
Whether the proposals will lead to actual legislation is unclear, but both sides were hopeful that a special session to hammer out a deal could be held as early as next week.
The 2020 election’s anomalies are the first place the parties will look when planning for the next election.
There have been 784 deaths from COVID-19 in Minnesota so far in November, making it the deadliest month of the pandemic.
Minnesota has now reported more than 60 deaths for three straight days, and there have been 693 deaths through the first 20 days of November.
Though Minnesota’s restrictions on public life have been labeled tyrannical by some, they look fairly weak compared to measures taken in other cities and states with far milder outbreaks.
Of the $200 million appropriated to a special COVID-19 fund by the Legislature, only $18.565 million remains. And of the $1.87 billion sent directly to the state under the congressional CARES Act, just $208,527 is left to be appropriated.
Walz announced the rules — which will close bars, restaurants and gyms and severely curtail social gatherings for four weeks — in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases around the state.
Minnesota has a relatively non-gerrymandered legislative map. And with Minnesotans once again voting for divided government as the state heads into redistricting next year, things are likely to stay that way.
DFL House candidate John Persell maintains his loss was the result of factors unique to 2020. Republicans see the results as something else: confirmation of a changing political tide.
Meanwhile, even as COVID-19 cases surge across Minnesota, the state Senate was talking about … who would be the president of the state Senate.
The biggest question for Gov. Tim Walz and legislative budget writers is whether Congress will more help to the states, and if so, how much.
The shakeup raises questions about the future of agriculture policy in a Democratic party increasingly made up of lawmakers from the Twin Cities metro.
