Good morning. The Capitol went to the puppies yesterday. Even grizzled Peter Cox was a softy around the little furballs.

Democratic reaction to Kristi Noem’s ouster as secretary was piercing and the Republican reaction was harder to find. Many Minnesota DFL elected officials contained the “good riddance” tone of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. There were others who said it won’t undo the damage they blame Noem for causing during the Trump administration’s immigration campaign. “It really does show the power of ordinary Minnesotans when they stand up to the kind of heartless and unconstitutional and lawful activity we saw from the federal government,” said Minnesota House Democratic Leader Zack Stephenson. Some Republicans privately were relieved Noem had been replaced. Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz says he believes President Donald Trump made a sound decision. “We want to see immigration enforcement be more effective and done better and protecting people's constitutional rights,” he told our Peter Cox. “And I believe that the best ability for the president to execute his mission is if we do this work better. And I think that that's what the president is committed to.”

In the course of offering her reaction, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar revealed that a top Trump administration official called her this week to contradict Noem’s testimony in the Senate. Klobuchar told All Things Considered host Clay Masters that Noem got the number of immigration agents still in the state wrong. Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee that upwards of 650 remained in Minnesota from the recent surge. But Klobuchar said Tom Homan, the White House border czar, called her to say the number was way off and was closer to 180. Klobuchar said Homan “has been straightforward with me and others.” 

For the second time this week, a vote to give Congress more say in a decision to go to war was again rejected by a Republican-led chamber. The U.S. House turned back a war powers resolution Thursday by a 219 to 212 vote. It would have constrained President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran without congressional approval. The U.S. Senate rejected a similar vote by a similarly narrow vote of 47 to 53.The voting mostly fell along party lines, with some exceptions on both sides. Over the weekend six American military members were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait, including Sgt. First Class Nicole Amor of White Bear Lake.

 

Politics Friday has a lot to cover this week. Brian Bakst and guests will talk about the debate building at the Capitol over taxes — whether to cut them and, if so, how. There is also a push to blunt some property tax increases. Later, we’ll get a rundown from Dana Ferguson on her reporting from Washington on another week that had a Minnesota tinge. Tune in at noon or check out the podcast later.

 

Lawmakers heard plenty this week from county organizations who are looking for some legislative help in curbing rising property taxes. In a year where Minnesota property owners are seeing some of the highest local government tax hikes in decades, some county leaders are pushing for more help from the state in paying for costs passed down by federal changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs, and more funding for state-mandated county programs. That call clearly has been heard by two members of the Minnesota House: GOP Rep. Greg Davids and DFL Rep. Matt Norris, who wrote similar bills that would create a task force to give recommendations to the Legislature on rising property taxes. The two agreed to talk about working together on a task force during a House tax committee hearing Thursday.

The parents of a child killed in the Annunciation Catholic Church and School say they have had both productive and difficult meetings with state legislators in the six months since the tragedy. Harper Moyski’s parents — Mike Moyski and Jackie Flavin — have been in offices or invited lawmakers to the couch in their living room for conversations about the ways and the need to keep kids safe. They describe the meetings — 22 in total — as emotionally draining. At one point, they met with four lawmakers in a single day. Flavin told MPR’s Nina Moini that she sometimes felt the urge to scream after a meeting, but knew the discussions were making a difference. “I would look them in the eyes, and I wanted them to feel our humanity, and I wanted to see their humanity, and I feel like I did that.” Nina and producer Aleesa Kuznetsov write about a legislative hearing where the Moyski’s testified about gun legislation, “Ahead of that hearing, the Moyskis met with a member of the committee who told them they would be disappointed with the vote and that what they’ve experienced is ‘nothing new.’” Flavin was furious, “and man do I turn into a bear when you tell me that the hundreds of families in my community struggling right now with the aftermath of gun violence like this, is ‘nothing new?’” The bills failed on tie votes. But the Moyski parents say, while they’re taking advantage of the momentum this legislative session they view their work as a long game.

The longest-serving member of Minnesota's congressional delegation says she'll seek another term this fall. U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum sat down with Dana this week and said she'll pursue a 14th term in the U.S. House of Representatives after her family and constituents encouraged her to run again. She was first elected in 2000 and represents St.Paul, along with Ramsey County and parts of Washington County. McCollum said it's important to have someone with institutional memory who is willing to speak up in the seat. “I have people coming up and hugging me at Target or the coffee shop and I've never had this happening before. They’re saying, ‘you can't retire,’” McCollum said. "If the voters return me, I'm ready to do the job again for another two years and give it every ounce of strength and determination I have to put our country back on the right track." McCollum is the top Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Democrat Aswar Rahman is also running as a Democrat and Republican Paul Wikstrom is vying for the seat.

Some are pushing for a statewide study on the impacts of the federal immigration operation in Minnesota. Sen. Lindsey Port's bill advanced through its first Senate committee. The Burnsville DFLer says data is needed to back up anecdotal accounts of business closures and decreased school enrollment. "We must prepare for the long term impacts of this administration's policy decisions on our key industries, and we can only do that if we know how this operation affected us,” she said. Port also says similar studies have been done focusing on the Twin Cities area but she wants to see the same approach for the whole state. Opponents of the bill include Sen. Calvin Bahr, R-East Bethel, who says the problem is a matter of federal versus state jurisdiction. He’s doubtful a study would address that. Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, said any study would have to account for an organized economic blackout in January, where businesses shut down in large numbers to make a statement. “What that means to me is that they don't want economic activity,” he said, “And they want to end economic economic activity for that particular day.”