Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Rep. Craig's Legislative Olive Branch to Trump
Having just easily defeated her Republican challenger in Minnesota's purple Second Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig is using her mandate to... act even more like a Republican.
"Lawmakers Reject Bill That Would Let Trump Destroy Nonprofits," screams an Intercept headline about the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which was narrowly rejected Tuesday in the U.S. House. Among the 52 Democrats who voted yea: Craig, the only DFLer to do so. The bonkers bill would've granted the Treasury secretary power to label any nonprofit group as sympathetic to terrorism; if the group had failed to appeal, it would've been stripped of its 501(c)(3) status. Trump's likely pick to lead the Treasury? MAGA Wall Street guy Scott Bessent, a "nice-looking guy" (Trump's words) who has "many fans in Trumpworld," per Axios.
“All of us support stopping terrorism,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said after the vote. “[But] if he is on a march to make America fascist, we do not need to supply Donald Trump with any additional weapons to accomplish his ill purpose." It is, of course, already illegal for nonprofits (or any groups) to aid terrorism, which led many lawmakers (but not Craig) and 130+ nonprofits to decry H.R. 9495 as an authoritarian cudgel Trump could've wielded against his tax-exempt enemies—news outlets, universities, advocacy orgs, etc. Concludes Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel with the ACLU:
The freedom to dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, and now is not the time to grant the executive branch new powers to investigate and functionally shut down and silence its critics. Tonight enough members of the House voted to block giving the executive branch new broad and easily abused powers. This is only the first such battle we expect to see in the coming years, and we will continue to remain vigilant in working to ensure that the authority of the executive branch is appropriately limited.
Always a centrist, Craig pivoted further right during her most recent election against Joe Teirab. “At times I watched her ads and asked, ‘Wait a minute, is she a MAGA candidate?’” Steven Schier, professor emeritus of poli-sci at Carleton College, told MinnPost this week. Great Q, professor! We asked Craig's team if the congresswoman would like to defend her H.R. 9495 vote, but didn't immediately hear back.
Aaaand We've Got a Labor Standards Board
RIP restaurants: The Minneapolis City Council just voted 9-3 to create a labor standards board.
Are you tired of reading about this? We're tired of writing about it! As a reminder, this is an advisory board that has no policy-making abilities, but which will make recommendations to the City Council. Wedge Live! has a great thread here about the two years it took for the labor standards board to come together, today's vote, and the "confusing amount of attention and anger" it's generated.
This probably isn't the last you'll hear of it, either; it's possible that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey will veto the plan. As it stands now, just three of the board’s 15 seats will be appointed by the mayor, but Frey's office has said he would support a board with "a 50/50 split between employers and employees, a 50/50 split between mayoral and council appointments to the board, and a requirement that at least 2/3 of the board members support a recommended policy before it can advance to the City Council, rather than a simple majority," according to Deena Winter at the Star Tribune.
Meatpackers On Hook for $2M in Child Labor Violations
Kids as young as 14 were working under dangerous conditions late at night at a St. James meatpacking company, says the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. This afternoon, the Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp entered into a consent order agreeing to pay $2 million in administrative penalties—the largest settlement in the department’s history. (But if you think that sounds like a drop in the proverbial bucket of animal byproducts, you'd be correct—the company makes $26 billion per year.)
During a 2023 audit, DLI found that Smithfield had “employed at least 11 minor children between the ages of 14 and 17 during this time, three of whom began working for the company when they were 14 years old.” In some cases, kids were operating heavy machinery, working with hazardous substances, and—if you have ever worked at a deli you know this is a big no-no—using the meat grinders and slicers. There are also examples of minors working before school or after 11 p.m.
“[Smithfield] denies that we knowingly hired anyone under the age of 18 to work in our St. James facility,” a release from the company states, citing identity theft and faults in the federally operated E-Verify system as culprits. “We have not admitted liability as part of this settlement; however, in the interest of preventing the distraction of prolonged litigation, we have agreed to settle this matter.”
Chick-fil-A Mania Stirs Duluth Media Feeding Frenzy
You might not like its politics, but you really can't argue with Chick-fil-A's delicious chicken. (Taste-wise, at least—we're sure the animals are treated horrendously.) And it's hard to overstate how nuts the Northland is going for its first link in the 3,000-restaurant chain. Today 100+ cars lined up to try the Chick-fil-A at 1530 Miller Trunk Highway, the Duluth Monitor reports, an opening that received press attention from just about every news outlet in town. Audience reactions over on the WDIO Facebook page ranged from "Wouldn't eat at Bigot Palace if you paid me" to "Bring back Country Kitchen" to "My favorite part of a chicken is the nugget." The folks in this snaking line of cars likely subscribe to the latter sentiment.
