Good morning, and happy Tuesday.
A showdown is shaping up at the Minnesota Capitol over how much of the state's budget surplus goes to education and how much goes to cut taxes. MPR's Brian Bakst reports: As the Legislature moves within two weeks of adjournment, more than seven billion dollars remains at the disposal of lawmakers. There will be plenty of programs that are bolstered using that money. But the DFL-led House and Republican-led Senate remain far apart on the amount they'll put toward schools and tax cuts. DFL Gov. Tim Walz says any deal will need to balance the two. "We're certainly not going to negotiate a position away where we give tax cuts to the wealthiest Minnesotans and don't fund education," Walz said after a closed-door negotiating session Monday morning. "And I would argue that the Republicans are probably thinking we're not going to give them money for education unless we can get something in tax cuts." School district leaders are pushing for hundreds of millions of dollars to offset rising special education costs. Tax cut plans range from one-time rebates to permanent rate reductions.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison appeared before House and Senate budget negotiators Monday to make the case that his office needs more money. Ellison is seeking a $2.3 million increase. The DFL-controlled House included the funding in its supplemental state government bill, but the Republican-led Senate did not. Ellison told members of the conference committee working to reconcile those bills that his office received a higher level of funding 20 years ago. "The allocations you've already made have been very helpful, and they've been important to the people of our state," the DFL attorney general said. "But this adjustment that we're asking for now is also vital to make up for what is a dramatic difference that has taken place over the last 20 years." Ellison also warned lawmakers that language in the Senate bill to limit the hiring practices of his office is unconstitutional.
Two competing plans for changes to election laws have emerged at the Minnesota Capitol.The Star Tribune reports: Republicans are proposing changes to how absentee ballots are received and counted, while Democrats want to make permanent certain changes put in place to adjust to the pandemic during the last statewide election. "Our focus was on transparency and security," state Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, said before the Senate passed a sweeping supplemental funding bill this month that includes a series of voting bills she sponsored. A longtime GOP priority to require photo identification to vote in Minnesota also passed the Senate last year, although it is unlikely to muster much, if any, support from Democrats who believe it would suppress voter turnout. Republican candidates for statewide offices have often called for voter ID legislation this year. House Democrats, in their election law proposals, want to impose new civil penalties for intimidating or threatening election workers, painting it as a necessary response to a rise in harassment brought on by the discord over the 2020 vote.
A leader of one of Minnesota's legal marijuana political parties says he will try to keep candidates who aren't sympathetic to the cause from running under the legal marijuana banner.MinnPost reports that Oliver Steinberg, chair of the Grassroots Legalize Cannabis Party, said he will file complaints with the state against any candidate that files for office in June but who lacks any connection to the party. The push comes in response to the 2020 election, when Republican operatives recruited candidates to file for office under one of two marijuana parties — moves that likely siphoned votes away from some DFL candidates.
Delegates at the Republican state convention will vote using an electronic system, even though some candidates seeking endorsement say paper ballots should be used.Deena Winter at the Minnesota Reformer reports: GOP state chair David Hann said electronic voting is necessary because the party has limited time to conduct the convention, when 14 statewide campaigns are seeking endorsement. Hann blamed concerns about electronic voting on people who want to undermine the party's goal of conducting its business efficiently. "Many of these voices are doing so out of an attempt to keep the convention deadlocked, unable to give our delegates the opportunity to have their voices heard in endorsing candidates," Hann said. The state GOP plans to use electronic voting technology by Padgett Communications, which Hann said has handled large voting events nationwide since 1995 and is "reliable, accurate and secure." It doesn't rely on mobile apps or wireless internet access, he said. The company will have a team on site for support.
On second thought: I linked to a piece from the Forum News Service yesterday that said: "Over the past 30 years, the endorsement has not been a reliable indicator of who will end up with a "DFL" or "R" next to their name in November, said Hamline University political science professor David Schultz." A keen-eyed reader (OK, it was Brian Bakst) noted that in fact the GOP endorsement has in fact been a good indicator over the past 30 years. The last time a GOP-endorsed candidate for governor was not the party's nominee was in 1994, when Arne Carlson was running for reelection and wasn't endorsed. | 
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