Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Emmer Bravely No-Shows in Virtual Monticello Town Hall
Last week, 300 residents of Minnesota's 6th Congressional District flooded the Monticello Community Center hoping to share their concerns about the Trump administration with U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, reports Monticello Times managing editor Lauren Flaum. There's just one problem: Emmer never showed.
GOP leaders have been advising lawmakers to avoid hosting in-person town halls, following a series of "explosive" gatherings over the last several weeks. From Tennessee to Kansas, Americans have been loudly expressing their displeasure over the firing of federal employees, cuts to research funding, the handling of the war in Ukraine and immigration, and all kinds of other issues falling under the umbrella of "the general dismantling of our democracy."
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-North Carolina), head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has urged Republican lawmakers to hold virtual town halls instead. And that's what this meeting with Emmer was intended to be: Members of Wright County Indivisible and Indivisible North Metro scheduled the February 26 town hall during a congressional recess so Emmer could attend, Flaum reports, and they had been able to share the invitation with his office.
"The message seems clear. He prefers not to face us to explain his support for the controversial actions being taken by President Trump’s administration and its appointees, especially billionaire and biggest donor Elon Musk," Wright County Indivisible Coordinator Sue Hedtke of Monticello tells Flaum.
The town hall proceeded as planned sans Emmer, with a panel reading 50 or so resident-submitted questions on everything from the role of Elon Musk and DOGE to health care to the economy to education to human rights.
Some other questions included: Why would you be considering and prioritizing Medicaid cuts that would hurt so many people over tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy? How will you prevent Trump from leaving NATO and abandoning Ukraine? Do you condemn DOGE and other unauthorized access to confidential government systems? What are you doing to assure that veterans’ benefits are not adversely affected by the current activities of the DOGE efforts?
Great questions, all of 'em. We're sure Emmer is busy in D.C. right this second getting answers for his constituents.
Get Ready to Go Broke For Trump’s Trade Tariffs
Remember inflation, that thing everyone was talking about during election season? Well get ready for another major price jump in the cost of living, as Trump is doing that tariff thing he promised on the campaign trail he’d do. Will this impact Minnesota? Oh, hell yeah. So far, Minneapolis-based Target Corp. has already started warning shoppers it'll start jacking up prices, since lots of the big-box retailer's produce hails from Mexico, which was slapped with a 25% tariff increase. Richfield-based Best Buy issued a similar warning, but who shops there anyway?
These tariffs could also mean no electricity from Canada. About 20% of Minnesota’s electricity is exported from outside the state, including a good chunk from Canada, which keeps the lights on for many folks living up north. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s ready to pull the plug on us. “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything—including cut off their energy with a smile on my face,” he told reporters earlier this week. “They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain.”
Many Minnesotans are already struggling to buy groceries; Jessie Van Berkel at the Star Tribune reports that, pre-pandemic, people took about 3.5 million trips annually to food shelves, but throughout 2024 that number more than doubled to about 9 million. With massive cuts to SNAP federal food programs expected this year, expect that number to spike.
MN House GOP Use Brief Majority to Float Bad Ideas
The Minnesota House is in a weird limbo right now, with Republicans holding a 67-66 majority, which will mostly likely end on St. Pat’s Day. That’s not enough votes to actually pass legislation, but the temporary majority can bring bills to the floor for discussion.
“We’re showing Minnesotans what we believe versus what the Democrats believe,” says Rep. Elliot Engen (R-White Bear Township). “Showing that juxtaposition is pretty telling.”
So, what are they telling us? Well, there’s the failed bill that would have banned trans girls and women from sports in the state. And they also aim to repeal paid family and medical leave, starting with a bill that would delay implementation by a year. But, as Peter Callaghan points out over at MinnPost, they might not even have the administrative skills to get any traction here...
Monday, the lead sponsor of the bill asked the House Ways and Means Committee for an amendment to make a technical fix. When the fix itself needed fixing, the committee’s Republicans decided to pass the bill to the floor anyway and try to fix it there. DFL members pointed out the odd procedure and noted that the hurried timing coincided with the pending return of the tie.
Just last week, 13 lawmakers from Minnesota sent a letter to Trump begging to avoid major cuts to Medicaid because, “This is contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and the vulnerable.” Right.
Hey, it Snowed!
It hasn't been the snowiest winter in Minnesota, as those of us who impulsively purchased cross country skis earlier in the year can tell you. Coming into March, most of the state has been looking at snow totals that are 1 or 2 feet below normal levels, according to MPR's Paul Huttner, and here in the Twin Cities, the past few days of 40+ degree temps have been more than enough to melt any lingering snow.
And then, between March 4 and 5, southern Minnesota got blasted with its biggest snowstorm of the season so far. MPR reports that Minneapolis was blanketed in a very respectable 8.6 inches, with St. Paul getting 7.7 inches and 7.4 inches reported at MSP Airport. Apple Valley, Owatonna, and Stillwater all got 11 inches, but it's Dennison that tops the totals, with a whopping 13 inches.
