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By Janet Moore

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Good morning, Dishers.

It's dark outside this early morn, and I have two things on my mind: 1. The Politics of the Day, of course. And 2. Do I need to put on my Yaktrax to take the garbage out following yesterday's icy snowstorm? Because Mondays are trash days in my St. Paul neighborhood. But you really have to wonder what is going on with trash pickup in St. Paul. It seems the Capital City once again has a trash crisis on its hands after the Garbage Wars that ended in 2024. Then I discovered this recent Curious Minnesota piece by Erica Pearson saying Twin Citians routinely burned their trash in their driveways until the late 1960s. 

On to the news. My colleague Allison Kite, who joined us a few weeks ago and is doing a smashing job, writes about whether Minnesota will have an infrastructure bonding package this year at the Legislature after lawmakers failed to agree on one last year. It's a notion that apparently has bipartisan support.

All told, local governments across Minnesota requested $2.9 billion for projects from the bonding bill. State agencies requested $4.7 billion. Projects ranged from a new Mankato lab for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and a new jail for Beltrami County to the removal of lead water pipes and improvements for bridges and recreational areas across the state.

But new revenue numbers released earlier this month show a shrinking state surplus over the next two years and a deficit in the long term. That budget forecast reduced the state’s bonding capacity for this year to $700 million from $790 million.

Some in the Legislature say a bill is needed with at least $1 billion for infrastructure projects. Others are more circumspect in terms of spending. Normally, the Legislature rolls out a bonding bill after Easter, which is April 20. But this session has been far from normal. Read the story here. 

When Secretary of State Steve Simon first heard about President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order on elections, he didn’t react immediately. He wanted to dig in and understand how it might actually affect Minnesota, he recently told my colleague Briana Bierschbach. 

The order calls to reject all ballots that come in after Election Day, but Minnesota already requires voters to submit absentee ballots by the time polls close. Trump’s order also says voting systems can no longer use a barcode or QR code. Minnesota has long been a paper balloting state. 

Simon’s biggest concern is the piece that would require documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections. Currently, the federal voter registration form asks people to swear (under penalty of perjury) that they are U.S. citizens and to provide a driver's license number, state ID number or Social Security number. Documentary proof of citizenship would require a proof such as a U.S. passport. 

Simon said it could affect the ability to register for roughly 69 million women who changed their name after marriage. The few states that have tried to do this in the past have regretted it, he added, including Kansas, where the law blocked tens of thousands of citizens from registering who were otherwise eligible to vote. The federal courts ultimately declared the law unconstitutional. 

“I understand and agree with making sure that only citizens are voting, but this is a flawed and chaotic way to do it,” Simon said. 

It’s also not the issue Republicans think it is in Minnesota, Simon said. A St. Thomas professor recently looked at every prosecution related to noncitizen voting in the state of Minnesota since 2015, which turned up a total of three convictions out of more than 13 million votes cast. 

The order also threatens to take funding from states that don’t comply, though it’s not clear what funding could be withheld. The state is evaluating its legal options, Simon said. “Even though I believe it’s a clumsy attempt at a federal takeover of aspects of our election system, one that is likely going to be struck down, we have to take seriously what he is trying to do.”

Here's more on tax revenue, exciting stuff! Shoppers in the seven-county Twin Cities metro paid $677 million in additional sales taxes in 2024 after Minnesota lawmakers approved a 1% hike to fund housing and transportation projects, Chris Magan writes.

The Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz enacted the tax increase in 2023, when Democrats had full control of state government, as a dedicated source of funding for some of their key priorities. Transportation needs receive 75% of the revenue, and affordable housing 25%.

Lawmakers also created a 50-cent fee on delivery orders of $100 or more that is expected to raise an additional $25 million this year. Revenue from that fee is also for transportation needs and is divvied up between cities, counties and the state. 

Chris reports that communities have not received a full year of revenue yet because the proceeds are distributed only twice a year. But money is coming in, and local leaders say it helps them expedite housing and transportation projects that otherwise would have to wait for funding. Story here. 

A protest in downtown Minneapolis organized by the University of Minnesota Graduate Labor Union-United Electrical Local 1105 was held Saturday, a day after U officials said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had detained an international graduate student.

U President Rebecca Cunningham told students, faculty and staff of the student’s detainment in a statement Friday. Cunningham said that ICE agents detained the student at an off-campus residence without U officials’ prior knowledge or cooperation. The situation, she said, was “deeply concerning.”

U officials have not identified the detainee, who is a student at the Carlson School of Management and has asked for privacy. The student is receiving legal representation from the University Student Legal Service office.

ICE officials did not respond to requests for comment. The Graduate Labor Union plans to host another rally Monday at Morrill Hall on the U campus. Story here.

The governor will attend a Trans Day of Visibility rally and speak at Fire Service Day at the Capitol. Later, he will participate in calls with leaders from Beckman-Coulter Inc. and Verterra Energy.

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Not D.C., exactly, but Wisconsin. The Associated Press reports that Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and ‘’the future of civilization.‘’ Musk appeared in Green Bay on Sunday night.

Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s race, which will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state, AP reports. Musk has increasingly become the center of the contest, with liberal favorite Susan Crawford and her allies protesting Musk and what they say is the influence he wants to have on the court. Story here.

Another candidate has stepped forward to run for U.S. Sen. Tina Smith's seat: Marisa Simonetti, who failed in her bid for a Hennepin County Board seat last year. You'll recall that Simonetti was accused of throwing a live tarantula at a tenant of her Edina home. Simonetti said on X that she's running with a vision "rooted in hope and peace."

And Trump said Sunday he's thinking about a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029. Story here. NYT says he can't run. Gift link.

The Legislature will be on break today for the Eid holiday. Committees and legislative activities will resume Tuesday.