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Minnesota ends fiscal year with $2.7 billion more than projected

State economists said tax dollars came in at higher rates than projected across several categories, spurring the bigger than expected revenues.

ST. PAUL — Minnesota pulled in $2.7 billion more than was projected earlier this year as the state’s economy outperformed expectations, state economists reported Monday, July 12.

Minnesota Management and Budget officials said the state is on pace to take in $26.6 billion in net general funds in the budget cycle that ended June 30, an 11.2% bump from what they’d forecast in February. The boost in dollars flowing to the state stemmed from increased tax receipts across several categories.

The news of a bigger-than-expected surplus comes months after economists predicted and state legislators planned for a $1.3 billion shortfall spurred by COVID-19 and slowed economic activity. Several rounds of stimulus payments from the federal government and rebounding of the state’s economy helped stave that off. Continue reading.

Trump Organization removes indicted top finance officer Allen Weisselberg from leadership roles at dozens of subsidiaries

The Trump Organization has removed indicted chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg from his leadership roles at more than 40 subsidiary companies, according to corporate filings in the United States and Scotland.

The changes were made Thursday and Friday, a week after a grand jury in Manhattan indicted Weisselberg on 15 felony counts, including grand larceny and tax fraud. Weisselberg was accused by New York prosecutors of helping run a 15-year scheme to evade income taxes by concealing executives’ salaries — including more than $1.7 million of his own income — from tax authorities. Two Trump corporate entities were indicted alongside Weisselberg.

On Thursday, the Trump Organization removed Weisselberg as a director of the company that runs its golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland, according to British corporate records. Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump pours gas on tribalism with Jan. 6 rewrite

Former President Trump is persevering with his attempts to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

It is an effort that is being aided by his political and media allies.

It also threatens to inflame his supporters anew, ruin any chance of anything resembling a national consensus on the riot and pour new gas on the fires of political tribalism. Continue reading.

Newsmax host dangerously declares vaccines go ‘against nature’: Diseases are ‘supposed to’ wipe out people

Newsmax host Rob Schmitt on Monday dangerously declared he believes vaccines go “against nature” and diseases are “supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people, and that’s just kind of the way evolution goes.”

Admitting he’s “not a doctor,” as Media Matters reports, Schmitt mused on-air, “I’m not an anti-vaxxer. I’m not a pro-vaxxer. I’m somebody that’s looking at this thing and trying to figure it out.”

“I’ve always thought about vaccines, and I always think about just nature, and the way everything works. And I feel like a vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature,” he claimed, ignoring the fact that all medicine in theory does too – if you define evolution in the most basic “survival of the fittest” terms. Continue reading.

Judge grills attorneys over suit challenging Michigan results

A federal judge grilled attorneys involved in a lawsuit that sought to overturn Michigan’s election results during a hearing Monday over whether the lawyers should be sanctioned for their conduct in the case.

U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker posed pointed questions for the attorneys who made baseless claims in court that widespread election fraud caused former President Trump to lose the state to President Biden.

Parker appeared concerned that the affidavits submitted by the plaintiffs’ attorneys to support their election fraud claims may have violated the rules of professional conduct governing lawyers in federal court. Continue reading.

Anti-vaxx nurse dies from COVID-19 in Louisiana

A Louisiana nurse who questioned the safety of vaccines has died of complications from COVID-19.

Olivia Guidry, a registered nurse in the emergency department at Ochsner Lafayette General, died Saturday after being hospitalized for the coronavirus in the intensive care unit, reported The Advocate.

“Today is a sad day for my ER family and I,” her colleague Nick Berthelot postedon Facebook. “Your contagious laugh and smile will truly be missed Liv. Until we meet again sweet girl.” Continue reading.

DFL Debrief: Budgets Aren’t Actually Boring! ft. Majority Leader Ryan Winkler

On this week’s episode of the DFL Debrief Podcast, we sat down with DFL House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler to discuss all things budget! DFLers managed to secure some big wins in this year’s budget despite intense opposition from Minnesota Republicans. Listen to the podcast here.

Lawyers retreat from pro-Trump election suit

At a hearing on possible sanctions over the Michigan case, some attorneys downplayed their roles.

The legal reckoning for attorneys who pushed former President Donald Trump’s spurious claims of election fraud advanced on Monday, with a federal court in Detroit holding a hearing on whether to impose sanctions over a suit filed last year seeking to decertify Joe Biden’s victory in Michigan and declare Trump the winner.

Two of the most prominent attorneys in the pro-Trump camp — Dallas-based Sidney Powell and Atlanta-based L. Lin Wood — are among the lawyers who brought the unsuccessful suit and whose conduct is under scrutiny by U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker.

Another pair of attorneys facing possible sanctions in the case, Emily Newman and Julia Haller, served in a variety of Trump administration posts but appear to have left government late last year to aid Powell in the post-election litigation. Continue reading.

Rep. Laurie Pryor (HD48A) Update: July 14, 2021

Neighbors,

Thank you for joining Sen. Cwodzinski, Rep. Kotyza-Witthuhn and me for the District 48 virtual Town Hall on July 6. We answered your questions about the recently completed legislative session and the newly passed budget. As always, we always appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns and questions.

If you were unable to tune in to the town hall, you can watch here.

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

The Minnesota Department of Health reports more than 3 million of our friends and neighbors have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Although the pace of vaccination has slowed, it is still vitally important to get your vaccine to guard against the highly contagious Delta variant showing up in communities across the country and in Minnesota. We owe it to ourselves and our communities to protect each other from the virus.

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