Legislators' immunity and MNsure's fate
Good morning. New State-of-the-State date is April 8.
Budget clash coming, Pat Condon and Ricardo Lopez report:
Minnesota's $1.9 billion projected budget surplus should be spent mostly on programs that benefit kids and families, Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday, setting up a clash with Republican lawmakers who want to return most of it to taxpayers.
Neither Dayton nor Lt. Gov. Tina Smith have any public events today.
Big day of committee hearings as we near first house deadline. For insiders, all eyes on House Gov. Ops at 10:15, where Speaker Daudt will press for a Legislative Budget Office to give the Legislature its own independent budget arm, like Congress has in D.C. (Where things were working really great, last time I checked.) Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk also favors. Dayton opposes.
Also at 10:15, in House Public Safety, Rep. Winkler's bill to clarify that legislators caught with a DWI during session can still be arrested and prosecuted, which caused a bit of a kerfuffle last year. Columnist Jon Tevlin wrote about this last year. RSB columnizes this year.
MNsure as a state agency instead of independent, in Senate Commerce at 2. In Senate Jobs, Ag and Rural Development, they'll hear a Sen. David Tomassoni bill: "Correctional facility butcher training pilot program establishment." (!)
Big agendas for both House Commerce and HHS Reform at 2:45.