Daily Digest: Walz crafts his gas tax messaging

Welcome to Wednesday. I hope your morning's going well, and here to help it along is your Daily Digest.

1. Selling a gas tax increase. Gov. Tim Walz didn't shy away from the figure: His transportation finance plan would eventually boost the per-gallon gas tax by 20 cents, which he deemed essential to fix "crumbling roads and bridges that risk our safety and keep away businesses." "This is not a choice between having a gas tax or not," he said. Critics of the proposal quickly embraced the figure, too, and churned out graphics and gas-pump images, warning of a sudden, sharp spike. "You're going to see that Minnesotans are going to say, 'Wow. That's an extreme approach to solving a problem,'" said House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Zimmerman. Even some allies of the governor, such as House Tax Committee Chair Paul Marquart, flinch at the size of the increase Walz put on the table. "It's kind of sticker shock when you hear 20 cents right there," said Marquart, DFL-Dilworth. The messaging battle was set. (MPR News)

2. Response to Omar comments shifts. Rep. Ilhan Omar became the flash point after she suggested last week that Israel’s supporters are pushing U.S. lawmakers to take a pledge of “allegiance to a foreign country.” It’s at least the third time she has forced older, pro-Israel Democrats who run the House into awkward territory over U.S.-Israeli policy. This time Omar is not apologizing. And this time pro-Israel Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi are not just warning her about the dangers of Jewish tropes. They’re expected to offer a resolution condemning anti-Semitism on the House floor. “Accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insidious, bigoted history,” an early draft of the resolution reads in part. “The House of Representatives acknowledges the dangerous consequences of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes and rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.” Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced in a meeting of leading Democrats late Tuesday that the text will be updated to include anti-Muslim bias, according to a senior Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Other Democrats said an outpouring of support for Omar prompted leaders to consider broadening the measure to avoid dissension. Omar did not speak to reporters outside her office on Tuesday evening. (Associated Press)

3. Walz signs first bills of session. Gov. Tim Walz signed a $102 million bonding bill Tuesday that will fund a slew of infrastructure projects and likely resolve a lawsuit brought by environmental groups over what they said was a raid on a state conservation trust fund. The projects, which include new and upgraded stormwater systems and expansions to nature centers and park space, were approved by the Legislature last year, but would have been paid for through the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Eight conservation groups filed suit, arguing that it was a misuse of the fund, which was created by voters in 1988, and that if lawmakers were allowed to tap it for stormwater and park projects nothing would keep them from coming back to draw from it again. The groups hailed Tuesday’s compromise as a victory for the protection of voter-dedicated funds. Walz also signed a measure that provides money for the state’s troubled vehicle registration system and a new independent review of its problems. The law authorizes $13 million for new technology, maintenance and customer service support for the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System. It also directs a task force to issue recommendations for next steps in repairing the system by May 1. (Star Tribune)

4.  Former DNR head takes helm of environmental group. The environmental group spearheading the campaign against a copper-nickel mine project on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters has hired Minnesota's former Department of Natural Resources commissioner as its executive director. Ely-based Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness has tapped Tom Landwehr to lead the organization, which runs the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, an initiative founded in 2013 to fight copper-nickel mining within the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It has focused since then on Twin Metals Minnesota's proposed mine, which would be located just outside Ely, Minn. Landwehr joins the effort at a crucial time in the Twin Metals proposal process. The company is vying to build a massive underground copper-nickel mine just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. If approved, it would likely become Minnesota's second copper-nickel mining project — after the state approved the PolyMet project, which would also be located in northern Minnesota — and the first within the Boundary Waters watershed. (MPR News)

5. A move to honor Mondale with park designation. Minnesota’s portion of Interstate State Park along the St. Croix River would be renamed after one of its biggest champions — former Vice President Walter Mondale — under a new proposal. A bipartisan of group of lawmakers at the Minnesota Legislature have introduced a bill seeking the name change. “Interstate Park is the first such interstate park in the nation. For decades, Minnesotans have marveled at its storied history and natural beauty,” said Sen. Karin Housley, R-St. Marys Point. “It’s only fitting that we renew the spirit of bipartisanship that led to the park’s creation.” Housley is backing a bill introduced by House Democrats to rename the park for Mondale who has a storied history in Minnesota politics serving as a state attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president. (Pioneer Press)

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