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By Ryan Faircloth

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Good morning.

The loss of more than $220 million in federal funding prompted the Minnesota Department of Health to issue layoff notices to 170 workers and rescind offers to 20 additional new hires on Tuesday. State Health Commissioner Dr. Brooke Cunningham told my colleague Jeremy Olson that Minnesota's response to foodborne and other infectious outbreaks will be slower; the state had to cut lab technicians and workers who investigate how diseases spread.

“This is just a very sad day for public health,” Cunningham said.

Funding for air quality improvement and infection control in nursing homes is being reduced, according to the Health Department, and some community vaccination clinics are being canceled.

Those who received layoff notices were selected based on whether their jobs were partly funded by the affected federal grants.

The Trump administration announced $11 billion in cuts to federal public health grants involving COVID-19 last week, arguing the pandemic is far behind us and the funds should be spent on other priorities. But Jeremy writes that many of the grants were COVID in name only, helping fund broader public heath missions such as efforts against a rising threat of avian flu and declining rate of measles vaccinations.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is co-leading a lawsuit by 23 states to overturn the grant cuts.

“These terminations are as treacherous as they are illegal,” Ellison said in a statement. Read more.

Parents of two paralyzed athletes are asking the Legislature to require the Minnesota State High School League to cover ninth-grade athletes and increase its coverage limits. My colleague Allison Kite writes that the parents of Ethan Glynn, who was paralyzed from the shoulders down after an injury sustained in his first ninth-grade football game, said their son wasn't covered by the Minnesota State High School League’s insurance policy. They had to cover the costs of a powered wheelchair, van, home modifications, physical therapy and other needs.

Mike and Leslie Jablonski, whose son Jack was paralyzed in a 2011 high school hockey game, also spoke in favor of the bill to require the league to cover ninth-graders and carry a $10 million catastrophic injury policy. The Jablonskis said their son played on the junior varsity and varsity teams, and was covered by the league's existing insurance policy. But the league carried a $2 million policy at the time of Jack's injury, and he's since used the bulk of those funds because he requires around-the-clock care.

“It’s an endless list of medical needs, supplies, medications, caregivers, therapy,” Leslie Jablonski told a Senate committee. “These are not luxuries. These are necessities." Read more.

Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeated a challenger who was endorsed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Tuesday. Crawford's win cements a liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for at least three more years, the Associated Press reports. "Growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I would be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin," Crawford said. "And we won."

Musk and allied groups had spent more than $21 million toward defeating Crawford. The billionaire traveled to Wisconsin to personally hand out $1 million checks to two voters days before the election.

Minnesotan and Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said “the people of Wisconsin squarely rejected the influence of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and billionaire special interests. And their message? Stay out of our elections and stay away from our courts — Wisconsin is not for sale." Read more.

An influential DFL legislator wants tougher laws on data centers as they move into Minnesota to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence. My colleague Walker Orenstein reports that Rep. Patty Acomb, DFL-Minnetonka, wants to regulate data centers' water use and require a 65% carbon-free energy supply. Acomb, the top Democrat on the House Energy Committee, also wants to impose fees on data centers to pay for conservation, and require public disclosure of electricity consumption, water withdrawals and the source of construction metals.

“I just wanted to make sure that we were looking at it in a way that would be able to protect our resources, protect [utility] ratepayers and allow it to be a thriving industry here,” Acomb said. Read more.

The Minnesota Senate passed a resolution Tuesday condemning Trump’s sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 rioters. All Democrats voted in favor while Republicans either opposed it or skipped the vote. The resolution passed on a 34-22 vote; 10 Republicans didn’t vote on the measure.

"We have a duty to show leadership, shape public opinion and defend our democracy, not just remain silently on the sidelines while our country’s leader undermines our law enforcement and jeopardizes the very foundation of our country,” Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, said in a statement Tuesday. Read more.

Gov. Tim Walz will attend a Limb Loss and Limb Difference Day event on Wednesday, and he'll meet with legislative leaders and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.

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At 9:30 a.m., Attorney General Ellison will join lawmakers and faith leaders at the Capitol to rally for the "Medical Debt Reset Act," which would appropriate $5 million to buy and forgive medical debt of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans, according to a news release.

Iron Range GOP state Reps. Spencer Igo and Cal Warwas will hold a news conference at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the "Minnesota Miners Relief Act," which extends unemployment insurance benefits for steelworkers and their families who were affected by layoffs at Hibbing Taconite Co. and Minorca Mine.