Daily Digest: Health commissioner resigns

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Here's the Digest.

1. Health commissioner leaves his job after news stories about elder abuse. Dr. Edward Ehlinger  resigned Monday as state Health Commissioner, in the wake of published reports and controversy over the agency’s mishandling of allegations of criminal abuse in senior care facilities. Deputy Commissioner Dan Pollock will serve as acting commissioner until a permanent replacement is appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton, according to a statement released early Tuesday afternoon. “We are grateful to Commissioner Ehlinger for his many years of dedicated public service,” Dayton said. “I wish him the very best in his future endeavors. And I pledge to the many dedicated employees at the Health Department our strong support in their efforts to improve the health and safety of all Minnesotans.” His resignation comes after a series of Star Tribune stories chronicling breakdowns in the state’s handling of elder abuse allegations. (Star Tribune)

2. A Republican is running for the Senate seat soon to be held by Lt. Gov. Tina Smith. State Sen. Karin Housley became the first Republican to declare a candidacy for the 2018 U.S. Senate special election, a race touched off by the planned resignation of Democratic Sen. Al Franken. Housley, 53, entered the race Tuesday with a video that traces her political involvement to the campaigns of former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, whose old seat is on the line next year. In a message to Republican delegates, who got first word through email, Housley said she has “fought hard for our senior citizens, our kids’ education and the unborn.” “You might be asking yourself, ‘Why would anyone want to go to Washington D.C. right now and be part of that dysfunction they call Congress,’” Housley says in the video. “Actually, I can’t think of any place in this country more in need of someone like me right now.” (MPR News)

3. A battle over conforming the Minnesota tax code with the new federal overhaul may be shaping up in next year's legislative session. With final congressional action underway on a massive overhaul of the federal tax code, Minnesota lawmakers are beginning to look at ways to make similar changes here during next year’s legislative session. Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, the chair of the House tax committee, said he expects to spend a lot of time with the state’s top tax and budget officials in the coming months to sort out what needs to be done for tax conformity, and he expects special interests to weigh in as well. “Once we get the details, the winners will want us to immediately conform with everything the feds did, and the ones that don’t win will want us to make some exception for them.” After  this month’s release of an economic forecast that projected a $188 million deficit in the state budget, Bakk cautioned against a rush toward tax conformity. “We are going to deviate widely with where the federal government is at,” Bakk said. (MPR News)

4. Another delay for Southwest LRT. The bid package to build the $1.9 billion Southwest light-rail line has been retooled again, causing the Metropolitan Council to further delay the project, pushing its opening for passenger service to 2023 instead of 2022. The changes announced Tuesday were partly caused by the late addition of a $20 million crash-protection wall separating freight and light-rail trains along a rail corridor just west of Target Field. The wall was required by BNSF Railway, which owns the rail right of way between the Royalston Avenue/Farmers Market and Bryn Mawr stations. As a result, the Federal Transit Administration and Minnesota legislative leaders pushed for more environmental studies to see how the wall, which will be 10 feet high in spots, will affect the area. There will be 45 days for public review and comment. The additional environmental work must be completed before the Met Council can award the construction contract, the amount of which has not been released publicly. Bids are due May 3 rather than Jan. 9. (Star Tribune)

5. They say every vote counts. In Virginia it's true.  A Republican seat flipped Democratic in a wild recount Tuesday - with the Democrat winning by a single vote - creating a rare 50-50 tie between the parties in the House of Delegates and refashioning the political landscape in Richmond. Democrat Shelly Simonds emerged from the recount as the apparent winner in the 94th District of the House of Delegates, seizing the seat from Republican incumbent David Yancey. A three-judge panel still must certify the results, an event scheduled for Wednesday. The final tally: 11,608 for Simonds to 11,607 for Yancey. Power sharing in the House of Delegates is an awkward exercise. Committee chairs have to be negotiated as does the person who will serve as Speaker. With the parties split 50-50, there is no mechanism to break ties and any legislation short of 51 votes does not advance. (Washington Post)

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