The Daily Digest (MNSure security flaws, budget deal vote)
Good morning!
Please send any tips, comments and suggestions to bneely@mpr.org and remember to follow us on Twitter at @mprpolitics and @brettneely. If you enjoy reading the Daily Digest and find it useful, please share it with others who might enjoy it, too.
In Minnesota
Internet security experts have identified flaws in MNsure's website that could compromise sensitive consumer data. They say the site is vulnerable to "rogue access points," devices that can masquerade as a standard wireless connection to the Internet. (MPR News)
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
The ongoing technological problems that continue to plague the state's online health insurance marketplace should have been resolved by now, Gov. Mark Dayton says. (MPR News)
Dayton says $90 million is too much to spend on a new Minnesota Senate building. (MPR News)
Dayton is also considering a $975 million measure next session for public construction projects throughout Minnesota. (MPR News)
A Republican state lawmaker is calling on the governor to ask his Chief of Staff Tina Smith to resign as chairwoman of the Destination Medical Center Corp. Board or step down from her post with his office. (Post-Bulletin)
In Washington/National Politics
House Republicans appeared to be rallying around an $85 billion deal to avert another government shutdown, brushing off complaints from their right wing that the effort would trade immediate spending cuts for less-certain long-term savings. A vote is expected today. (Washington Post)
But what’s not in the agreement — entitlement cuts — is being hailed by an emboldened network of such congressional liberals as Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, who has been leading a grass-roots effort on Capitol Hill to resist cuts to the safety net programs, extend unemployment benefits and raise the minimum wage. (Star Tribune)
Democrats are stepping up their efforts to extend a federal emergency unemployment program that expires at the end of the year, potentially leaving more than 65,000 Minnesotans without those benefits in 2014. (MinnPost)
The number of people selecting health insurance plans in the federal and state marketplaces increased last month at a brisk pace, bringing the overall figure to nearly 365,000, the Obama administration said on Wednesday. The November number was more than double the one for October, but still well below the administration’s goal. (New York Times)
The chief of staff to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) was arrested Wednesday on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography and was swiftly fired by the senator. (Washington Post)