The Daily Digest (Property taxes could fall, another Dayton mystery trip, Ellison on wages)
Good morning!
In Minnesota
Gov. Mark Dayton is praising a new state report that projects property taxes will drop statewide in 2014. According to the state Revenue Department, local governments are expected to reduce property taxes because they will receive more money from the state. (MPR News)
Dayton also continues to refuse to say where he and the state’s top economic development official went last week to encourage a business to expand in Minnesota. He's headed out of town again today on another trip out of state and isn't saying where he's headed. (MPR News)
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Same-sex couples will be able to marry legally in Minnesota starting at midnight tonight. (MPR News)
In Washington/National Politics
The Obama administration on Wednesday made public a previously classified order that directed Verizon Communications to turn over a vast number of Americans’ phone records, senior U.S. officials said. (Washington Post)
Obama on Tuesday proposed closing tax loopholes, lowering the corporate tax rate and spending money on infrastructure projects but lawmakers on Capitol Hill regarded his latest attempt to engage them on an economic proposal as largely irrelevant, with neither Democrats nor Republicans viewing it as an actual step forward toward breaking their ongoing budget impasse. (Roll Call)
The Senate will hold a test vote today on Obama’s choice to lead the ATF, Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones. Jones is getting the support of the trade association that represents the nation’s gun manufacturers while the National Rifle Association has surprisingly decided to stay neutral on the vote, likely paving the way for Jones's nomination. (Politico)
Rep. Michele Bachmann says an investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee into her 2012 presidential campaign are nothing more than attempts by her political rivals to create a campaign issue against her. (MPR News)
Supporters of an immigration overhaul have spent more than $1.5 billion lobbying Congress since 2008 but the chances of an overhaul becoming law remain fragile, belying the assumption that money can grease the legislative process. (NPR via MPR News)
DFL Rep. Keith Ellison has joined fast food workers picketing for higher wages and backs a major increase in the minimum wage. (CNN)
About 5.1 million people would be eliminated from the food stamp program under a version of the farm bill that failed last month, according to a new report. Any new legislation that addresses food stamps will likely make even deeper cuts than that. (New York Times)
In case you're playing political trivia games soon, Minnesota has the most living former Senators. (Smart Politics blog)