Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday proposed a plan to remake the way Minnesota provides Medicaid services that includes centralizing much of the work handled now by counties and the state’s managed health care organizations. The Minnesota Department of Human Services would take over determining eligibility for Medicaid programs, and the state would take the lead in modernizing what’s become “a bit of a Frankenstein monster,” Walz told reporters. The governor said the state’s Medicaid services had become increasingly difficult for counties to administer and police. But even before the announcement at the Capitol, Walz got some pushback from a key member of his own party, Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin. “I was disappointed to learn about this proposal just last night without a thorough conversation with the committee that has primary jurisdiction over Minnesota’s human services system,” Hoffman said. Republicans, too, were quick to pan the proposal. Rep. Paul Torkelson, GOP-Hanska, said the study and modernization might be good ideas, but the big changes to administration are not: "The term DOA (dead on arrival) comes to mind. I don't know if you noticed what Chair Hoffman had to say in the Senate, but this proposal, as described by the governor — it has no future as far as I can tell in the Minnesota state Legislature.” You can read more about the proposal and the reaction here.

Emergency rent relief proposals will come up for a Senate floor vote and House committee discussion today. The bills came forward after Minnesotans reported higher costs and, for some, fear getting to work during the enhanced federal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. Legislative sponsors propose sending money to Minnesota counties and tribal governments under an emergency relief measure that would redirect unused funds from a court settlement dealing with tax-forfeited lands. The state created a fund after the United States Supreme Court sided with a 94-year old Minneapolis woman who said her home was improperly seized because she owed taxes on it. The state fund was designated to compensate other people who lost property in similar circumstances. DFL lawmakers say the emergency funding is needed to stave off a wave of evictions while Republicans say they haven’t heard concerns from local governments about rent. House Speaker Lisa Demuth pumped the brakes on the bill’s prospects yesterday, saying her caucus would oppose it.

House Republicans are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to education funding debates. Yesterday they issued an ultimatum to Gov. Tim Walz, calling on him to accept a federal tax law change allowing taxpayers to redirect up to $1,700 in tax liability to scholarship granting organizations. Those nonprofits could then issue money to private or public schools, including private school tuition scholarships. "Unless the governor is willing to opt in, I'm not willing to work with him on any of his budget items, which would be special ed, compensatory and all the funding things," said Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, co-chair of the House Education Finance Committee. Republicans and advocates for options allowing families to choose where their kids enroll in school voiced support for the bill, while some Democrats, teachers and Minnesota Department of Education officials said it could incent enrollment in private schools over public schools, which lawmakers have the responsibility to keep up and running. Any proposal needs bipartisan support to pass through the narrowly-split Legislature. The House Education Finance Committee held an at times fiery hearing on the proposal yesterday but ultimately didn’t act on the bill. Kresha said it would come up for a committee vote later.

Elected officials, immigration lawyers, nonprofit and business leaders and members of the public held a marathon forum about the impact of federal immigration activity in Minnesota. Milissa Silva, a first-generation Mexican American, shared how her family business in St. Paul has been negatively impacted by ICE activity. Silva said this winter employees stopped coming to work, they had to cut business hours and restrict entrances for safety and they started a grocery delivery program. She also witnessed a longtime customer arrested outside her store. "My manager and I ran out and watched in shock and feeling helpless as Jose was quickly taken away by multiple agents. It was the kind of response you would expect for a dangerous criminal, not for someone we knew as a quiet, hard-working member of our community that had been here for decades," she said. Organizers said the forum aimed to preserve evidence of the impact of the immigration surge in Minnesota and push for accountability for any civil rights violations that may have been committed by federal agents.

A bill meant to restrict immigration agents from entering schools, homes and shelters in Minnesota stalled in committee. During the surge of immigration agents in Minnesota, federal officers broke down doors to make arrests without judicial warrants. DFL legislators put forth bills in the House and Senate to ban that practice and protect sensitive spaces like homes, schools and shelters. The effort faced blowback from Republicans on a tied House committee. "This would provide more protection against federal law enforcement than we currently enjoy against vandals and thieves. You're trespassing just by doing your job," said Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, at a bill hearing in the House Judiciary Committee yesterday. Committee Co-Chair Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, called Hudson’s argument “mind boggling.” Liebling said the bill would simply codify constitutional rights that were originally written to protect people from government overreach. But the proposal came up short on a tied vote.

Agreement has been hard to come by in the tied House but signs of cooperation have been cropping up. Reps. Peggy Scott, R-Andover and Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, both presented bills in the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee yesterday that aim to ensure current laws meant to keep convicted abusers from accessing guns are properly enforced. Moller thanked Scott for spearheading legislation over the years to prevent abusers from accessing guns. The bills have differences, but both were passed to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee for more discussion. When asked how they’ll reconcile the two bills, Scott joked “we’re going to arm wrestle.”

Gov. Tim Walz won’t be on the ballot this year but he says he’ll be vocal about others who will be in the lead-up to the midterms. Star Tribune reporter Ryan Faircloth reports that Walz plans to travel around the country following the May close of the legislative session to raise money and campaign for Democratic candidates, especially those running for governor. He didn’t say whether he’d publicly endorse U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar who is running for the seat he’s set to leave next year, saying, “I think that’s kind of up to her.” He also noted that Klobuchar could give the state a good shot at a “reset” and that she is better liked among Republican voters than Walz is. The governor also said he plans to use the remaining $3 million in his campaign coffers to support Democratic candidates but didn’t provide details about what that might look like.

Minnesota cannabis product manufacturers are making slow but significant strides. Our colleague Nicole Ki reports on a cannabis microbusiness owner taking a big step. Gabriel Hanson, cannabis extractor and owner of Loon Labs, began his hemp extraction business six years ago with the dream of one day producing Minnesota’s first recreational cannabis products. That day came last Tuesday, when Hanson sent out 7,000 cannabis vapes to eight Twin Cities dispensaries out of his small manufacturing facility in Isanti. Hanson says his “d’Ope cannabis” vape is the first independently manufactured cannabis product to hit Minnesota’s adult-use market. So far, a few state-licensed cultivators have been able to deliver cannabis flower to some dispensaries, but Hanson appears to be the first small business to have a vape on the market. The vape was made from cannabis flower grown by an outdoor cultivator last fall.