In the Know

Minnesota DFL
March 18, 2016
188 days until people can begin to vote by no excuse absentee ballot, Sept. 23
244 days until Election Day, Nov. 8
 
Events today

• Gov. Dayton and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman will travel to Dearborn, Michigan to meet with Ford Motor Company executives about the future of the St. Paul Ford Plant site.
• 9:30 a.m. – Sen Franken’s staff will hold a meeting as part of the “Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour” in communities across the state to collect stories from older Minnesotans who have been hard hit by skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs. Rochester Senior Center, 121 N Broadway Ave, Rochester.
• 12:30 p.m. – Lt. Gov. Smith will convene a roundtable discussion about the Prairie Island rail grade crossing. Prairie Island Community Center, 1158 Island Blvd., Welch.
• 2 p.m. – Sen Franken’s staff will hold a meeting as part of the “Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour” in communities across the state to collect stories from older Minnesotans who have been hard hit by skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs. Mower County Seniors, Inc, 400 3rd Ave NE, Austin.
• 4 p.m. – Lt. Gov. Smith and Transportation Commissioner Zelle will participate in a transportation roundtable discussion hosted by the Greater Mankato Growth. Greater Mankato Growth Conference Room, 1961 Premier Drive, Suite 100, Sakatah Trail Room, Mankato.

 
Event Saturday

• 10:30 a.m. – Martin Olav Sabo memorial service, Central Lutheran Church, 333 S. 12th St., Minneapolis.

 
Mark your calendars

• March 21 – 9:30 a.m. – Sen Franken’s staff will hold a meeting as part of the “Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour” in communities across the state to collect stories from older Minnesotans who have been hard hit by skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs. Snell Motors, 900 Madison Ave., Mankato.
• March 21 – 2:30 p.m. – Sen Franken’s staff will hold a meeting as part of the “Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour” in communities across the state to collect stories from older Minnesotans who have been hard hit by skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs. Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services (Room 1020), 2200 23rd St NE, Willmar.
• March 24 – The DFL will host a VAN webinar training session at 3 p.m. The sign up form is foundhere. For more information contact Michael Crusinberry, date file manager, at.
• March 26 – The DFL African American Caucus will meet at 10 a.m. at the Pierre Bottineau Library, Minneapolis.
• March 29 – 9 a.m. – Sen Franken’s staff will hold a meeting as part of the “Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour” in communities across the state to collect stories from older Minnesotans who have been hard hit by skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs. Essentia Clinic, 4855 West Arrowhead Rd, Duluth.
• March 29 – 1:30 p.m. – Sen Franken’s staff will hold a meeting as part of the “Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour” in communities across the state to collect stories from older Minnesotans who have been hard hit by skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs. Senior Dining, 313 Elm Ave., Moose Lake.
• March 30 – Congressional District 2 DFL and the DFL Senior Caucus will host a “Day on the Hill.”8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Minnesota AFL-CIO.
• March 31 – The DFL will host a VAN webinar training session at 3 p.m. The sign up form is foundhere. For more information contact Michael Crusinberry, date file manager, at.
• April 30 – CD 2 DFL Convention, 10:30 a.m., Shakopee West Junior High School, 200 10th Ave. E, Shakopee.
• April 30 – CD 7 DFL Convention, 1 p.m., Courtyard Marriott Hotel, 1080 28th Ave. S, Moorhead.
• May 7 – CD 5 DFL Convention, 10:30 a.m., South High School, 3131 S 19th Ave., Minneapolis.
• May 7 – CD 8 DFL Convention, 10 a.m., Duluth Holiday Inn, 200 W 1st St., Duluth.
• May 14 – CD 1 DFL Convention, 1 p.m., Worthington Event Center, 1447 Prairie Dr., Worthington.
• May 14 – CD 3 DFL Convention, 10:30 a.m., Osseo Senior High School, 317 2nd Ave. NW, Osseo.
• May 21 – CD 6 DFL Convention, noon, St. Cloud Apollo High School, 1000 44th Ave. N, St. Cloud.
• May 22 – CD 4 DFL Convention, noon, Carpenters Union Hall, 700 Olive St., St. Paul.

 
Fundraisers

• April 10 – The Winona County DFL will host its 2016 Banquet at the Westfield Golf Club, 1460 W 5th St., Winona. Tickets, which include dinner (chicken, prime rib or vegetarian lasagna), speakers and a silent auction, are $50. Checks, made out to the Winona County DFL, can be sent to DFL, 685 West 5th St., Winona, MN 55987. Please indicate your dinner choice.

