FRIDAY EVE…
Breaking this morning, The Basilica Block Party is done after nearly 30 years.
Wild lose in 2OT’s. Frost lose to Hannah Murphy and the Seattle Torrent. Twins lost.
Wolves play tonight. Sports Take out early afternoon…
If a referendum in Virginia survives legal challenges, Democrats will likely net larger gains from mid-decade redistricting than Republicans. AXIOS: https://fluence-media.co/4vMgoHA
The Pentagon privately told lawmakers this week it will likely take six months to clear the mines set in the Strait of Hormuz. AP: https://fluence-media.co/4cEfdRF
52% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they mostly get up-to-date information about news events by chance, compared with 28% of adults ages 65 and older. PEW: https://fluence-media.co/3QuqSLu
Happy National Cherry Cheesecake Day!
Blois - tips: bloisolson@gmail.com
Sunday Take featured four leaders at the TwinWest Legislative Breakfast — GOP Senate Ldr. Mark Johnson, GOP House Flr. Ldr. Harry Niska, DFL Senate Asst. Maj. Ldr. Nick Frentz and DFL House Flr. Ldr. Jamie Long — discussing the final month of session. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4mFbCY1
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WAYMO IS READY FOR MINNESOTA: With 13x fewer injury-causing collisions compared to humans, Waymo is already making roads safer in major U.S. cities where we operate — from multi-lane expressways to dense city streets, including the demands of winter weather. We are ready to bring these safety benefits to Minnesota, and look forward to working with the state legislature to pass a law that allows us to provide rides in the state. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/waymo (SPONSORED: Waymo)
LATE NIGHT…
Last night while Minnesota was watching the Wild game, Gov. Tim Walz on The Jimmy Kimmel show he called the No Kings rally the greatest day of his life after his marriage…and suggested there may be a ghost in the Governor’s residence. VERBATIM: “I think he (Trump) hates Minnesota we take care of our people and we invest our people, we invest in people, we feed our people.. Well, I want to help elect people who are out there, good people. I was 40 and never went to a political meeting at all. Never did anything. Minnesota happened to have the infrastructure to do this… I know I can go find people who are better than the clowns and fools we have doing this right now and help them…”. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/48CwI3R
BOOK: via Ryan Faircloth, at the Star Tribune, VERBATIM “Gov. Tim Walz is writing a book inspired by Minnesotans’ resistance during Operation Metro Surge…“Good Neighbors” will be published next year after the second-term DFL governor leaves office, publisher W. W. Norton & Co. announced April 22…The publishing house described the work as a “passionate ode to tolerance, decency, respect and empathy, and an inspiring reminder that we are capable of changing the world for the better, one block at a time.”…In a statement about the book, Walz pointed to the “compassion, courage and resilience” Minnesotans showed during the federal immigration operation.
NEXTQUESTION: How much was the Walz book advance?
CD2: via CNN, VERBATIM: “The prediction market Kalshi suspended three political candidates from its platform on Wednesday for ‘political insider trading’ after an internal probe found that they bet on their own campaigns. … One of the ‘suspicious’ trades Kalshi flagged came from Minnesota state Sen. Matthew Klein, a Democrat who is running for an open US House seat. … Klein said he learned from friends that Kalshi had a market about his race, and ‘was curious about how it worked,’ so he bet $50 of his own money in October that he would win the nomination. He said he cooperated with Kalshi’s investigation.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mQN7Yi
MORE: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “State Sen. Matt Klein [said] he learned in March he violated the online platform’s rules [and] paid a roughly $540 penalty. He is suspended from the prediction market platform, Kalshi, for five years. … Klein told MPR News he will continue his congressional campaign. … State lawmakers are considering restrictions to prediction markets over concerns about insider trading, and [Klein] is a cosponsor.” KLEIN: “That was the only wager I have ever made on a predictions market. This was a mistake, and I apologize. … My experience, like many other Minnesotans, points to the need for clearer rules and regulations for these types of markets.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4d4ytbt
MORE: via Matt Little, DFL candidate for CD2, LITTLE: “I thought this might be a good time to say that I do not have a Kalshi account.” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/4vFuDhb
IRONY: As of yesterday afternoon, Sen. Matt Klein’s Kalshi scandal has already caused Kalshi users to begin losing faith in his ability to win the DFL primary for CD2, placing his betting odds below 30%. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3Ong4yd
TAKE: Unforced errors like this from Sen. Matt Klein create a buzz that he hasn’t taken the Congressional race as seriously as is expected. The DFL endorsing convention for CD2 is May 9th.
