Good morning. It’s going to be tough sledding to the end of this legislative session once lawmakers get back from their upcoming break. Might as well be a toboggan. 

The Legislature gets out of town today (most lawmakers are gone already) as thousands of people plan their Capitol arrival for tomorrow’s No Kings rally. Minnesota is serving as the anchor of the national rallies organized to push back on President Donald Trump. Gov. Tim Walz was on MS Now (formerly MSNBC) last night and said he plans to attend. He was a late add to the speakers list. Walz said Minnesota is the perfect place to attract national rally attention. “I think Minneapolis and Minnesota provided the template here for pushing back on this guy. And there's work to be done,” Walz told host Chris Hayes. Walz touted the council he just created to examine fallout from the immigration agent surge. He said he’s fearful that Trump is planning to put federal agents outside polling places in November. “I would be absolutely shocked if he is not already making plans. I mean, Democratic states are seeing this assault.” Nicole Ki went to a No Kings signmaking event this week to get a taste of what’s ahead. The placards at these rallies range from the funny to the edgy to the searing. Listen to or read her story for one that caught her attention. We’re just thankful Nicole doesn’t have a New England accent when saying it on air.

The final State of the State address by Gov. Tim Walz will happen about a month from now. Walz will address a joint session on Tuesday, April 28, at 7 p.m. It’s late in the session so it is unlikely to include many new initiatives. If the past is a guide, Walz will use the speech as a call-to-arms for a final session deal that all sides can live with even if they aren’t thrilled with the result. Walz pulled the plug on his reelection campaign, meaning he’s beginning the long farewell after two terms in office. 

One of the Republicans hoping to be at that House rostrum next year: Mike Lindell. The MyPillow founder and political provocator is among the contenders for the GOP nomination because he’s got a following among the Make America Great Again movement. Lindell joined Politics Friday from Texas, where he is addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference. Lindell describes himself as “all in” the race regardless of whether President Donald Trump opts to endorse someone else. Lindell said he has scooped up $1 million since joining the race in December. Listen to the interview at noon or catch the podcast later. We’ll post video, too.

After we got done with the formal interview, Lindell stayed on to say more. He voiced frustration with coverage or lack of it in the Minnesota media and talked about inviting Kid Rock, Rudy Giuliani and Brett Favre to upcoming campaign rallies. He said he held a two-hour event in Rochester the other night and “the people were on the edge of their seat.” He’s got an upcoming event with U.S. Senate candidate Royce White, whom Lindell said he’s endorsed and expects to get a reciprocal endorsement. Lindell is sour on Michele Tafoya as the potential GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, saying her prior stances on abortion are “going to be a big problem for her.” He said she could struggle to excite the MAGA base. “We need to get them to go out and vote, and you can't lose any of them,” Lindell said. We’ve invited Tafoya to come on Politics Friday and hope she’ll join us before the May state party convention.

 

A proposal repealing a law celebrating the late labor movement leader César Chavez awaits the governor’s signature after the Minnesota Senate unanimously approved it on Thursday. The move comes after the New York Times published a lengthy investigative story last week that included on-the-record accusations of rape and child sexual abuse by women who worked around Chavez in the farm worker rights movement. Chavez died in 1993. In Minnesota, as in other states, Chavez’s birthday, March 31, is honored in statute. Many governors in other states have opted to strike those celebrations in light of the reports of abuse. Gov. Tim Walz has said he would not issue a proclamation honoring Chavez this year and urged lawmakers to take formal action to undo the law. Minnesota lawmakers and community leaders sought swift action to change the law. Minnesota’s House passed the bill unanimously on Monday.

 

Minnesota lawmakers want to create a commission to study issues related to their security. Following the assassination of DFL Rep. Melissa Hortman and shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman in their homes, some lawmakers say more research needs to be done to assess possible threats. Law enforcement tracked an unprecedented number last year. DFL Sen. Bonnie Westlin says lawmaker security outside of the Capitol is a concern. “We are experiencing more and more threats across partisan lines, and those threats are occurring in district,” Westlin said. Some say the commission would duplicate an existing Capitol area security board. “If I'm receiving a threat, or if I know of a threat that's happening to me, I'm not going to rely on 12 members of the Legislature to protect me,” said Republican Sen. Warren Limmer, “I'm going to contact my local police.” The proposal was moved from a Senate Rules Committee to another committee for consideration. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL- St. Paul, said her caucus would also prioritize funding to keep new Capitol security measures and enhanced staffing in place in the future. “Every week, there's a member on either side of the aisle that is sharing that they've received some sort of threat,” Murphy said. “It is an obligation that I believe is one for all of us, but I feel a special responsibility there for the safety of our members.” She said she’s working with counsel to assess where comments on social media break from First Amendment-protected rights into an actionable threat.

Legislative leaders got together for dinner Wednesday for the first time since last year. DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said she came out of the informal get-together with a strong sense that they’re on the same page — at least about topline goals. She also didn’t mention if they locked in on Sweeney's deal for free specials for lawmakers who grab a meal with a colleague from the opposite party. “One thing that I felt good about leaving that dinner was that we're all committed to getting some work done for the people of Minnesota, but we did not go into specific issues,” Murphy told reporters yesterday. A public construction projects bill, anti-fraud package including creation of the Office of the Inspector General, new affordability bills and school safety measures have been common themes across parties and chambers. Those details will be the bulk of the work today as committees take up bills ahead of deadlines and when lawmakers return for the final stretch of the legislative session. 

Speaking of legislative leaders, a 2025 handshake deal to avoid “shenanigans” may be moot. Then House Ways and Means Co-Chair Zack Stephenson and Ways and Means Republican Co-Chair Paul Torkelson made a deal last year to avoid any antics as they sat down with legislative leaders to negotiate a two-year budget. But now that Stephenson has become House DFL leader, he's shifted out of the prior role. He said he’ll continue to uphold the commitment but current DFL Ways and Means Co-Chair Cedrick Frazier might not be subject to the same standard. Torkelson is in his final session before retirement and Frazier is running for Hennepin County attorney so they’re both in a short-term committee leadership partnership.