2016 election
President
A scoop from The New York Times‘ Maggie Haberman and Michael Shear, who report: “In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders is nearing the point where his campaign against Hillary Clinton will come to an end, and that the party must soon come together to back her. Mr. Obama acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton is perceived to have weaknesses as a candidate, and that some Democrats did not view her as authentic. But he played down the importance of authenticity, noting that President George W. Bush — whose record he ran aggressively against in 2008 — was once praised for his authenticity.” CNN

Ted Cruz is girding for an admittedly long, narrow path to clinching the GOP nomination before the GOP convention in July — or fighting it out on the floor in Cleveland. “It’s very difficult for us to get to 1,237 — we get that,” Cruz’s chief strategist, Jason Johnson, told reporters, “but we can get there — and we plan on getting there.” The Cruz camp will focus on states with caucuses or conventions, or closed primaries that don’t allow independents who tend to support Donald Trump to vote. CNN

2016 session
State Senate Republicans release session wish list, MPR
 
Arizona
New Arizona poll: Trump, Clinton lead but ample undecideds, Phoenix Business Journal
 
Broadband
Broadband demands rise in Minnesota, but who’ll pay the bill? MPR
 
California
The Republican race may come down to California. Here’s how that would look. Washington Post
 
Daudt, Kurt
Complaint alleges MN House Speaker violated ban on gifts from lobbyists, The UpTake
 
Economy
The Minnesota labor market remained tight in the fourth quarter of 2015, with state employers reporting more than 96,000 job vacancies, according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Vacancies were up 8.1 percent from the same period a year ago and were the most for a fourth quarter since the agency began tracking job vacancies in 2001. The record for quarterly vacancies was 115,072 in the second quarter of 2001. Statewide, the ratio of unemployed people to vacancies was 1 to 1 – the state’s lowest job vacancy ratio in nearly 15 years. A year earlier, there were 1.2 unemployed people for each vacancy. DEED
 
Education (E-12)
Overstretched school counselors would get state relief under new plan, MPR
 
GOP
GOP could pay heavy price for contesting Trump nomination, The Hill
White House: Trump happened because GOP has no ideas, The Hill
GOP operatives, conservative leaders meet to thwart Trump, Washington Post

Labor
Extension benefits still in conflict, Workday Minnesota
House passes Iron Range unemployment bill, MPR
How Sunday stopped being special for the American worker, Washington Post

 
Looking for America
About this series: What’s happening in America? What does it mean to be an American? These are questions defining a campaign unlike any other. For nearly 35 days, the Washington Post crossed the nation looking for answers. This is what reporters found.

The great unsettling, Washington Post
Longing for something lost, Washington Post
Awaiting a political awakening, Washington Post
A nation divided, Washington Post

• There is so much anger out there in America: “Anger at Wall Street. Anger at Muslims. Anger at trade deals. Anger at Washington. Anger at police shootings of young black men. Anger at President Obama. Anger at Republican obstructionists. Anger about political correctness. Anger about the role of big money in campaigns. Anger about the poisoned water of Flint. Anger about deportations. Anger about undocumented immigrants. Anger about a career that didn’t go as expected. Anger about a lost way of life. Mob anger at groups of protesters in their midst. Specific anger and undefined anger and even anger about anger.”
• This anger is the culmination of long-emerging trends in American life: “The decomposition of traditional institutions. The descent of politics into reality-TV entertainment. Demographic and economic shifts quickening the impulses of inclusion and exclusion and us vs. them. All of it leading to this moment of great unsettling, with the Republican Party unraveling, the Democrats barely keeping it together, and both moving farther away from each other by the week, reflecting the splintering not only of the body politic but of the national ideal.”
• But there is also hope and optimism: “For every disgruntled person out there who felt undone by the system and threatened by the way the country was changing, caught in the bind of stagnant wages or longing for an America of the past, we found someone who had endured decades of discrimination and hardship and yet still felt optimistic about the future and had no desire to go back. In this season of discontent, there were still as many expressions of hope as of fear. On a larger level, there were as many communities enjoying a sense of revival as there were fighting against deterioration and despair.”

 
Mining
Public hearings will start next phase of Polymet review, Star Tribune
 
Missouri
Hillary Clinton wins Missouri, securing a clean sweep of Tuesday’s primaries, Washington Post
 
National Sports Center
National Sports Center, Blaine ask state for $8.7 million to get bigger, better, Star Tribune
 
Primary
Minnesota considers switch from caucus to primary in 2020, Fox 9
 
Republican National Convention
Contested convention is looking more likely, says Speaker Ryan, The Hill
How Marco Rubio’s Minnesota supporters could shape the nominee, Pioneer Press

Republican anger over Trump’s comment that there would be “riots” if the GOP nomination is decided in a contested convention is spilling into the open. Kasich told ABC that “it’s complete outrageous” for Trump to talk of riots, adding: “You know, he’s not running for the presidency of WWE; he’s running for president of the United States.” Ryan weighed in, too, saying that “nobody should say such things in my opinion because to even address or hint at violence is unacceptable.” CNN

Soccer stadium
Minnesota United heads to Capitol for stadium tax breaks, Star Tribune
 
Transportation
Still miles apart, but transportation conference committee reconvenes, Workday Minnesota
Gov. Mark Dayton outlines transportation initiative, concedes pessimism, Star Tribune

Unemployment fund
Minnesota unemployment fund reaches solvency as politicians weigh refunds, Star Tribune

U.S. Supreme Court
Obama: Refusal to consider nominee damages public’s faith in the judiciary, MPR
 
University of Minnesota
House panel rejects U of M research projects, MPR

Vikings
Vikings submit 200 pages of plans for new headquarters in Eagan, Star Tribune

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