Author: Christopher J. Valentino

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen speaks as supporters cheer behind him at an Apple Valley rally in May. Photo by Nicole Neri/minnesotadigest.com.Republican nominee for governor Scott Jensen wants to eliminate the state income tax, which would create a $15 billion hole in the state budget every year.  The income tax comprises a little more than half of state general fund revenue, which means eliminating it would require draconian cuts to programs like schools and Medical Assistance, or a steep increase in regressive levies like sales and property taxes — or some mix of both. The GOP nominee has not provided…

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the State Fair with Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Rep. Ilhan Omar. Photo by Baylor Spears/minnesotadigest.com. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg got appreciative shouts at the State Fair’s opening day Thursday, before making an idiosyncratic fair food choice that may foretell a battleground state in the upcoming midterm elections: fried Ohio buckeyes. Fairgoers circled around Buttigieg and his hosts — Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Rep. Ilhan Omar — grabbing selfies, shaking his hands and giving their thanks.  One fairgoer — who stopped in front of the group as they walked —…

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack talks international trade at a Woodward farm on Aug. 18, 2022. Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch.The U.S. Department of Agriculture will distribute up to $550 million to expand certain farmers’ access to land, money and markets and to create educational opportunities for the students of higher-education institutions that cater to racial and ethnic minorities. “The idea here obviously is to enlarge the number of people that are engaged in this very important occupation and calling,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Wednesday during a call with reporters. “Why? Because we have an…

Renters and activists urged the St. Paul City Council not to exempt affordable housing from the city’s rent control policy during a public hearing on Aug. 24, 2022. Photo by Max Nesterak/minnesotadigest.com. Renters, activists and developers rehashed the heated debate over St. Paul’s rent control ordinance during more than two hours of public testimony in a packed City Council meeting on Wednesday. On one side are developers, landlords and union construction workers who called on city leaders to exempt new construction, saying the ordinance that took effect four months ago has scared off investors and will exacerbate the city’s shortage…

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to testify at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday, June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. The committee is examining efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic while putting people back to work and kids back in school. Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images. WASHINGTON — Anthony Fauci, one of the federal government’s leading public health figures, announced Monday he’ll be leaving his post in December, though he made clear he’s not retiring.  The 81-year-old doctor who runs the National Institute of…

Kristal Dailey looks at a court document from Jefferson Capital Systems’ case against her. Photo by Nick Hagen for ProPublica.This story was originally published by ProPublica. Last November, Kristal Dailey looked at her weekly paycheck and realized about $150 was missing, a quarter of her take-home earnings from a factory just outside Detroit, where she makes just over $18 an hour. “I’m like, ‘What the heck is this from?’” she said. Dailey immediately reached out to her company’s human resources department. That’s when embarrassment and then anger replaced her initial shock. Her check, she learned, was being garnished over a…

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for Pell Grant borrowers and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers with an income of less than $125,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a household. Biden also announced his administration is extending a pause on student loan repayments until Dec. 31. The decision comes one week before the expiration of a pause of student loan repayments put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite numerous reports in recent weeks that Biden would…

A poll worker at Martin Luther King Center in St. Paul on Election Day 2020. Photo by Nicole Neri/minnesotadigest.com.This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Read part 1, “Who does what?” Part 2, “Who can vote in Minnesota?” Part 3: “How and why polling places are computerized.” Part 4: “How absentee voting works.”  Part 5: “Reconciliation.” Election officials do their best to get results out on election night or the next morning, but always with a note that they are unofficial. Perhaps preliminary would be a better word than unofficial.  These results do come from an official source, unlike news reports of…

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen speaks as supporters cheer behind him at a rally at an Apple Valley Cowboy JackÕs Wednesday, May 4, 2022Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen on Tuesday said his past comparison of COVID-19 public health policies to Nazism was “legitimate.” Back in April, Jensen said the steps taken to curb COVID-19 spread were comparable to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, citing Kristallnacht — two nights in November when violent mobs destroyed synagogues, businesses and homes. Likening COVID-19 policies to a repeat of Nazism were justifiable, Jensen said in a video posted to his campaign Facebook page on…

Getty Images. Minnesota crisis pregnancy centers target low-income people and provide misleading information about abortion and contraception, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison. Ellison on Tuesday issued a consumer alert for Minnesotans warning that crisis pregnancy centers tout comprehensive health care but actually push pregnant people away from abortion — often through deceiving messaging and methods. Minnesota has 90 crisis pregnancy centers, far outnumbering the state’s eight abortion clinics, according to a report by The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights & Gender Equality. “As Minnesota’s chief consumer advocate and legal officer, I want to alert Minnesotans that crisis pregnancy…