Trump moves on budget, policy cast shadow over Minnesota Legislature
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The Minnesota Capitol is humming on the President’s Day holiday, which is fitting because President Donald Trump is casting a shadow over discussions in St. Paul.
Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the Senate, are alarmed over the Trump administration’s intent to dramatically cut the federal budget given that many state programs rely on aid from Washington. While Republicans, who hold a temporary majority in the House, are bringing bills to committees that mirror Trump’s priorities.
A group of hundreds that oppose virtually all that Trump is doing held a protest at the Capitol Monday as part of a national movement. Another protest is planned for Tuesday.
In other words, Trump’s presence is being felt in the seat of Minnesota’s government.
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“A chaos agenda that is coming from D.C. could serve as a wrecking ball to the stability of our state’s budget and to family budgets across the state of Minnesota,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said last week.
Minnesota leaders are worried about the loss of billions of dollars in aid used to run public schools, health programs, agriculture inspections and more.
As the Trump team digs through federal spending, his designated funding cutter is Elon Musk. He’s heading up a unit known as the Department of Government Efficiency even though it isn’t a congressionally established agency in Washington. Musk has alleged rampant fraud and kickbacks, sometimes without presenting concrete evidence.
But a new state-level committee focused on rooting out and preventing fraud has also begun its work in the Minnesota House. Minnesota has had its share of headline-grabbing fraud problems in recent years. Republicans have control of the newly created committee and will keep it no matter what happens in a March 11 special election that could bring the House back to a party tie.
The committee is seen as something of a Minnesota version of the DOGE at the federal level.
Both efforts are designed to put a symbolic and strategic emphasis on examining instances of fraud and possible waste.
While the GOP has stressed the waste fraud and abuse issue the most, it is one area where there could be bipartisan work this year.
Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, and Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blaine, jointly presented their bill last week that would establish an Office of Inspector General that would work outside the purview of the executive branch. A similar version is moving in the House.
Some lawmakers, however, have voiced concerns about it overlapping in duty with the Office of Legislative Auditor. Still, proposals introduced by members of both parties and Gov. Tim Walz should leave room for negotiation on some changes.
While Republicans have not spoken much about Trump in committees, Democrats regularly bring him up.
His name was evoked many times during a DFL Senate priorities press conference last week where they said Democrats will fight against rollbacks on the federal level that they think will hurt Minnesotans.
Minnesota gets more than $20 billion per year in federal appropriations, some of it direct to people but others routed through agencies. Not all of it is at risk, but there is uncertainty about what could be cut. Lawmakers must set a new budget this year and might have to plan for the contingency of lost aid.
And the changes to the federal tax code that Trump wants could also spill down. A Republican-sponsored bill would institute a no-tax-on-tips policy in Minnesota similar to what Trump campaigned on and is pledging to enact.
Minnesota wouldn’t be required to adopt it if the federal government does. Officials say they’re not sure how it would even work.
“There’s a lot of ways to define that,” Paul Marquart, revenue commissioner, told MPR News about the concept. “The concept looks good. But when you try to get the details of what’s the tip and what’s the actual wage or salary, that could be a problem to administer.”
Rep. Peggy Scott, R- Andover, has introduced legislation that would bar transgender girls from girls sports. The Minnesota State High School League has suggested it might not abide by a Trump executive order to do just that; a federal investigation into the MSHSL was initiated last week.
“Our end goal is for all women and girls to be protected and valued by Minnesota law. This bill is a significant step forward,” said Renee Carlson, of the conservative legal firm True North Legal.
There was also a contentious moment last week when Republicans on the House Higher Education and Finance Committee advanced a bill to prohibit individuals without proper immigration documentation from receiving benefits from state-funded benefits.
The immigrants the bill covers would be ineligible for MinnesotaCare and the North Star Promise scholarship.
“Following the last election and looking at our budget outlook in Minnesota, it’s important for us to look at the programs that are provided and see that in state policy today currently there are many people here in our state today illegally receiving public benefits,” said bill sponsor Rep. Isaac Schultz, R-Elmdale Township.
He estimated $86,000 from the scholarship program would not have gone out to those immigrants if the restriction had been in place.
Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega, DFL-St. Paul, called rhetoric at the hearing discriminatory.
“What’s happening in what we just heard in higher ed is taking away the dreams of the Dreamers that are now the parents of born citizens,” Perez-Vega said. “It’s very, very troubling and very disappointing to see that this is the legislation that is coming forth in these committees.”
That bill moved forward on a party-line vote. It heads to a health committee and could be headed to a floor vote in coming weeks.
The hundreds rallied outside the Capitol on Monday hoisted signs that said “Deport Elon” and “Impeach Trump.”
Nancy Steinke, of Wayzata, said she didn’t have a sign but had her father’s military jump boots slung over her shoulder.
“My dad's generation fought so hard for our freedoms in this country, and right now, I'm so worried about those freedoms being jeopardized,” Steinke said. “I have a darling grandchild and another one on the way, and I want to do whatever I can to ensure that they have the same future that I've been given because of what my dad fought for.”
Susan Thompson, a retired nurse from Minneapolis, carried an American flag hung upside down to display her frustration.
“I'm carrying my flag upside down because our country is in such distress, and this is my my statement of the day,” she said. Thompson said the event provided a sense of community but she worried that it would only be like “preaching to the choir.”
“The people that don't want to hear this just don't. And it’s tragic,” she said. “To willfully remain ignorant, because what is happening is not not a good thing, and it isn't about the price of eggs.”
MPR News politics reporter Dana Ferguson contributed to this story.
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