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Working for a budget

Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders were reportedly working all weekend to come up with a budget plan for the state that could be approved at a special session the governor called that started Monday. We’re not sure how they were doing because of the closed door negotiations, but we suppose a lot of the wheeling and dealing was more about policy matters than budgets. Republicans are still annoyed with the governor’s use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, an issue that will come up again today. The governor needs legislative approval every 30 days to extend the ...

Getting good data from surveys

The Marshall City Council on Tuesday voted to pay the consulting firm Baker Tilly $21,500 to conduct a phone survey targeting residents to collect feedback of potential projects such as upgrading or replacing the Aquatic Center. Surveys are typically used by government entities before making a decision on major projects — especially expensive projects that require increased taxes. School districts will use surveys to help bolster their argument for voters to pass referendums on building new school buildings. Surveys are helpful to make decisions, but are no way always 100% accurate ...

Keystone canceled; is Enbridge next?

Those protestors who are trying to stop the Enbridge Energy Pipeline 3 replacement may be taking some reassurance from the cancellation, once and for all, of the Keystone XL project. The sponsor of the Keystone XL project, which would have built a pipeline to carry crude oil from the oil sands of western Canada to Nebraska, have decided to pull the plug on the project. President Joe Biden had canceled the permit for the project after taking office, heeding the calls of conservationists that it posed dangers to the environment and would promote the burning of more fossil fuels. ...

Stick to legislating

Ironically, there has been a Minnesota Historical Society since before there was a Minnesota. The MHS was established in 1849 by an act of the Minnesota Territory’s legislature, while the State of Minnesota was officially established in 1858. For more than 50 years, the MHS has overseen many of the state’s major historical sites, from Fort Snelling right down to the Harkin Store here in West Newton. They have been doing a good job of it, too. Now, however, Republicans in the Minnesota Senate want the state to take over the management of the historic sites. Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, ...

‘Do not come’

Vice president Kamala Harris, on her first international trip to Guatemala, espoused the Biden administration’s immigration policy. After meeting with the Guatemalan president, she said during a press conference the goal of the U.S. is to help improve the lives of Guatemalans, to give them “hope at home.” For those who have been looking to the U.S. for hope and trekking to the border, she said, “Do not come. Do not come.” Promises of task forces to end government corruption, and to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling offer little comfort to the people whose lives have ...

Still waiting for a state budget

June is a week old, and that’s one week closer to the end of the state’s fiscal year. State leaders still have yet to come up with a state budget plan that would avert a government shutdown on July 1, but there is still hope. Negotiations continue and there is still time to get a deal worked out before the June 14 special session of the Legislature that Gov. Tim Walz is going to call to extend the COVID-19 emergency powers. This issue has been a sticking point for Republicans for a year. They have been demanding the governor relinquish his emergency powers and consult with ...