Daily Digest: Surplus grows, Trump speaks

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday and the start of a brand new month. Let's check the Digest.

1. Minnesota's projected budget surplus has grown from $1.4 billion to $1.65 billion, according to a new forecast released Tuesday by state finance officials. Republican leaders of the Legislature say they're interested in returning much of the money to Minnesotans in the form of tax cuts. But Gov. Mark Dayton and other Democrats advised caution, saying uncertainty over President Trump's policies could mean the surplus is short-lived. (MPR News)

2. Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill Tuesday giving Xcel Energy the authority to build a new natural gas power plant in Becker to replace capacity lost when part of its Sherco coal plant retires. Xcel and lawmakers from central Minnesota had pushed for the bill, saying the plant would ease the transition both in terms of electrical grid stability and economic stability from the jobs and property tax revenue flowing into Becker County and Sherburne County. The gas plant will preserve about 150 jobs in Becker plus create construction jobs. (MPR News)

3. By early May the Department of Natural Resource's Enforcement Division will have 23 vacant positions in a conservation officer network of slightly more than 200 licensed positions. In testimony at the Legislature, Lt. Col. Rodmen Smith, the DNR’s enforcement chief, has said 13,650 square miles in Minnesota don’t have adequate natural resource protection. That’s an area larger than Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined. The agency is seeking an increase of $2.78 million a year from the state general fund to bolster the game warden group. That’s 7 percent of the proposed overall budget increase of $38 million sought by the DNR for each of the next two fiscal years, 2018 and 2019. (Star Tribune)

4. President Trump said he was delivering a message of unity and strength, and said a new era of American greatness is beginning. His speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night included a list of what he's already done and a broad outline of what he hopes to accomplish. Before the speech he hinted he might soften his position on immigration, but in the speech he didn't back down from his promises to build a wall on the southern border, deport people in the country illegally and tighten vetting of refugees. He called Obamacare a disaster and repeated a call to repeal and replace it with something that expands choice, increases access, lowers costs and provides better care. But he didn't give any details. He also called for a new $1 trillion program of "national rebuilding" that he said would create millions of new jobs. (New York Times)

5. Members of Congress from Minnesota generally reacted along party lines to the president's speech. But Republicans and Democrats agreed that they want to see more details from Trump to back up his proposals. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer said Democrats in Congress need to set aside partisan differences and work with the president on areas of common interest. U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a St. Paul DFLer, says she'd love to work with Trump on infrastructure. But she wants to see the fine print — in particular, what may be cut to pay for it. (MPR News)

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