Good morning. Once again we reach a deadline. The last and most important one is about a month out.

The U.S. Senate voted to overturn a mining ban near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. In a 50-49 vote, the Senate overturned a 20-year ban on mining in an area right around the BWCA. MPR News reporter Dan Kraker reports that the vote lays the groundwork for Twin Metals to renew its push to open an underground copper mine near Ely. The measure passed on a mostly party line vote, with both Minnesota Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, both Democrats, voting against it. Smith spoke for hours on the Senate floor against the bill Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Two Republican senators broke ranks, voting against the bill: Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Kraker reports that mining supporters believe there are rich deposits for copper and nickel beneath the forests in Northeastern Minnesota, which they think could start a second mining boom in the area. The measure was brought forward in the House by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican who called the vote a “major victory for America and Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. Mining is our past, our present, and our future — and the future looks bright!" A House version of the resolution was approved earlier this year. It is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump, who has shown previous support for lifting the ban.

Top legislative leaders and the governor met for the first time yesterday to lay the groundwork on top priorities. Emerging from that meeting, the leaders of the tied House of Representatives and narrowly split Senate agreed stabilizing funding for the HCMC safety net hospital, a public construction finance projects bill and anti-fraud measures are top issues they hope to tackle in the final month of session. Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth and House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson spoke to reporters together and said they felt hopeful about the path to May 18. “The fact that all parties at the table talked about the importance of those three things, I think, leaves me feeling very hopeful about where we're headed in session,” Stephenson said. Demuth noted the budget that lawmakers passed through the tied House last year. And she said leaders learned from that experience. “You saw that we really focused heavily on what could be agreed upon. That's how we got the budget and all of the work done last year,” Demuth said. “I would think that you could expect the same this year too. We're in a tied House, divided government. We have to be able to agree and so those are going to be our areas of focus.” Unique this year, and creating some question marks for committee leaders as they close out the third deadline today, is a lack of committee targets. Because it’s not a budget year, leaders aren’t telling committees how much they have to spend. Instead, they’re suggesting lawmakers look for the proverbial couch cushions for change they can put toward their spending priorities.

In the Senate, where Democrats hold a one-vote edge, Majority Leader Erin Murphy says the Senate is gonna Senate. She told reporters her caucus will use its majority to advance bills dealing with firearm regulations and a response to the federal immigration enforcement surge, issues that have been top concerns for Democrats all year. "I think there are a couple of issues that are very important to us as Democrats, one on gun violence prevention, and another, our response to (Operation) Metro Surge that I don't believe are necessarily shared" with Republicans,” Murphy said. “We will test that when we bring those issues to the floor." Those bills could struggle to pass in the House or could become subject of end-of-session negotiations. 

It's big bill season at the Capitol! The Senate jobs committee advanced a bill this week that would appropriate $100 million from the Minnesota Forward Fund to a state business recovery loan program and to look at the economic impact of the long-term ICE enforcement operation in the state. Of that, $18 million of that would go to a program for loans in greater Minnesota. The other $83 million would be for loans in the seven county metro area, administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development, to support businesses impacted by increased immigration enforcement. Up to 60 percent of the money loaned to a business could be forgiven after 24 consecutive, on-time payments. Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, has concerns about using the Forward Fund, which is focused on getting private investment in the state. “We're taking away the very tool that we're using to help attract — one of the few tools we have to attract — private investment,” Pratt said. Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, responded, “This is one of those times where, my good friend, that you're very wrong. You're not just sort of wrong, you're very wrong,” Champion said. The two argued over the bill, which ended up passing through the DFL-led committee. A similar proposal was  raised as an amendment to a House workforce development budget bill yesterday, but it stalled on a tied vote. At least one Republican member of the committee has suggested there is need for relief to small businesses stemming from Operation Metro Surge. But he also suggested broader relief from state requirements he views as overly burdensome. Keep an eye on potential agreement on that (or lack thereof) in end-of-session deals.

A big bipartisan bill to tackle fraud is moving forward, but there’s a lot for the parties to still hammer out. Among other things, the bill expands the legal definition of fraud and enhances penalties. It also provides funding to the Attorney General's Office to hire more Medicaid fraud investigators, but it supplies guaranteed money for only one year. DFL Rep. Matt Norris said one year of funding could be functionally the same as no funding, because hiring for those positions will be near impossible. "I don't know a lot of high-quality investigators and attorneys who are looking for a one-year temporary gig," Norris said. Republican Rep. Steve Gander said he sees the need for more investigators, but he’s not ready to put up the money. "I heard from several of my constituents who have lost faith in our current attorney general, and I was chastised pretty strongly for any additional funding to this attorney general's office," Gander said. Further negotiations are expected.

Credit where credit is due. We had a pithy quote about a bill that would create a homestead tax task force in this newsletter yesterday and misattributed it. Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, sponsors that bill and is the one who told his colleagues it’s not “navel gazing or noodling about the question of property taxes.”