Daily Digest: Counting down the hours
Good morning, and welcome to Friday. It's the last Friday before the end of the legislative session and things are still moving slowly at the Capitol.
1. The House and Senate knocked off early yesterday after the House rejected the GOP majority's bonding bill. It's not the end for a package of public works construction project though, because House and Senate leaders dusted off an obscure rule that allows then to send the bill to conference committee even though it didn't pass in either the House or Senate. They also took a baby step toward a tax bill, but a transportation agreement was nowhere in sight. (MPR News)
2. Bills that did pass in both houses would increase penalties for crimes motivated by bias. But because of some procedural differences and the opposition of some key lawmakers, a final version of the legislation may not pass. The proposed change was spurred by the case of Asma Jama, who was attacked and injured while sitting in a restaurant by an assailant who didn't like that she wasn't speaking English. (MPR News)
3. Gov. Mark Dayton and some DFL legislators are pushing a half cent metro sales tax increase as a way to raise $135 million for the last piece of funding for the proposed Southwest Light Rail line and for other mass transit projects. But Republicans in the Legislature are pushing back. They don't like taxes and they don't like trains. (Star Tribune)
4. Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Donald Trump is divisive and dangerous and not qualified to be president. She also said she will be the Democratic nominee and that Bernie Sanders needs to do his part to unify the party. (CNN)
5. I don't normally link to many polls, but this one is pretty interesting. One of the things it shows is that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are extremely unpopular with voters which will make this election unlike any other. (New York Times)
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