SESSION
TECH: via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “Local officials are pushing the legislature this year to shore up support to bring their IT systems into the 21st century. … Matt Hilgart with the Minnesota Association of Counties [said] in Wisconsin, one person doing human services work can handle 900 cases. In Minnesota, that same person can only manage 300 cases. … Hilgart said if lawmakers don’t throw counties a lifeline this year, [then] counties would need to shift more cost burdens to local homeowners. … A proposal moving through the DFL-led Senate would earmark $70 million over four years for these upgrades. A separate measure [is] a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to borrow money like it can for infrastructure projects, known as ‘bonding,’ for this IT modernization.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3OWI2B1
TEACHERS: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “Health insurance costs have long been a problem for smaller, rural school districts because their smaller staff sizes give them less bargaining power in the marketplace. But in recent years, school districts of all sizes are getting hit by huge health insurance price increases. … Educators are rallying around new legislation that could offer some relief. The proposed Educator Group Insurance Program, known as the EGIP bill, would create a statewide health coverage plan — one huge health insurance pool for all public school employees.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4tugQZB
PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES CONTINUE TO SOAR: While Minnesota’s safety net hospitals navigate bleak financial outlooks, drug manufacturers continue to raise drug prices at rates that far outpace inflation, rising 23% in the last year alone. By strengthening the 340B drug pricing program, local hospitals can weather these soaring prices and continue to deliver the care and treatments that Minnesotans need. MNLEG REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/48xEXhB (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
ENVIRONMENT: via House Session Daily, VERBATIM: “A bill to spend $102 million on projects supporting the Earth Day mission took an important step closer to becoming law. Specifically, the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund bill, HF3426, was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday and sent to the House Floor. … [But] the bill does not contain a recommended $1.25 million grant to the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness for an ‘Outdoor Learning Professional Development for Educators and Administrators’ project. Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa) said Republican support for the bill is contingent on not providing funding for the ‘controversial’ project.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41U73zI
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MINING: via Mesabi Tribune, VERBATIM: “The Range was dealt another blow with news of more than 70 people losing their jobs as a manufacturing company will be permanently ceasing its operations in Chisholm and Hibbing…Seventy-seven employees, 73 hourly and four salary positions, are being eliminated with the impending closure of Minnesota Twist Drill and Triumph Twist Drill in Hibbing, according to a WARN notice sent out earlier this week. The two plants manufacture drill bits and cutting tools… Minnesota State Senator Rob Farnsworth (R-Hibbing) provided the following statement on the closure. FARNSWORTH: “I am truly sorry to hear about the layoffs at Minnesota Twist Drill and Triumph Twist Drill,” Farnsworth wrote in an email. “I share the frustration of many who have reached out with concerns that these jobs are likely heading to states with lower taxes and less burdensome regulation. Our state’s policies continue to make it harder for manufacturers to stay and grow here.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mNWMP5
BWCA: via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “Angered by last week’s Congressional vote to overturn a federal mining ban near the Boundary Waters, hundreds of Minnesotans flooded the state Capitol on Earth Day to rally in support of clean water and ask the state to block several proposed projects.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QqanjA
MORE: via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “In the fight over copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters, opponents of such projects suffered a blow on the congressional front [with] the Senate joining the House in overturning a moratorium on mining in the wilderness area’s watershed last week. … The theater will mostly move from Washington, D.C. to Minnesota, [with] a coalition of environmental, sporting and tribal leaders eyeing regulatory, legislative and legal strategies. … Twin Metals will need to pass a slew of [state-level] regulatory checkpoints in order to start mining.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4txOkpO
REJECT 340B EXPANSION: A new Minnesota Department of Health report shows hospitals made at least $1 billion dollars from a federal drug discount program known as 340B. The program should help patients, but experts say there is little accountability for where the money goes. The report was delayed and only recently released, showing the program isn’t working as intended. But Minnesota politicians are fast tracking a bill to expand the 340B program anyway. Lawmakers: reject House File 3609 / Senate File 3769. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4uUobCQ (SPONSORED: Community Action for Responsible Hospitals)
HCMC: via KSTP, VERBATIM: “According to hospital data, HCMC currently has about 7.7 days of cash on hand — the money available to cover payroll and day-to-day expenses. By comparison, the national average for safety net hospitals is 119 days. … One small win for HCMC came this month when it managed to make payroll using its own revenue without tapping into county funds for assistance. [But] without significant changes — or additional public support — leaders say HCMC’s financial path remains uncertain.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4vRptiu
