Daily Digest: Cleaning up stadium suites
Good morning and welcome to Tuesday. It's still cold. It's still snowy, but here's the Digest.
1. The agency that runs U.S. Bank Stadium on Monday disclosed most of the names of guests who used its two stadium suites during games and concerts. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority was criticized for not identifying visitors to its free space, after reports by the Star Tribune. The new policy will require the authority to identify visitors to the suites, and the suites will be used for marketing purposes only. No friends and family members of authority commissioners will be allowed. The sports authority will consider the new policy on Friday. (MPR News)
2. A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about 744,000 Minnesotans under 65 could have trouble getting health insurance because of preexisting health conditions if the the Affordable Care Act is repealed. It's still not clear what Republicans in Washington intend to do about health insurance and whether they would set up a system that would give people with existing health problems other options to find insurance. The report assumes the law would revert to the system before the ACA. (Star Tribune)
3. More than 250 Minnesotans have submitted applications to serve on a new council that will set legislative pay. It's a job that had been previously up to the Legislature, and the reasons people want to do it are as varied as the applicants themselves. Only 16 of the applicants will be chosen to be inaugural members of the Legislative Salary Council. And there has to be an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. (MPR News)
4. Hillary Clinton's campaign is backing a request from nine Democratic electors and one Republican for an intelligence briefing for the Electoral College on foreign interference in the presidential campaign. In an open letter to the director of national intelligence they say the want the briefing before they cast their ballots for president in state Capitols around the country next week. From this piece: The Democrats argue that it’s their duty not simply to rubber-stamp the Election Day results but to “investigate, discuss, and deliberate with our colleagues about whom to vote for.” (Politico)
5. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday they support a congressional investigation of possible Russian intervention in the election. "The Russians are not our friends," McConnell said. Nevertheless, President-elect Trump named Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be his secretary of state. Trump basically dismissed bipartisan concerns that Tillerson is too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. That is likely to mean a tough confirmation fight in the Senate. (New York Times)
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