Wild lose. Wolves win.
Monday’s Vikings/Rams game has been relocated to Arizona due to California wildfires. ESPN: https://fluence-media.co/4gOlTxl
Walter Mondale’s son Ted read his late father’s eulogy at Jimmy Carter’s funeral. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4fUdDea
An Axios poll finds 81% of college students have a negative view of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO murdered in December, and 48% say the killing is at least somewhat justified. POLL: https://fluence-media.co/3WfGUc3
Blois
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Sunday Take had new GOP Alex Plechash to discuss how he feels about primaries, fundraising and the GOP opportunity. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3WaJ8cL
HOSPITALS: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Patients are piling up in Minnesota emergency rooms once again, but it’s not just from COVID-19. State health officials say influenza is making a comeback, combining with COVID, norovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to put more pressure on hospitals than they’ve faced since the pandemic. … Leaders of metro hospitals met Thursday to discuss strategies to address the crowding and ensure ER capacity for strokes, heart attacks and car-crash injuries.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3We3B0n
HOME CARE: via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “An important deadline is fast approaching for the more than 35,000 workers who care for some of Minnesota's most vulnerable residents. Home care workers have been at the bargaining table with the Minnesota Department of Human Services for months, with their contract set to expire on Friday. … Dozens of workers rallied at the Minnesota Capitol on Wednesday. They're focusing on wages, retirement security and health care costs to address the workforce shortage seen across the state. They say they need more support to better care for their clients.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/402EbE4
NURSING HOMES: via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “Minnesota is facing a workforce shortage in its aging services, with estimates showing about 17,000 openings statewide for licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, direct care staff and dietary staff. … That’s roughly 20% of the workforce, said Anna Mowry, the director of workforce solutions for LeadingAge Minnesota. … To fill some empty positions, the industry has recruited nurses from other countries to live and work in Minnesota on employment-based visas. According to a 2023 Lightcast report, nearly one in three nursing assistants and nearly 14% of Minnesota’s overall healthcare workers in 2021 were immigrants.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3C3MLug
(DISCLOSURE: LeadingAge Minnesota is a client of Fluence)
NURSES: via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “Former Minnesota Nurses Association Executive Director Karlton Scott filed a lawsuit against the union and its first vice president, alleging he was wrongfully terminated after a rival for the executive director job and his supporters targeted Scott with a racist rumor campaign. … Scott was forced out a year ago, less than a week after a reform-minded majority took over the union’s board of directors and held an emergency meeting to replace him with Elaina Hane, who in turn fired four other union managers — including the only other non-white senior managers. … The union [denies] wrongdoing” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40s6k96
POT: via FOX 9, VERBATIM: “Those looking to purchase recreational marijuana at a dispensary in Minnesota will have to wait well into 2025 to do so, as the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has provided a new timeline for its ongoing licensing roll-out to businesses looking to sell. … If all goes as planned – and up to this point, it rarely has – a tentative date to hold a lottery for capped license types will be held in May or June. … By the time the first legal sales happen — likely in mid-2025 — the state will be the third slowest to spark a market [after legalization].” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4ajfpnR
From yesterday’s lunch take:
DNC: via New York Times, VERBATIM: “Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee for vice president, on Thursday endorsed Ken Martin to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Martin, the chairman of the Minnesota Democrats, is a longtime Walz ally who led the state party during Mr. Walz’s rise from Congress to the State Capitol to the national ticket. Mr. Walz is now the highest-profile Democratic official to endorse Mr. Martin to lead the party.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4h8p96q
NOTE: As seen in the Dec. 13 morning take, Gov. Tim Walz had previously told MPR News he did not plan to endorse Ken Martin — or anyone else — for DNC chair, saying he was “staying out of that one.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3Bo488R
Sign up for lunch take or read it at The Daily Agenda: https://fluence-media.co/4eZwLa7
MN HOUSE: via KARE 11, VERBATIM: “Although the two parties could still reach a deal ahead of Tuesday's opening day, the DFL's threatened walkout would bring the House to a standstill. … Gov. Tim Walz [released] his first public statement Thursday about the situation. … The governor's statement stopped short of an explicit endorsement of a DFL walkout, although Rep. [Melissa] Hortman said the governor seemed ‘fully supportive’ of the idea when they spoke a few weeks ago.” WALZ: “The legislature has important work ahead of them. As long as Republicans provide assurance they won't overturn election results and deny the will of the voters, there is no reason that work can't go forward.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/40c7RhV
MN SENATE: Via KSTP, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson spoke to reporters about power-sharing in the divided legislature and their priorities for 2025. VERBATIM: “Democrats are likely to regain a 34-33 majority after the special election in Minneapolis for [SD60], where a Democrat is all but certain to win. … Eventually, the two sides hope to return to focusing on issues in what will likely be a contentious budget session. … The two leaders agree they have to find a way to reach a compromise in what will likely be a compressed session because of the questions surrounding who is in charge of each chamber.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/40e9Y55
MURPHY: “We are engaged in some good faith conversation with Mark Johnson and some of my Republican colleagues. … We have to balance the budget equitably with the people of Minnesota in mind, [preserving] important provisions that put real money in people’s pockets. … I’ve experienced a government shutdown. It did nothing but hurt people.”
