By Rich Larson, News Director
During their meeting last night, the Northfield City Council passed a resolution to end the Local Pandemic Emergency order effective at 11:59pm on
May 28th. Ending the local order means boards, commissions and the City Council itself will be able to meet in person beginning on May 29th.
Before considering the resolution, the council heard a presentation from Northfield Police Chief Mark Elliott who detailed the Covid-19 situation in Rice County. The Chief reported that currently 70% of county residents ages 50-64 have received at least one vaccine dose, while 96.6% of residents over 65 have received at least one dose.
The Council discussed the logistics issues of meeting in the Council Chamber. Distance requirements will still be in place when the in-person meetings resume. Last month the council authorized technological upgrades for the Council Chambers that will allow for the public to participate in meetings remotely. However, City Administrator Martig said one key piece of hardware is on back order and might not be available until July.
Prior to the vote, Councilor Suzie Nakasian said she hoped the city would publicly remind the citizens that while things are opening up, the Covid-19 virus is still out there.
“I’d like the city to consider some kind of a statement along with this, perhaps using the slides that the Chief was good enough to share with us. [We need to] encourage people to remember that just because the masks are off, the pandemic is still with us. Very much so.”
The vote to rescind the emergency order passed unanimously. The first in person City Council meeting in more than 14 months will be Tuesday, June 1 at 6pm.
Lippert says budget deal is a ‘sign of hope’
The State legislative leaders on Monday made the unexpected announcement that they had come to an agreement on basic budget targets for the coming biennium. The expectation is that now, with those agreements in place, legislative conference committees can work out the details on the various sections of the budget on which the full body of the legislature will vote during a special session.
Representative Todd Lippert said he started hearing that some breakthroughs were being made in negotiations on Sunday night, and was very pleased with the outcomes that were agreed to.
Lippert has said in the past that he sees a budget as a moral document that reflects the values of a state and the people who live there. This budget he said, focuses on helping the state to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, and gives aid to schools and students, as well as small businesses. The first key agreement in the deal is tax relief for the recipients of federal PPP loans that allowed small businesses to continue to operate without laying off workers, and for those that received unemployment benefit payments during the pandemic. The federal government did not tax these funds, and this agreement brings the state in line with the intent of those programs.
Representative Lippert also said he was very happy with the increase in education funding, noting that the governor is immediately allocating approximately $80 million to summer learning programs. He was also excited to see a measure that he authored establishing a new rate framework for Personal Care Assistants included in the Health and Human Services agreement.
Finally, he said this agreement should show everybody that we need to maintain our faith in government.
“Well, I think Minnesotans expect government to function, and I think we don’t always trust that it will, but we expect that it will and that it should. And, so, we’re the only divided legislature in the country. And the fact that we have two parties who have very different visions for our state, but or leaders were able to come to an agreement, and we will be hammering that out, I think that’s a hopeful sign for Minnesota, a hopeful sign for our nation right now. So, we should celebrate that. And know that legislators will be working very, very hard to try to get the best deal and the best outcome for us as we go through these next few weeks.”
The conference committees will continue to work through the end of the month and into the first week of June if necessary. Governor Tim Walz is expected to call a special session on June 14.
Draheim says ‘social cost’ of legal marijuana is too much
One measure that did not make it past the legislature before they adjourned on Monday afternoon, was a bill to legalize adult use of marijuana and to
expunge the records of those convicted of a cannabis related crime.
The bill did pass through the DFL controlled House of Representatives, however the GOP controlled Senate never took it up. Calling it a “big issue,” State Senator Rich Draheim said he has some misgivings about legalization.
His first concern is that there is currently no reliable technology to test whether a driver is under the influence of marijuana that can be administered by law enforcement during a traffic stop. Until a test is approved and proven to work in court, he said will not support legalization.
The other concern he has is in capturing tax revenue from the sale of cannabis. Currently, the Senator said, federally insured banks are not allowed to accept money collected through the sale of any cannabis related product, including hemp. He said until the federal government de-regulates cannabis, he doesn’t know how the state could collect taxes on the sale.
He also pointed to some hypocrisy that he sees among those pushing legalization.
“I just think it’s funny, the same people that have been pushing the 21 age [to buy] tobacco, now want to legalize marijuana. We spend millions of dollars every year trying to fight people from smoking, and now we’re going to legalize another form of smoking.”
Senator Draheim said even as his Libertarian nature would like to see less state regulation and allow people their personal freedoms, what he called the “social costs” of legalization are more than he can support.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Senator Rich Draheim can be heard here
