Daily Digest: Shutdown dominates news

Good morning, and welcome to a cold, cold Friday.  Here's the Digest.

1.  Housing is the next shutdown concern. Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday that his administration has begun exploring how the state could maintain housing subsidies for thousands of low-income residents with federal payments increasingly in doubt because of the partial government shutdown. Walz held a roundtable at a St. Paul apartment building where many of the residents receive rental subsidies through federal programs. There is growing concern about what could happen to those subsidies -- Section 8, disability grants and elderly rental assistance among them -- if the shutdown stretches on much longer. Vouchers and other assistance are covered through February but could lapse come March. It’s just the latest area where Minnesota might step in to cover functions normally handled by federal agencies. Walz said so far about $150 million from the state has been plugged in without assurances of reimbursement once the shutdown ends.  Officials are closely watching federal food nutrition programs, where continuing payments are weeks from becoming dicey. Minnesota recently helped 93 percent of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program enrollees access their February allowances, and Walz said steps are being taken to watch out for the remaining 7 percent. Walz, a DFLer and former congressman, said it’s unconscionable that people who depend on those subsidies could be in jeopardy amid the month-long shutdown prompted by a border security funding standoff. “You will never be able to convince me that holding these people hostage and terrorizing them over their housing has anything to do with the discussion” over a border wall, Walz said. “And I don’t care how valid that discussion is.” At least 90,000 people in Minnesota get some form of federal help with rent payments. (MPR News)

2. Chamber wants shutdown to end. Hours before the U.S. Senate rejected two proposals to end the partial government shutdown, Minnesota's largest business group urged the state's congressional delegation to come together to end the shutdown. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's 2,300 members employ half a million people throughout the state. President Doug Loon said it's a farce to think that having workers deemed "non-essential," and off the job is somehow inconsequential to the economy. "It clearly is a potential threat to the economy," Loon said. With the shutdown in its second month, Loon said lawmakers need to stop battling and start governing. "This is a great example of recognition of the role of government and being responsive to the private marketplace so that we can continue with our economic growth," Loon said. Asked whether the chamber blames one side or the other for the impasse, Loon said both sides need to recognize that it's time to commit to finding a comprise so government can be reopened. (MPR News)

3. Omar introduces bill to reimburse federal employees with child care expenses. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar proposed Thursday that federal employees working without pay during the government shutdown should have child care costs reimbursed by the federal government. “Nearly 800,000 federal employees ... are about to miss the second paycheck because of the president’s manufactured crisis,” the Minnesota Democrat said at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol. “Just because their paycheck stopped doesn’t mean the bills don’t keep piling up.” Omar said it wasn’t yet clear how much it would cost to reimburse child care costs for potentially hundreds of thousands of federal workers. She said she intends the reimbursements to be retroactive to the start of the shutdown, and that she thinks the costs should be covered even if the federal government reopens soon. She also briefly addressed the latest controversy brought on by her social media posts. It came after she deleted several tweets related to a confrontation last week near the Lincoln Memorial between a Native American activist and a group of Catholic high school students from Kentucky. “I feel sorry there has been blame and hurt,” Omar said. She said she was motivated by concern for Nathan Phillips, the Native American activist. “I wanted to hold him in a space in my heart, and have a conversation about what hate and discrimination look like in our country,” she said. (Star Tribune)

4. Gun bills introduced as opponents flood the Capitol. Democrats in the Minnesota Senate rolled out a series of gun control bills on Thursday to expand background checks and block potentially dangerous individuals from getting a gun. The proposals should look familiar to Minnesotans: they’ve been proposed before at the Capitol, where divided government and a strong gun lobby have thwarted efforts to change state gun laws. But some political dynamics have shifted at the Capitol, and Democrats say they like their chances this year. Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, introduced a proposal that would allow law enforcement and family members to seek a court order temporarily restricting a person’s access to guns when they pose a danger to themselves or others. These are often called “extreme risk” protection orders or “red flag” laws. He also introduced a bill that would extend criminal background checks to most private sales, gun show markets, and online transactions.  House Democrats introduced similar bills in the first week of session. Second Amendment groups are still adamantly opposed to these changes and had a lobbying day at the Capitol Thursday to try and push back on the effort. (MPR News)

5. Lawmakers propose opioid bill. Minnesota lawmakers say they will introduce bipartisan legislation that would dedicate $20 million a year to address the opioid overdose epidemic in the state. At least part of the money would be raised by increasing licensing fees on drug companies that manufacture or sell prescription opioid painkillers. Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, will carry the legislation in the state Senate and Rep. Liz Olson, DFL-Duluth, will sponsor it in the Minnesota House. Rosen was the author of a similar proposal last year that passed the Senate by a vote of 60-6. Its counterpart last session in the House didn't get a vote after strong opposition from drug companies and some business groups. The so-called "penny-a-pill" legislation introduced last year would have charged a fee on pharmaceutical companies for each prescription. This session's bill would not include the "penny-a-pill" provision, Rosen said. Instead, it would raise licensing fees on pharmaceutical companies that make or distribute opioids. Rosen said the licenses cost just $235 annually for each pharmaceutical company selling products in Minnesota. She doesn't know yet exactly how much she'll propose to increase the fees. (MPR News)

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