Travel, trooper and taxes
By Rochelle Olson
Good Tuesday morning. I’d like to think that some of you are astute enough readers that you’re surprised, perhaps feeling a frisson of joy, to find me here earlier in the week than my usual Friday arrival in your inboxes. But I’m not that delusional.
I was in the subterranean press room on Monday when a lobbyist wandered in, proud to have breached the security doors. “I made it in,” the lobbyist said before sitting down and explaining that they like talking reporters because some of them are “reasonably well-educated and not crazy.” High praise. Suffice to say we like chatting with lobbyists, too, especially another one who told me that the Capitol needs more sarcasm. I’m here to serve.
Pay for Uber/Lyft drivers bedeviled the denouement of the 2023 session and it’s back with a vengeance. Gov. Tim Walz is not happy with the 10 members of the Minneapolis City Council who jumped out on the issue and imperiled the service for the rest of us.
The governor commented on the situation after a budget news conference. He says he’d prefer a statewide solution to the pay issue, but isn’t hopeful given the Minneapolis vote and override of Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto. The governor also didn’t want to rely on blind hope that another service will fill the void if the rideshare services make good on a pledge to leave on May 1. “We’re willing to try and play a role in it,” the governor said. “But again, I’m just very frustrated because I view this as a utility that is needed and to lose this, I don’t think it’s a plan to think somebody might step in. That’s not really a plan.” Read our team coverage here.
Walz had called us to his reception area for his 2024 budget adjustments that included a new $45 million pilot project for child tax credit payment protection for Minnesota’s lower-income parents. Walz also included about $16 million for ambulance services, a sum immediately criticized as insufficient by GOP Sen. Andrew Lang of Olivia. Yes, the Republican wants more state money because it’s a crisis, he says.
After his brief budget presentation, he was pressed about Uber/Lyft and another issue encroaching from Hennepin County: The prosecution by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty of State Trooper Ryan Londregan in the death of Ricky Cobb II. The question is whether Walz will reassign the case to Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. I was with Walz and Ellison on Monday and the situation weighs heavily on both of them. Neither is eager to step in, but both concede the extraordinary option is being explored - again. Read the story by Kim Hyatt and moi. (Totally irrelevant aside: Kim and I share a birthdate if not a year. We’re both Scorpios so consider yourself warned.)
LEGISLATIVE ELECTION: Today’s the day for a special election to replace former Speaker Kurt Daudt, who should not be called a lobbyist under any circumstances or you will get an angry phone call from an aide-de-camp. Expect the Crown Republican’s seat to remain firmly in GOP hands.
