Ewald at the Capitol

President Biden Visits Minnesota

President Joe Biden visited Minnesota this week for the first time since the 2020 election to highlight signing the $1.2 trillion infrastructure funding bill that recently passed Congress. The president also promoted his $1.75 trillion social and economic bill, referred to as the Build Back Better Act, which is currently being negotiated in the U.S. Senate.

Speaking to a small group at the Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Biden stressed the need for skilled workers and said schools like the technical college would benefit from passage of the Build Back Better Act and provide training for tomorrow’s workforce.

Special Session?

Capitol followers have expected the legislature to be back this fall to pass legislation for frontline COVID worker pay, but that has yet to come to fruition. However, it appears something may happen before the end of the year — as a major barrier has been removed.

Throughout the fall, the Senate majority held firm on its right to take up commissioner appointments during the special session. Gov. Walz was unlikely to call a special session over concerns the Senate might take up, and reject, the confirmation of Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. However, just before Thanksgiving, the Senate majority announced it is willing to set aside the issue so that talks on a special session can move forward.

The working group responsible for putting together a proposal on frontline COVID worker pay met throughout July and August but was unable to reach an agreement by their self-imposed September deadline over two major sticking points — who should be eligible and the size of the bonus. Instead, they put forward two proposals for further negotiation among the House, Senate and the governor. The legislature and the governor will need to find agreement on frontline worker pay for a special session to be called.

House DFL Presents Redistricting Maps

The Minnesota House of Representatives Redistricting Committee recently reviewed a first draft of the House DFL’s proposed new boundaries for Minnesota’s legislative and Congressional districts.

Each of Minnesota’s 201 legislative districts and eight Congressional districts will likely have boundary changes. Districts where population was lost or grew more slowly will be expanded geographically while boundaries of faster growing districts will likely shrink.

The proposal seeks to establish “ideal” populations of 42,586 people for each House district and 85,172 people for each Senate district. During the redistricting process in 2012, the “ideal” population per House district was 39,582 people and 79,164 people for each Senate district.

A separate House DFL proposal to redraw Minnesota’s eight congressional districts includes each district having an “ideal” population of 713,312. As with state legislative districts, Congressional districts where population was lost or grew more slowly will expand and districts containing faster population growth will likely shrink.

Expect House Republicans to present their plan in the near future. The redistricting process must be completed by Feb. 15, 2022, so the 2022 election cycle can proceed on schedule.

They Said It...

“Places like this, we're going to train the next generation of workers to do the jobs that my infrastructure law and our Build Back Better Act are going to put into even greater demand.” – President Joe Biden while speaking at the Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount

“We’re paying more for our groceries, more for our gas, more for our everyday items. And it’s hurting middle-class Minnesotans’ and middle-class Americans’ pocketbooks.” – Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber in response to increased government spending contained in the Build Back Better Act