JOHNSON: “Negotiations with Senate Democrats [have] been progressing. I think we’re going to get to a good point, but we haven’t reached a deal yet. … Fraud has been going on for six years, [and] we need to make sure that we stop that so we can take that money and prioritize Minnesotans. … I think the message Minnesotans were sending is: work together.”
MITCHELL: Speaking to reporters, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy clarified that Sen. Nicole Mitchell will not be voting remotely this session whenever she is in court for her ongoing burglary trial, and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said he still doesn’t think Mitchell should be voting on the floor, either. According to Axios’ Torey Van Oot, Murphy said that Mitchell made this decision herself. TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/4gR6AEq
SD60: Early voting has begun in the Jan. 14 primary for the Senate District 60 special election. With DFLer Mohamed Jama dropping out this week, here is an updated list of the major candidates and their latest endorsements:
Doron Clark (DFL) is now endorsed by the SD60 DFL chapter, Sens. Zaynab Mohamed (SD63), Clare Oumou Verbeten (SD66) and Heather Gustafson (SD36) plus Minneapolis City Council Members Emily Koski (Ward 11) and Jamal Osman (Ward 6). WEBSITE: https://fluence-media.co/41XXkte
Monica Meyer (DFL) is now endorsed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Reps. Sydney Jordan (60A) and Leigh Finke (66A) plus Minneapolis City Council Members Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5) and Robin Wonsley (Ward 2). WEBSITE: https://fluence-media.co/41VGRWv
Peter Wagenius (DFL) is now endorsed by Reps. Katie Jones (61A), Rick Hansen (53B) and Alex Falconer (49A) plus Minneapolis City Council Member Katie Cashman (Ward 7). WEBSITE: https://fluence-media.co/4aej0Uo
Abigail Wolters (GOP) is the only Republican candidate with a campaign website, but she has not listed any endorsements. WEBSITE: https://fluence-media.co/4gJKrrt
See the Jan. 3 morning take for a list of previous endorsements in the SD60 race. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gWsIN6
MURPHY: Axios’ Torey Van Oot says she asked Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy about endorsements in the Senate District 60 race, and Murphy said she will support whoever wins the primary — but she is not endorsing anyone before the primary is over. TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/3Pwxwgo
HOMELESS: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “As the visibility of homelessness has increased in the Twin Cities, so have fences. Those putting up fences say they are a way to balance safety and livability, preventing nuisance behavior and the establishment of camps. But others are concerned the reliance on more fencing blocks public walkways and amenities and lends an inhospitable appearance that could further negative perceptions of the cities. … The Twin Cities aren’t the only places where fences are going up in response [to homelessness]. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has also installed fencing in Duluth.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gNLbvN
‘MY WHOLE LIFE CHANGED’ — EMPOWERMENT TRAINING OPENS PATHWAY INTO THE TRADES: Since 2019, a partnership between Five Skies Empowerment Training and Enbridge has broadened as unions, contractors and other groups look to connect Native American job seekers to meaningful careers. “They’re gonna open the door for you,” says Joel, a program graduate. “Before the 5 Skies program, I wasn’t aware there were so many opportunities,” explains Ashley. “My whole life changed,” says Melissa. Click here to submit an application, and find out more on upcoming training. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3XoPg0D (SPONSORED: Enbridge)
EXPUNGEMENT: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “A new program in Hennepin County is making it easier for people convicted of crimes as kids to seal their records. Through an online portal, applicants can ask the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to expunge their records, taking them out of public access. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said that makes a big difference. … The office has accepted online expungement applications for adult records since 2020 in its prosecutor-led expungement program. In November, they started accepting applications for minor records, too.” MORIARTY: “Criminal records, even for minor cases, can follow youth forever and can impact their ability to further their education, seek employment, maintain stable housing and so much more.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40CzMcF