DHS: via KARE 11, VERBATIM: “Former Department of Human Services employee Dana Nelson [spoke] in defense of Zion Baptist Church after the state filed a $2.4 million lawsuit. Nelson is the former DHS worker who, according to a legislative audit, managed the grant at Zion Baptist Church, then quit her job and became a consultant paid by Zion to profit from mismanaged taxpayer money. … Nelson [said] the state is mischaracterizing her role and wrongly blaming Zion for misusing $2.4 million of grant money.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4cqnUjL
HABITAT RESTORATION: Flint Hills Resources has earned Tandem Global WHC Gold Certification for habitat restoration at its Cottage Grove fuel terminal. The certification comes after two years of work in partnership with Friends of the Mississippi River to implement a restoration and monitoring plan to re-establish the 6.5-acre site’s natural prairie and savannah. Flint Hills has held gold certification for its work done with community partners over the past 25 years to restore more than 200 acres of the Pine Bend Bluffs, a critical natural area along the Mississippi River that is adjacent to Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery. This makes two Flint Hills gold certified sites in Minnesota and the first two gold-certified sites ever in the Twin Cities. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3VASKg4 (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
NATIONAL
HOMELANDSECURITY: via Stateline, VERBATIM: “Nearly all Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee failed to show up for a Wednesday hearing convened by Democrats to highlight President Donald Trump’s aggressive tactics in his mass deportation campaign. … Democrats used the opportunity to call witnesses who are U.S. citizens and were harmed, in some cases shot, by federal immigration officers. Lawmakers also focused on two U.S. citizens killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. … Ryan Ecklund, a real estate agent in Minnesota whom federal agents detained after he filmed them, [attended]. … Ecklund criticized federal agents within DHS.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48C8O8D
RFKJR: via Sen. Tina Smith advisory, VERBATIM: “Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) questioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the state of America’s health. Smith pressed Secretary Kennedy about his cuts to preventative services. … Smith sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which conducts oversight hearings of HHS annually.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3QCsvqs
340B HOSPITAL MARKUPS HURT PATIENTS: Minnesota’s latest 340B report shows covered entities generated $1.34 billion in profit in 2024, including an estimated $261 million from Medicaid prescriptions. Independent research finds the program raises costs for patients, taxpayers, and employers statewide. Minnesota should sunset the 340B mandate, and Congress should fix the federal 340B program so it actually helps patients. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3OLZOGG (SPONSORED: PhRMA)
METRO
FREY: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Mayor Jacob Frey has earned glowing attention in the national media since the federal immigration surge, with talk show appearances and magazine mentions and even a hint of presidential buzz. … But some Minneapolis progressives say Frey spent too much time talking to national media and not enough getting down in the trenches with protesters. Council Member Jason Chavez — whose two uncles were deported during the surge — has been particularly critical of Frey. ‘It’s very easy to cuss at ICE; it’s actually harder to do policy work to help people stay in our city,’ Chavez said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Oz9aWI
MPD: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “The Minneapolis city auditor says procedural errors at the Minneapolis Police Department weakened its response to reports of domestic violence and racial harassment in two cases — the death of Allison Lussier and the non-fatal shooting of Davis Moturi. Auditor Robert Timmerman presented the review of those cases to the city audit committee and members of the Minneapolis City Council Wednesday.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42m1w55
SPPD: Via KARE 11’s Lou Raguse, the St. Paul Police Department spent $88,465 on the “No Kings” rally on March 28, primarily on overtime costs. Specifically, the city spent around $83,000 on “staffing pay,” $4,000 on “fencing,” and $625 on “warning lights.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4toGUVJ
GRANDMAS RIDE ATVs TOO: Check out Donna’s story — a powerful reminder that ATV riding is about more than trails; it’s about people, community, and connection. Donna’s message reflects what so many riders across Minnesota believe: responsible riding, strong local economies, and protecting access for future generations all go hand in hand. Thank you, Donna, for sharing your story and helping put a face to what “I Ride” truly means. Check out Donna’s story HERE: https://fluence-media.co/4tDeK9r (SPONSORED: ATV Minnesota)
EAGAN: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “The city of Eagan announced Wednesday that it has appointed a new fire chief after Chief Hugo Searle announced his retirement in February. … Holly Mulholland, who has more than 17 years of fire service experience, will take over the role.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QCDCja
STATEWIDE
WILLMAR: via West Central Tribune, VERBATIM: “The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities announced Cheryl Norman as its selection for the next president of Ridgewater College. … Norman is currently working in the Minnesota State system, serving as the vice president of academic and student affairs at Central Lakes College in Brainerd and Staples.
