The Daily Digest: GOP sells tax cuts for surplus

Good morning!

In Minnesota

Republicans in the Minnesota House are proposing $2 billion in tax cuts as part of their two-year budget plan. (MPR News)

It might be hard to tell from their passionate and biting rhetoric, but Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol have already found accord on transportation needs. (Pioneer Press)

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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency called for a "new approach" to regulate sulfate discharges in wild rice waters, shifting from a single rule to calculating safe sulfate levels for each of 1,300 bodies of water. (MPR News)

A law-enforcement backed compromise that would allow cops to store “non-hit” data gleaned from automatic license plate readers for 30 days heads to the House floor. (Star Tribune)

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and House Speaker Kurt Daudt will push for $2.8 million in additional tax relief sought by Super Bowl organizers for the 2018 game in Minneapolis. (Pioneer Press)

The state Department of Human Services continues to struggle managing eligibility requirements for several public assistance programs, Minnesota's Legislative Auditor says. (MPR News)

National Politics

A second DFLer has entered the race to take on Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline. Mary Lawrence, a Minneapolis doctor who had been a deputy executive director of the Vision Center of Excellence for veterans, has filed her paperwork for to run for office. (Pioneer Press)

Kline, who's the chairman of the House education panel, said that he is still a “handful” of votes short to pass his GOP bill to replace No Child Left Behind, the main federal education law. (Washington Post)

Senate Democrats appear to be actively trying to sink a bipartisan deal negotiated in the House to fix Medicare reimbursement rates and extend a children's insurance program over abortion policy concerns. (New York Times)

President Obama said that he would freeze U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan at 9,800 through the end of the year but vowed to end the American war by the end of his presidency. (Washington Post)

An interesting look at how education politics have shifted within the Democratic Party -- and how those shifts will be difficult for Hillary Clinton to navigate. (New York Times)

Congress is voting on budgets this week -- and you should pay attention to the term "Overseas Contingency Operations" which Politico describes as a "slush fund" for defense spending. (Politico)