MPD: via City of Minneapolis, VERBATIM: “Mayor Jacob Frey and city leaders are celebrating a major milestone in their public safety efforts, with 2024 marking the first time in five years that the Minneapolis Police Department ended the year with a net increase of officers, adding 36 sworn police to the force. This significant achievement is the result of aggressive recruitment strategies, a historic new police contract, and a commitment to rebuilding the department’s ranks.” FREY: “I’m proud to say that the thing so many people have been asking for is happening. Despite nationwide challenges in law enforcement recruitment and retention, Minneapolis is defying the odds.”
MORE: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “The justice department says the [Minneapolis] Police Department should consider alternative approaches to law enforcement, in order to effectively protect residents. … In 2024, the city of Minneapolis stepped up efforts to divert calls for help to non-police responses — including rerouting about 9 percent of calls for help to 311, traffic control, animal control and the Behavioral Crisis Response team. … Council member Robin Wonsley, who co-chairs the council’s Public Health and Safety Committee, said she wants to lean more into these alternative approaches.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fQkDbU
PERMITTING REFORM FOR RESPONSIBLE INDUSTRIES: Jobs for Minnesotans is committed to advancing responsible industrial projects through a predictable, timely and transparent permitting process. Broad permitting reform for all responsible industries is essential to strengthening Minnesota’s communities and advancing our state’s clean energy future. (SPONSORED: Jobs for Minnesotans)
MINING: via a Rep. Pete Stauber press release, VERBATIM: “Today, Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08) announced that he will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee within the House Natural Resources Committee. Congressman Stauber is the first Representative from Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District to both sit on and lead the subcommittee.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4a8TfVn
PFAS: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Honda and Yamaha are telling dealers around Minnesota to pull some youth models of ATVs and dirt bikes from the sales floor, because the vehicles contain illegal PFAS chemicals. … [Some] toxic PFAS chemicals were banned this year, under a law that Minnesota passed in 2023. Advocates for the ban, the farthest reaching of its kind among states, say that major manufacturers should have warned their dealers earlier that the prohibition would affect youth vehicles. But some lawmakers are casting the situation as state overreach.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42rd48H
TRASH: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “The cost of trash collection is increasing this year for St. Paul residents in one- to four-unit properties, but it will drop back down a bit come April. A new citywide trash collection contract with FCC Environmental Services will save most St. Paul homeowners a few dollars when the rates take effect in the spring, with some key exceptions. Low-waste households and others hoping to share carts or opt out of trash collection entirely may have to wait until 2026. The St. Paul City Council voted 7-0 to approve the new rates.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3WcolWi
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep.-Elect Kari Rehauer
Rep.-Elect Wayne Johnson
Rep. Elect Julie Greene
Rep. Elect Keith Allen
Rep. Elect Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
DULUTH: via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “The results of an independent investigation into the activities of Mayor Roger Reinert and Amber Gurske, a former campaign manager who became his significant other, were released Thursday morning. The report refutes suggestions that Gurske may have overstepped her authority in helping to orchestrate the first-term mayor’s schedule and assist him with messaging.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40vOocz
CANTON: via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “Canton Mayor Joshua Nordsving has stepped down as mayor as he faces a misdemeanor charge of child abuse in Fillmore County. Canton City Council member Kristy Ziegler is now listed on the city's website as mayor. The move leaves a vacant seat on the City Council. Inquiries [to] Ziegler and the Canton city clerk about whether Ziegler will serve the entire term and how the council vacancy will be filled were not returned. … Nordsving ran unopposed when was re-elected as mayor of Canton in the November 2024 general election last year. His term expires in 2026.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40rMTwX
