Minnesota has $1.3 billion budget surplus

by MinnPost staff 12/05/201902/06/2024

It’s gone before you know it. The Star Tribune’s Jessie Van Berkel reports: “Minnesota lawmakers have an estimated state budget surplus of more than $1.3 billion to work with as they tee up new spending or tax cut proposals for the 2020 legislative session. … An increase in forecasted revenue and slight drop in spending contributed to the extra cash, according to an initial announcement from Minnesota Management and Budget.”

Expect to see more and more of this. The Guardian’s David Smith, Michael Mcgowan, Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed report: “Two Muslim US congresswomen have been targeted by a vast international operation that exploits far-right pages on Facebook to inflame Islamophobia for profit, a Guardian investigation has found. … A mysterious Israeli-based group uses 21 Facebook pages to churn out more than a thousand coordinated fake news posts per week to more than a million followers around the world. It milks the traffic for revenue from digital advertising. … Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who earlier this year became the first Muslim women to serve in the US Congress, have been singled out for vicious attacks by the coordinated effort.”

Klobuchar’s economic plans. For the AP Sara Burnett writes (via the Star Tribune): “Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar on Thursday rolled out a plan to help Americans succeed in a changing economy, as she returns to Iowa looking to quickly build support with weeks to go before the first votes are cast for the party’s 2020 nomination. … The Minnesota senator’s plan, which she will discuss during a three-day swing that include forums with the Teamsters and the Iowa Farmers Union, includes tax credits to help retrain workers who lose their jobs to automation and support for workers and communities that have relied on the fossil fuel industry. It also calls for more investment in cybersecurity, encouraging small manufacturers to innovate and several measures to help the growing number of ‘gig’ workers, such as Uber drivers, including by allowing them to form unions and by making it easier to file their taxes.”

Diversifying the booze biz. MPR’s Brandt Williams writes: “Years before he thought of opening his own brewpub and taproom, Ramsey Louder knew maybe one other black person who was into craft beer. … For him, it was a passion. After honing his homebrewing skills, he landed a job at Dangerous Man Brewing in Minneapolis checking IDs, tending bar and peppering the brewers with questions about making beer. By 2014, Louder was head brewer. … Now 36, he’s taken on a new title — co-owner of ONE Fermentary and Taproom in Minneapolis, making him one of the few people of color to own a craft spirits business in Minnesota. He wants to open the taproom door wider to diversity. … Data nationally show the craft business remains heavily white and male. Even as taprooms and distilleries have mushroomed in Minnesota, the list of owners of color remains small. It includes Du Nord Craft Spirits in Minneapolis, La Doña Cerveceria in Minneapolis and Montgomery Brewing, located 45 miles south of Minneapolis.”