The Daily Digest: Police protests shut I-35W
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In Minnesota
Minnesota's budget surplus over the next biennium is projected to be $1 billion. (MPR News)
Protesters blocked Interstate 35W Thursday afternoon then rallied at Minneapolis City Hall protesting police brutality around the country. (MPR News)
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A St. Joseph, Minn., employer has received a religious exemption to the federal mandate requiring birth control coverage in workplace health insurance, a case that stems from the Hobby Lobby ruling that weakened a key plank of Obamacare. (Star Tribune)
National Politics
House Republicans voted to rebuke President Obama for his unilateral overhaul of the nation’s immigration system, passing symbolic legislation to curb the White House’s ability to protect millions from being deported. DFL Rep. Collin Peterson was one of just three Democrats to vote for the bill. (Washington Post)
As barriers to same-sex marriage fall across the country, gay rights advocates are planning their next battle on Capitol Hill: a push for sweeping legislation to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination, similar to the landmarkCivil Rights Act. (New York Times)
Many people covered under President Barack Obama's health care law will face higher premiums next year, the administration acknowledged. (AP via Yahoo News)
The death of an unarmed black man from a police chokehold in New York scrambled the politics of race and law enforcement on Thursday as some conservatives who stood by the police in Ferguson, Mo., condemned them on Staten Island. (New York Times)
The Senate appears unlikely to act on the nomination of a prominent Democratic political donor to be Ambassador to Norway, who was opposed by the entire Minnesota delegation on the grounds that he wasn't qualified. (Roll Call)