Author: MinnPost

The long-shot candidate is hoping for 20% of the vote in a state where President Biden isn’t officially on the ballot.

A special task force looking at ways to restructure the Metropolitan Council may be struggling to reach a consensus, but it isn’t short on ideas. The Metropolitan Governance Task Force, created in the 2023 transportation budget, is approaching its final meetings before a Feb. 1 deadline. Members have started presenting plans for how to do regional governance differently, and any proposal that wins a majority of the task force would then go to the 2024 Legislature, which would have to approve, amend or disregard any proposals. But reaching a majority might be the hard part. The current Met Council consists of 17…

A loophole in the state’s new recreational marijuana law allowing the sale of high-potency raw cannabis flower to go unregulated will be the subject of a summit next week between regulators, law enforcement and local government associations. The state Office of Cannabis Management is convening the Jan. 11 meeting, along with hemp regulators at the state Department of Health, to discuss with sheriffs and police chiefs how best to respond to possible sales of marijuana in some registered hemp stores. The meeting comes more than a month after it was reported that the new law passed last May did not include raw…

Law enforcement/prosecutors must disclose if an officer was untruthful, engaged in a biased act or violated procedures related to excessive force or handling of evidence.

New 2024 laws at Minnesota State Capitol encompass gun safety, tenant rights, paid sick leave, and corporate campaign finance injunction.

Metro Transit will engage a private security company to provide the new personnel to conduct light rail and bus rapid transit fare checks, enforce a new code of conduct and help riders navigate the system. The contract workers are expected to be on platforms, buses and trains during the first quarter of 2024 as Transit Rider Investment Program (TRIP) employees. Using private contractors rather than Metro Transit staff is a change in plans from what had been envisioned since the Legislature approved a transit safety plan in May. Then, and in the months since, the Met Council had expected to…

WASHINGTON – Rep. Dean Phillips had been considered a shoo-in for reelection to represent a suburban Twin Cities district in Congress. Not anymore. His primary challenge to President Joe Biden has roiled some DFLers in that district who voted for Biden over former President Donald Trump by more than 19 percentage points. And it has left the party unsure of how they can best hold on to the seat in a year in which Democrats hope to regain control of the U.S. House. Phillips is campaigning for the White House in New Hampshire and South Carolina and hasn’t said whether he’ll…

WASHINGTON — Since announcing his candidacy for president two weeks ago, Rep. Dean Phillips has missed votes on a resolution condemning Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli civilians, a bill that would help fund Israel’s military, a measure that would oust controversial Rep. George Santos from Congress and dozens of other bills and amendments. Phillips has also missed debates in Congress over government spending, the best way to avoid a looming government shutdown on Nov. 17, and whether the United States should push for a pause in the fighting in the Middle East, send more U.S. aid to Ukraine or use…

The Minnesota Supreme Court has dismissed a petition that sought to keep Donald Trump’s name from appearing on the state’s March 5 presidential primary ballot. The court order stated that because the primary is a party function in which the state serves only an administrative function, it is up to the parties only to decide the names on the ballot. But the order signed by Chief Justice Natalie Hudson said the petitioners could try again if Trump wins the Republican nomination next summer. The November general election, being a state election only, might give the petitioners another opportunity to challenge Trump’s appearance…

For 70 minutes, five justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court listened to legal reasons why they should bar Donald Trump from the 2024 state presidential preference primary and why they should not. The case known as Growe v. Simon was filed by a batch of Minnesota voters backed by a national organization called Free Speech for People. It asked the court to order Secretary of State Steve Simon to reject an expected request from the Minnesota Republican Party to include Trump’s name for the March 5 presidential primary. As argued by Ronald Fein, an attorney for Free Speech for People, the court…