Good morning and happy Tuesday, the first day of March.
Minnesota's projected budget surplus now tops $9.25 billion, up more than $1.5 billion from the previous estimate.MPR's Tim Pugmire has the story: Republicans at the Minnesota Capitol say it highlights the need for permanent tax cuts, while DFL Gov. Tim Walz suggested increasing one-time tax rebates and using the surplus to reduce the cost of child care and health care. "This is a good position for Minnesota to be in," said Walz, who thanked Minnesotans for enduring the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is good news for Minnesota." The governor doubled down on plans he announced already for the budget surplus. Walz proposed tripling the "Walz checks" – one-time direct payments he proposed earlier – to $500 for individual taxpayers and $1,000 for couples. He also called for quick action on replenishing the state's depleted unemployment trust fund and providing "hero pay" for pandemic workers, and for more money to help families afford child care and health care. Walz also suggested he was open to permanent tax cuts, especially for Minnesotans at the lower end of the income scale. Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, called the new surplus number "mind boggling," and said it strengthens the argument for permanent tax cuts. "The state of Minnesota is overtaxing the people of the state of Minnesota at a time when they're struggling with record inflation. We know record inflation is affecting all of us. It's eating away at family budgets, and the best way to address that is providing permanent, ongoing tax relief."
The Minnesota House passed a bill with bipartisan support Monday that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their hairstyle.The Associated Press reports the "Crown" Act, an acronym meaning "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair," would add hairstyle and texture to a provision in the Minnesota Human Rights Act that prohibits racial discrimination in housing, employment and education, among other areas. Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis, the bill's author, said the legislation adds explicit language on hair-based discrimination to make it easier for judges that have discrimination cases come before them and to simplify the complaint process. The bill passed 104-25. "At the heart of this bill is the ability to allow more people to show up as their authentic selves in school or in the workplace without fear of repercussions because of their hair," Agbaje said on the House floor before the vote Monday afternoon.
A surprise on the first day of filing for the open Minnesota 1st Congressional District seat. Democrat Dan Feehan will not run again,Axios reports. Feehan, who lost narrowly to late GOP Rep. Jim Hagedorn in 2018 and 2020, cites family commitments in a statement set to be released this morning. "I owe a wise eleven year old, an imaginative eight year old, a joyful two year old, and an amazing partner my time and my presence," he wrote of the time and energy a campaign requires.
Remember last summer's drought? Minnesota farmers do. And Walker Orenstein at MinnPost reports that since last fall, Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers from the two major political parties have called for money to help livestock and produce farmers deal with last year's drought. But nearly a month after the Legislature convened its 2022 session, that aid hasn't arrived, and it is not on track to be approved any time soon either despite calls for quick cash from politically influential agriculture organizations. Even though farm aid is one of the few issues at the Capitol to draw support from Democrats and Republicans, the money appears to be caught up in a partisan debate anyway.
Slumping in the polls, facing a third year of COVID-19, rising inflation at home and a crisis in Ukraine, President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first State of the Union speech tonight.The Associated Press reports the speech Tuesday night had initially been conceived by the White House as an opportunity to highlight the improving coronavirus outlook and rebrand Biden's domestic policy priorities as a way to lower costs for families grappling with soaring inflation. But it has taken on new significance with last week's Russian invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saber-rattling by Vladimir Putin. Biden would speak to "the importance of the United States as a leader in the world, standing up for values, standing up for global norms, but also the efforts that he has undertaken to mitigate how it will impact people here," press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. Listen to the speech tonight at 8 on MPR News. | 
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