The Daily Digest: Not so Minnesota nice
It's Friday, y'all. Get excited.
But first, read the Daily Digest, the Not So Minnesota Nice edition.
Minnesota:
Hostile. Conniving. Back-stabber.
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Those are just a few ways Gov. Mark Dayton described DFL Sen. Tom Bakk, after Bakk offered an amendment to an emergency funding package that would delay Dayton's commissioner pay raises. (MPR News)
Bakk said legislators deserved time to review the salary changes. His amendment was approved 63-2.
Now, Dayton is threatening to veto the funding bill if it includes the pay delay.
The debate over the transportation funding bill is being framed as a do-or-die moment for the health of Minnesota's roads, bridges and transit systems. Time for a little reality check. (MPR News)
A deadly stretch of Highway 14 between Dodge Center and Owatonna highlights the ongoing transportation funding debate in St. Paul. (The Post Bulletin)
A group of Minnesota lawmakers wants to crack down on insurance fraud. (The Star Tribune)
State regulators approved three large solar energy projects. (MPR News)
Washington:
President Barack Obama signed a veterans' suicide prevention bill co-sponsored by Rep. Tim Walz. (MPR News)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the chief sponsor of a bill that would lift the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. Incidentally, the Minnesota Orchestra has scheduled concerts there in May. (MPR News)
Philadelphia will host the 2016 Democratic National Convention. (AP via MPR News)
The U.S. Senate confirmed Obama's nominee for defense secretary. (The New York Times)
And another prominent journalist has died suddenly. This time it was Minnesotan David Carr. (New York Times)