Gov. Mark Dayton’s speech in front of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce was an interesting affair. Tom Scheck at MPR concentrates on … nurses and hospitals: “Dayton says he thinks the Minnesota Nurses Association and hospitals across Minnesota need to get to the table and negotiate a deal on a nursing staffing bill. … Dayton suggested one idea would be to create a business/labor council that has an equal number of members. He said a similar council that deals [with] worker's compensation ensures that any proposal that moves forward has support from both business and labor.”
At WCCO-TV, Pat Kessler liked the angle of Dayton making his complaints about the Chamber right to their faces:“Dayton told hundreds of state business leaders on Wednesday he’s not backing down from a plan to raise taxes on high income Minnesotans. And that was just the beginning. The governor unloaded on his Chamber of Commerce hosts and accused the business group of not telling the truth about the state of the state. That turned the already cool reception even colder. ‘I expect that the chamber will oppose it,’ Dayton said. “All I ask is that you oppose it with the facts.” Gov. Dayton told a stunned luncheon audience that Minnesota is among the best places for business in the country, contrary to the Chamber’s message.” Did he dispute that all our millionaires have moved to South Dakota?
For the Strib, Jim Ragsdale writes:“Dayton will stick with his proposed tax hike on upper-income Minnesotans and a proposed increase in cigarette taxes when he issues his revised budget plan, he said during an appearance to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Wednesday: ‘I'm not going to back off on top earners,’ Dayton said. ‘We need the revenue. I don't know how else we get it. I believe in it. I believe it's right, I believe it's fair.’ … Dayton distributed a series of reports that, he said, showed how the state's tax and spending levels have declined compared to other states. He said low-tax states do not have a good record in producing economic growth or high per-capita income. He said a ‘balanced approach,’ that includes tax hikes that support public education, has given Minnesota an advantage.”
Here’s a good idea.Kyle Potter of the AP says: “The name says it all: TXT4Life. Minnesota lawmakers are moving to add the text message-based suicide prevention program to the existing statewide phone hotline, citing figures from a pilot program in northeastern Minnesota that show teens would rather send a text than make a call for help. By sending just four letters — ‘life’ — to a special code number, a teen in need starts texting with a counselor who can talk them down, refer them to others who can help or, if necessary, call in emergency help.”
Will the Ivy League buy this?Megan Boldt of the PiPress reports: “A bill that would axe Minnesota's high-stakes graduation exams and replace them with new tests designed to gauge whether students are ready for college or the workforce is making its way through the state Legislature. Instead, students would start taking a series of college entrance exams in eighth grade to identify if they have the skills to succeed in a postsecondary program or on the job. But students wouldn't have to attain a specific score on those tests before they get a diploma, a huge sticking point for business leaders and Republican lawmakers.”
But what were the numbers in and around the Iron Range? At the Duluth News Tribune, John Myers reports on a new poll: “Opponents of copper mining in Minnesota might be winning over more state residents, according to a new poll that shows more people oppose the new kind of mining here than support it. The poll, paid for by the Minnesota Environmental Partnership and released Wednesday, found that 48 percent of state residents polled opposed copper mining while 39 percent favor the projects. It’s the first time in five years the poll has been taken that more people opposed than supported copper mining.” It’s easy to say if you’re in Worthington.
Our Favorite Congresswoman was in the same room as President Obama Wednesday. Brett Neely of MPR writes:“Second District Rep. John Kline said the tone inside the room was respectful but there was no breakthrough on the big issues of taxes and spending. ‘I didn't walk out of there saying, 'wow, look at this, look at all these things we agree on, we're going to get this stuff done.' There's a lot of hard work if we're going to get legislation passed,’ Kline said. Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann had hoped to replace Obama but dropped out of the presidential race in early 2012. She said Obama would not get into detail with the GOP about his fiscal plans. ‘He talked about the fact that he was willing to do hard things but he was never willing to state what those hard things were,’ Bachmann said.” I assume she explained exactly how she was going to replace Obamacare?
Another luxury tower? Jim Buchta at the Strib says:“Downtown Minneapolis could be getting its THIRD high-rise luxury apartment building. An architectural firm hired by Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction shared its plans for the tower last night at the monthly meeting of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association (DMNA). Renderings showed a high-rise tower with retail on the first floor that would be built pending a variety of approvals on a surface parking lot at 400 Marquette Avenue. The site is next to a 26-story luxury apartment tower called Nic on Fifth and the nine-story Xcel Energy headquarters building, both of which are being built by Opus Development Corp.”
A supplier of paper pull-tabs isn’t so wild about electronic pull-tabs. Tim Nelson of MPR says: “Drew Naseth, a Faribault paper pulltab supplier, is accusing the state of fumbling the rollout of electronic pulltabs in a report offered to the Minnesota Gambling Control Board and other state officials. … Among other things, Naseth’s report alleges:
- The Gambling Control Board rushed rulemaking for the new games
- The state was blurring the line between promoting electronic games to pay for a stadium and regulating the gambling.”
Apparently he was kind not to just come out and say, “You’re nuts if you think it’ll generate $300 million.”