Daily Digest: House responds to Omar comments with resolution
Good Tuesday morning. Here's your Digest to get your day started.
1. Omar comments prompt anti-Semitism resolution. House Democrats are again considering a vote on a new resolution condemning anti-Semitism in response to recent comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that senior members of the party and Jewish groups say play on anti-Semitic tropes. A House Democratic leadership aide said the vote could come as early as Wednesday. A spokesperson for Omar has not responded to a request for comment on the resolution. The infighting among Democrats has largely played out on social media, but this time the Minnesota Democrat is pushing back against her colleagues who say she should apologize and change her tone. The latest controversy follows comments Omar made at an event last Wednesday at Busboys and Poets, a politically-minded coffee shop and restaurant chain in Washington, D.C., that held a "progressive town hall" with Omar and fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. The duo are the first Muslim women to serve in Congress. Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. and Mark Pocan, D-Wis., also attended the townhall. "I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country," Omar said at the event. The statement has sparked a furious response from senior Democrats and Jewish groups. (NPR via MPR News)
2. Electricity goal aims to eliminate "existential threat." Gov. Tim Walz announced a plan Monday morning for making Minnesota's electricity entirely free from fossil fuels by 2050. Flanked by energy workers and environmental advocates, Walz said his energy and climate plan is "different" because he worked with utilities to draft it. Walz's plan allows each electric utility in the state to choose the pace at which it moves from coal toward carbon-free sources like nuclear, solar or wind. Walz said removing carbon — the main greenhouse gas causing climate change — from the electricity sector is an "economic and moral" responsibility. "Climate change is an existential threat. we must take immediate action," Walz said. "If Washington is not going to lead, Minnesota will lead." (MPR News)
3. Fixing MNLARS. Minnesota legislators Monday approved millions in emergency spending and a new independent review to tackle lingering issues with the state’s beleaguered online driver’s license and vehicle registration system. The proposal, which now heads to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s desk, authorizes $13 million in state funds for technology improvements, maintenance and customer service support for the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System. It also directs a task force to issue recommendations for how to move forward with the system by May 1. Walz, who is expected to sign the measure Tuesday, applauded the agreement, saying the spending is needed to improve experiences for Minnesotans and create “measurable, transparent outcomes” for ongoing improvements to the system. “We are moving toward that final fix, to where we can put it in place, where Minnesotans will expect good customer service,” Walz said. (Star Tribune)
4. A surge of young voters in Minnesota. Last fall, Minnesota once again led the nation in voter turnout. The state also saw the highest voter turnout percentage in a non-presidential year since 2002, and the total number of people who showed up to vote was the most of any midterm election in Minnesota history. With numbers like that, it's not surprising that turnout was up among every age group in the state, according to data from the Minnesota secretary of state. Some of the biggest turnout swings between 2018 and the midterm election four years earlier were among Minnesota's youngest voters. All told, 37 percent of eligible 18- and 19-year-old voters showed up to cast a ballot last fall, up by 18 percent from the midterm election in 2014. (MPR News)
5. Replaying a fight over teacher licensure. Minnesota House Democrats want to close what they say is a loophole in the state’s new teacher licensing system, but opponents argue the result will be a less diverse workforce of educators. State Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein, DFL-New Brighton, is chief sponsor of a bill that would eliminate one of the more contentious pieces of the licensing overhaul approved by the Legislature in 2017. The so-called loophole allows teachers without formal training to work their way up to a full teaching license. “We don’t need to lower the standards to make the teaching licensing system easier to navigate,” Kunesh-Podein told members of the House education committee Monday. “Nothing in this bill prevents a highly qualified teacher from out-of-state from teaching in Minnesota.” Members of Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, balked at the provision when the law was passed. But school leaders supported it because they thought it would help address staff shortages and felt there were other safeguards against ineffective teachers. Those were the two most prominent criticisms of the old licensing system — that it was difficult to navigate and made it too hard for educators trained in other states to become licensed. After years of debate and fine-tuning the new system was officially launched last fall. (Pioneer Press)
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