Travel, trooper and taxes
By Rochelle Olson
Good Tuesday morning. I'd like to think that some of you are astute enough readers that you're surprised, perhaps feeling a frisson of joy, to find me here earlier in the week than my usual Friday arrival in your inboxes. But I'm not that delusional.
I was in the subterranean press room on Monday when a lobbyist wandered in, proud to have breached the security doors. "I made it in," the lobbyist said before sitting down and explaining that they like talking reporters because some of them are "reasonably well-educated and not crazy." High praise. Suffice to say we like chatting with lobbyists, too, especially another one who told me that the Capitol needs more sarcasm. I'm here to serve.
Pay for Uber/Lyft drivers bedeviled the denouement of the 2023 session and it's back with a vengeance. Gov. Tim Walz is not happy with the 10 members of the Minneapolis City Council who jumped out on the issue and imperiled the service for the rest of us.
The governor commented on the situation after a budget news conference. He says he'd prefer a statewide solution to the pay issue, but isn't hopeful given the Minneapolis vote and override of Mayor Jacob Frey's veto. The governor also didn't want to rely on blind hope that another service will fill the void if the rideshare services make good on a pledge to leave on May 1. "We're willing to try and play a role in it," the governor said. "But again, I'm just very frustrated because I view this as a utility that is needed and to lose this, I don't think it's a plan to think somebody might step in. That's not really a plan." Read our team coverage here.
Walz had called us to his reception area for his 2024 budget adjustments that included a new $45 million pilot project for child tax credit payment protection for Minnesota's lower-income parents. Walz also included about $16 million for ambulance services, a sum immediately criticized as insufficient by GOP Sen. Andrew Lang of Olivia. Yes, the Republican wants more state money because it's a crisis, he says.
After his brief budget presentation, he was pressed about Uber/Lyft and another issue encroaching from Hennepin County: The prosecution by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty of State Trooper Ryan Londregan in the death of Ricky Cobb II. The question is whether Walz will reassign the case to Attorney General Keith Ellison's office. I was with Walz and Ellison on Monday and the situation weighs heavily on both of them. Neither is eager to step in, but both concede the extraordinary option is being explored - again. Read the story by Kim Hyatt and moi. (Totally irrelevant aside: Kim and I share a birthdate if not a year. We're both Scorpios so consider yourself warned.)
LEGISLATIVE ELECTION: Today's the day for a special election to replace former Speaker Kurt Daudt, who should not be called a lobbyist under any circumstances or you will get an angry phone call from an aide-de-camp. Expect the Crown Republican's seat to remain firmly in GOP hands.
Daudt stepped down from the Legislature in January, lamenting how his time as a public servant cost him significant earnings. He's now a vice president at Stateside Associates, which describes itself as state and local government affairs consulting firm. (Not lobbyists.) "We are true practitioners," the Stateside website says.
To that I say: You know you're in good hands when a True Practitioner is on your side.
UNDER THE DOME: A full slate of committee hearings. Senate Republicans are holding a 1:30 p.m. news conference to roll out their education repair bill, and DFL Sen. Zaynab Mohamed will be joined by workers and advocates at 2:45 p.m. to talk about her bill to raise the statewide minimum wage to $20 per hour by 2028.
WHERE'S WALZ:
9:00 a.m.: Attending MAPE Lobby Day at the Capitol.
9:45 a.m.: Call with the executive director of Community Action Partnership of Ramsey & Washington Counties.
10:00 a.m.: Attending Disability Services Day at the Capitol.
10:30 a.m.: Speaking at the Minnesota Forest Resources Council Meeting.
12:00 p.m.: Visiting Winnebago Industries.
1:30 p.m.: Hosting a roundtable to announce the grant recipients of the Drive for Five Workforce Fund.
Ahhhh, yes, the roundtable. Second only to the Last Supper News Conference (LSNC) in terms of reporter disdain. Sure, one could argue that achieving reporter disdain is a low bar. But hand on my heart, nobody is more of a connoisseur of a fine news conference than a reporter. What's an LSNC? That's when you show up with 12 people and Jesus for a news conference and reporters mostly want to hear from Jesus. But we've got to listen to stories from all 12 disciples before we get to ask Jesus questions. Often it takes 30-40 minutes to get through the speeches before we get to questions for Jesus. We get it; everybody has a story. Alas, not every one needs to tell it in one news conference. You're muddling the message. The more time we spend at a news conference, the less time we have to write and do additional reporting. The proliferation of these news conferences is painful. (But not as painful as a VP visit.) Keep it tighter, folks.
READING LIST
- I do my best not to include sports in this newsletter despite my affinity for athleticism, but you don't have to be a basketball fan to be impressed by what Anthony Edwards did last night. So impressive, it got its own story by Chris Hine.
- An Aitkin County pharmacist's refusal to provide emergency contraception is sex discrimination, the Court of Appeals ruled, Chris Magan reports.
- A bill aims to reduce State Fair gridlock and improve transit options, writes Tim Harlow. Next up, the Legislature wants a plan for those long lines for Pronto Pups
- The appellate court also sent back to Ramsey County for trial the case of a transgender athlete who claims USA Powerlifting violated the state Human Rights Act by barring the woman from a competition. Magan, again, wrote about the split decision.
- Private colleges are scrambling to compete with the new North Star Promise that provides free tuition to students whose families make less than $80,000, Liz Navratil reports. Dang, I wish that had been around when I was in college.
- Former President Donald Trump granted clemency to major Medicare fraudsters. He commuted the sentences of at least five people responsible for $1.6 billion in fraud. Read it here.
Thanks to all who sent your favorite VEEP quotes. You are now my favorite readers. That tightly written show is almost too funny to watch with a brilliant zinger every ten seconds and considered by many a political staffer to be a documentary of what it's like to work for X (fill in your most difficult political boss and we all know who wins by acclimation).
That's it for now from your True Practitioner who also happens to be a Reasonably Well-Educated and Not Crazy Reporter.
Keep us posted at hotdish@startribune.com.
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