Daily Digest: Minnesota’s not alone
Good morning, and happy Tuesday. Here's the Digest.
1. Minnesota isn't the only state where the the governor and lawmakers have been unable to agree on budget matters. A similar fight is playing out in New Mexico, where spending squabbles between a Republican governor and Democratic legislators led the governor to veto the Legislature’s funding. Just like in Minnesota, legislators sued; in that case, the state Supreme Court ordered the two other branches of government to fix their self-created problems. Illinois has gone two years without a state budget and spent $6 billion more than it has taken in during that time. Washington state lawmakers, ordered two years ago by a court to resolve an education-funding dispute, are now muddling through a second special session — and being fined $100,000 per day for failing to meet the court’s demands. The Alaska Legislature, which typically passes its budgets by April, is still at work and edging toward a July 1 government shutdown. (Star Tribune)
2. After one Wall Street firm put Minnesota on credit watch, a second says it will stand pat for now while a disagreement between the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton proceeds to court. Fitch Ratings said Monday “there is ample time and ample resources” to keep up with debt payments on a Senate office building. Those payments were thrown in doubt when Dayton vetoed funding for the House and Senate as a way to reopen budget negotiations. Lawmakers are suing him for the action. The firm’s statement says while the standoff poses no immediate risk, Minnesota’s bond rating could be hurt if the dispute drags on. (MPR News)
3. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez says the nation’s democracy, under the administration of President Donald Trump, is facing its “worst and most serious stress test” in generations. Perez spoke to a group of Minnesota Democrats Monday at a rally at the AFSCME Council 5 headquarters in South St. Paul. The event was part of the national party’s “Resistance Summer” program, which is aimed at helping state parties with their local organizing efforts ahead of the 2018 election. It’s also aimed at harnessing opposition to President Trump’s agenda. (MPR News)
4. A former Minnesota legislator has been hired as Minneapolis' chief resilience officer, a new position that coordinates the city's work on urban challenges from housing affordability to climate change. Kate Knuth will join a network that includes dozens of chief resilience officers around the world, in cities that have joined the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities project. Minneapolis was selected to participate in May 2016, along with cities including London, New York, Bangkok and Rio de Janeiro. Knuth, 36, previously served three terms in the state House of Representatives, as a DFLer representing New Brighton, before leading the Boreas Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Minnesota. The City Council approved her hiring Friday. (Star Tribune)
5. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up an appeal over electoral districts in Wisconsin after a lower court ruled that the state's Republican-drawn map constitutes an "unconstitutional partisan gerrymander." It's the first time in more than a decade that the nation's highest court will take up the issue of partisan gerrymandering, or drawing voting districts with the aim of strengthening one political party. And it gives the court an opportunity to formally determine a metric on what constitutes unlawful gerrymandering, which could have major implications for the way voting districts are drawn in other states. (NPR)
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