The Daily Digest (Surplus plan questioned, farm bill stalled)
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In Minnesota
Gov. Mark Dayton's proposal to use more than half of a projected $825 million budget surplus to cut taxes is receiving a mixed reception from his party's tax leaders. (MPR News)
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State Sen. Karin Housley of St. Mary's Point says she is seriously considering jumping into the crowded field of men seeking the Republican nomination for governor. (Pioneer Press)
Jim Niland, a former Minneapolis city council member and union organizer, will lead up the DFL's coordinated campaign in 2014. (Star Tribune)
A University of Minnesota official told state senators that increased urbanization of the U has prompted officials to rethink security on and around campus. (MPR News)
Minnesota's local jails are badly overburdened by mentally ill inmates who don't have access to the kind of treatment they need, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. (AP via Pioneer Press)
At least two Minnesota law enforcement agencies have purchased equipment that allows them to collect cell phone data without a user's knowledge or permission. (KARE)
Callers to the help line for Minnesota's new health insurance exchange were being told they had to wait 60 minutes for assistance. MNsure says it's adding staff. (Pioneer Press)
Five months since 17 cities in southeastern Minnesota received sales tax dollars from neighboring Rochester for economic development projects, much of the money remains unspent, even at a time when public budgets are tight. (MPR News)
Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels said the U.S. Justice Department investigated his ties to a non-profit group headed by his wife. (MPR News)
In Washington/National Politics
Congressional negotiators reached a modest budget agreement Tuesday to restore about $65 billion in automatic spending cuts from programs ranging from parks to the Pentagon, with votes expected in both houses by week's end. (AP via MPR News)
Conservative groups announced their opposition to the deal even before the details were released. (Politico)
Farmers looking for some certainty in federal farm policy will have to wait until January say Capitol Hill lawmakers who blame a tight congressional schedule and complex negotiations for another delay of the long stalled farm bill. (MPR News)
More than half of Senate Republicans facing reelection next year face potentially viable tea party challenges — a historically large threat to the GOP establishment that could, once again, kill the party’s chances of taking back control of the chamber. (Washington Post)