HOKAH: via Winona Daily News, VERBATIM: “Going into law enforcement was an easy choice for Hokah's new chief of police, Kaylee Inglett. ‘My entire family is in law enforcement,’ Inglett said. … While she may be following the footsteps of others before her, she's also carving her own path in the field. At only 28 years old, Inglett is the first female police chief in Hokah, and likely the first woman to lead a law enforcement agency in Houston County.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3WftiO5
WILD ABOUT READING: More than 500 Minnesota classrooms and 15,000 students are participating in the “Wild About Reading” program, a partnership with Flint Hills Resources which encourages students to read more using Minnesota Wild-branded posters, reading logs, and bookmarks. Teachers set weekly reading goals and give certificates to students who complete the four-week program. Fun program incentives include classroom visits from the Wild’s mascot, Nordy – and the team dog, Rookie; a pair of tickets to a Wild home game, player signed pucks and photos; and a pizza party for a classroom. LEARN MORE: Wild About Reading SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources
From yesterday’s Fluence newsletters:
MNLEG: via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session begins on Jan. 14, but there’s a strong possibility that DFL lawmakers in the House won’t be there. … But at least one local lawmaker was cautiously optimistic that leaders from both parties will be able to resolve their differences. FREIBERG: ‘I mean, my expectation is I’ll be coming into session next week,’ said Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley. ‘We do have this out there as a possibility in the event the GOP continues to refuse to negotiate, but my hope and expectation is that we’ll be there next week.’” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3PudumJ
MPLS: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Minneapolis city leaders have a long to-do list for the state Legislature, from ending what some of them called slave labor at state prisons to getting help paying off U.S. Bank Stadium’s construction debt. … Mayor Jacob Frey’s administration and the Minneapolis City Council put together their agenda and policy positions for the 2025 legislative session.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40cNH7s
UNITEDHEALTH: via Stat, VERBATIM: “Seven UnitedHealth Group shareholders are calling on the health care conglomerate to produce a report on how often its policies lead to denied or delayed care, and the effects on patients and the economy. The proposal, which could go up for a vote by UnitedHealth’s investors at the company’s annual meeting later this year, comes as the company is under tremendous public scrutiny for tactics such as prior authorization and care denials. The killing of the CEO of UnitedHealth’s health insurance business in early December ignited a firestorm of anger — not against the alleged killer, but against health insurers like UnitedHealth, who many blame for the industry’s dysfunction.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3WcWYLD
ALL THE TAKES: Every day, we’re sharing significant political, business and other news in your inbox and on our new website, The Daily Agenda. If you love morning take, sign up for the other Fluence tip sheets and share our web content with your friends. SIGNUP: https://fluence-media.co/4eZwLa7
TODAY: via I-94 West Corridor Coalition, VERBATIM: “The I-94 West Corridor Coalition will host a breakfast event to hear legislators' perspectives and learn about the coalition’s priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session. … Elected officials speaking include: Sens. Scott Dibble, Warren Limmer, Bruce Anderson, John Hoffman, Jeff Howe and Eric Lucero; and Reps. Erin Koegel and Joe McDonald.” The event is at 7:30 a.m. in Rogers, MN.
TUESDAY: The Minnesota Legislature will begin its 2025 session on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 12:00 noon.
TUESDAY: Primary will be held for the special election in Senate District 60.
TUESDAY: The Minnesota Latino Leadership Alliance (MiLLA) announced they will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. on the first day of session to discuss political priorities.
BDAYS: Veterans Affairs staff Jon Kelly, Hamline’s Jeannie Entenza, St. Paul leader Donna Swanson, SAT: fmr. St. Paul councilmember Chris Tolbert, advocate Matt Flory. SUN: Wells Fargo’s Sophia Khan, NewsDay’s Baird Helgeson, lobbyist Jill Sletten
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