Good morning. One of the most famous — and shortest tenured —— Golden Gophers football coaches has died. 

A congressional hearing yesterday in Washington on fraud in Minnesota, which included testimony from both Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, was mostly filled with partisan jabs and little constructive dialogue. Walz was the target of a lot of criticism from Republican U.S. House members, who pointed the finger at him for human services fraud that has happened in the state. There were many heated back and forths between Walz and GOP lawmakers. Democrats on the committee used the hearing to highlight the way fraud was used as justification for a problematic immigration enforcement push in Minnesota. There were moments of constructive dialogue during the otherwise rancorous hearing. Texas Republican Pete Sessions said he's more interested in finding solutions to stamp out problems and prosecuting scammers. He told Walz: “I'd like to keep working with you, because we've got to stop this. And so I would welcome it if you put together a list that we can send to other governors and say, ‘Here's what we did,” to which Walz said: “That's fantastic."

Ellison said the state is still trying to get access to key evidence in its own investigation of the fatal shootings of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration agents. Ellison gave the update during the congressional hearing Wednesday. He said federal authorities have shut down the state’s use-of-force unit from both shooting investigations. Ellison was asked if the state could try to criminally charge agents without those materials: "I think theoretically it would be, it's possible, but I would think it would be imprudent until you see the federal file, because you know, when you're a prosecutor, you should know the whole file. You should have evaluated all the evidence before you make a charging decision or bring a matter to the grand jury.” Federal officials have given few updates and no timeline on their investigations.

How do you fuel yourself for a four-plus hour hearing? If you’re Tim Walz, you do the Dew (diet that is). He had an ample supply of his caffeinated drink of choice at the House hearing yesterday. Four cans were lined up next to a couple of bottles of water (not sure if those got touched). But Dana could see that Walz made his way through the soda supply. Walz had no bathroom breaks but still had some pep in his step when he was excused from the witness table after four hours, 22 minutes.

Minnesota county officials were at the Capitol yesterday, lobbying legislators to modernize the IT systems for human services and to give them some relief from increased costs from federal and state changes. The Association of Minnesota Counties had its day at the Capitol, urging lawmakers to help ease both administrative burdens of outdated computer technology and the financial burdens passed on by both the congressional legislation that Republicans call their “Big Beautiful Bill” and state-mandated programs, such as paid family leave requirements. Clay County Commissioner Jenny Mongeau says farmers in her county are already facing higher costs, as they’ve been hit with some of the highest property tax hikes in decades. "They are furious that we are seeing historic tax levy increases across the state, some as high as double digits. They're mad at us, and what we have to tell them is, we have cut deputies on the road. We've cut road projects to make way for these mandated programs,” she said. At the same time, the operating systems for human services programs for counties are several decades old, which complicates their administrative work. They’re asking for the state to fund an update to those systems.

Companies have been caught showing different online prices to different consumers, so some DFL lawmakers want to ban that practice in Minnesota. Yesterday, two bills were heard in committee that would prevent companies from using personal data like browsing history or financial circumstances to charge consumers differently or pay employees differently. Some testifiers and Republican representatives questioned how widespread the problem was. Rep. Erin Koegel, DFL-Spring Lake Park, sponsors one of the bills and brought her own example to the committee. Koegel said she had her staffer conduct a price experiment. He and his twin brother both ordered Ubers from their home to the Mall of America at the same time and one was consistently $9 more for no clear reason. “This is happening,” Koegel said. A KARE11 investigation from a few years ago also found Target customers in Minnesota were shown higher prices on the Target app if they were physically inside or nearby the store. A December Consumer Reports investigation found companies like Kroger, Target and Costco have used consumer data and artificial intelligence to determine the maximum price someone will pay, and then charge different people different prices through Instacart. No votes on the bills were taken and lawmakers agreed to keep working on them.

A measure is making its way through Senate committees to help Minnesotans struggling to pay rent. Some Minnesota legislators say the state is facing an eviction crisis after cuts to federal welfare programs and months of ICE operations. A bill would allocate $40 million to a one-time rental assistance program. At an initial hearing, some lawmakers spoke against the proposed legislation, including Republican Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa. "This bill simply redistributes wealth to illegal aliens, to people who decide not to work. Members, we already have a plethora of welfare programs,” he said. Bill sponsor Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, says it will help vulnerable Minnesotans experiencing housing instability that’s resulted from cuts to federal welfare programs and months of ICE operations. The bill passed to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

Introductory legislation on self-driving cars stalled in a House Transportation and Finance Policy Committee. Minnesota lawmakers heard from a long list of speakers and voted down the bill after an hour and a half hearing. The bill would have created the first rules for autonomous vehicles in Minnesota. Rep. Jon Koznick of Lakeville, who’s the bill sponsor, said it was unfortunate the bill didn’t get passed. He says autonomous vehicles could enhance road safety and provide better transportation for the elderly and disabled. Those who were opposed like Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, said the bill needed more guardrails for public safety. Legislators were also worried about self-driving cars putting rideshare drivers out of work. On Tuesday, Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, and Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, announced they would be proposing a temporary ban on self-driving car technology until studies are done on its impacts.

An elevator at the long-term temporary home for House legislators got stuck with two DFL lawmakers inside and produced a reality TV-style show concept. Reps. Rick Hansen and Peter Fischer were stuck for an hour in an elevator at the Centennial Office Building on Wednesday. In a post on X, Hansen thanked the St. Paul Fire Department for freeing them after their ordeal. House members have been working out of the more than 68-year-old Centennial Office Building while the new Minnesota State Office Building is under renovation, a project is set to be complete in the summer of 2027. Centennial has been marked for potential demolition soon, but that’s another story. Still, the incident prompted former state Rep. Pat Garofolo to respond online with an idea : “Trap 1 member of each party in an elevator with a hidden camera. Block cell signals and WiFi in the elevator. Give them a legislative issue to resolve. Don’t get released until they agree.”