DULUTH: via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “A recent study by Maxfield Research predicted Duluth will require about 9,000 more homes to meet its anticipated 2035 housing needs. While Mayor Roger Reinert sees many opportunities to build small-scale infill housing throughout the community, he views only three sites as likely hosts for large-scale residential development: The former Duluth Central campus; the shuttered Lester Park Golf Course; and underutilized downtown buildings that could be converted to housing.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48C9k6z
WAITE PARK: via St. Cloud Live, VERBATIM: “A year-long data center moratorium will be proposed to the Waite Park City Council at its meeting on Monday, May 4. The proposed moratorium allows the city to study data centers for ‘the purpose of protecting the planning process and the health, safety and welfare of citizens,’ according to a draft ordinance. … Waite Park hasn’t received any proposed data center facilities as yet, [but] Waite Park is ‘aware of the potential for such uses to be of concern.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QTUOke
PRODUCTIVE FARMS, STEWARDSHIP GO HAND IN HAND: via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Corn farmers are demonstrating that productive agriculture and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. Through widespread adoption of practices such as reduced tillage, cover crops, crop rotations, and targeted nutrient management, farmers have improved soil health, reduced erosion, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and protected water quality across millions of acres in Minnesota. That’s all while implementing advances in seed genetics, fertility management, and precision technology that have improved on-farm productivity.” LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4stHjG5 (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn)
COMING UP…
SESSION: House floor session at 1:00 p.m. Senate floor session at 11:00 a.m. FLOOR: The House hears bills on “nudification” bans, penalties for impersonating police, and more. The Senate hears a legal age for kratom possession and omnibus bills for elections and human services. HOUSE: Taxes will hear numerous local sales tax bills. Ways & Means will hear omnibus bills for public safety, higher education, and workforce, labor and economic development. SENATE: Rules & Admin. hears a constitutional amendment to change permanent school funds. Finance hears the health and human services omnibus. State & Local Govt. hears a requirement for state agencies to write summaries for all RFPs. Capital Investment hears infrastructure requests. CALENDAR: https://fluence-media.co/42pBrlE
TODAY: DFL Sen. Lindsey Port will host a press conference seeking humanitarian parole for a constituent who has been “held in DHS facilities in El Paso, Texas, for 76 days without appropriate medical treatment for a large ovarian cyst,” per a release. The event is at 10:00 a.m.
TODAY: Minneapolis City Council members will host a press conference to “discuss legislative actions taken at Thursday’s meeting,” per a release. The event begins 15 minutes after the council adjourns.
NEXT WEEK: The Somali American Coalition Action Fund will host a “Somali Day at the Capitol” on Monday, April 27, starting with a press conference at 8:30 a.m. and a rally at 10:00 a.m.
NEXT WEEK: Gov. Tim Walz will deliver his final State of the State address before a joint session of the Minnesota Legislature on Tuesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m.
NEXT WEEK: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will host a rally with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Rochester on Saturday, May 2 as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. The event is at 5:00 p.m.
SEPT 22: The Star Tribune is hosting its second annual North Star Summit on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
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BDAYS: MN GOP Deputy Chair Donna Bergstrom, State Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, outdoors icon Ron Schara, lobbyist Marty Seifert
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IN MEMORIAM: morning take is dedicated in memory of Melissa Hortman.