By Michelle Griffith | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
The U.S. Senate this morning in a 50-49 vote passed a measure that allows sulfide mining in areas near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith led opposition to the mining resolution, and in a floor speech last night raw with emotion said Minnesotans don’t want mining to threaten the pristine waters along the border between Minnesota and Canada.
“You may be wondering why I am standing here at nearly midnight keeping everyone up. Here’s why: Because I know people in Minnesota are wondering whether anybody in this building cares about what they think,” she said.
The resolution ends President Joe Biden’s 20-year moratorium on mining leases across more than 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters. The bill already passed the U.S. House, shepherded by U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican who represents the 8th District, which includes the protected wilderness.
It will now go to President Donald Trump. He’ll sign it, having already initiated the push to end the mining ban.
Twin Metals, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, still faces major obstacles before it can begin mining. The company still needs to obtain the necessary permits and win in court in the face of inevitable litigation against the project. Not to mention, the majority of Minnesota oppose mining near the Boundary Waters, so the company would face a hostile public.
Onto today’s Reformer:
Seagull Lake in the Boundary Waters. Superior National Forest is home to 20% of all fresh water in the entire national forest system. (Photo by Christina MacGillivray/Minnesota Reformer)
By Michelle Griffith
Minnesota Democrats are beginning the midterm election season with a significant cash advantage over Republicans, according to Minnesota campaign finance data released Wednesday.
In the first 62 days of her campaign for Minnesota governor, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised $4.8 million — a total that suggests she will have a staggering cash advantage over her Republican opponents.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a leading candidate for the GOP nomination for governor, raised over $225,000 in the first quarter this year. She has over $540,000 in cash on hand. There is also a new political action committee affiliated with Demuth’s campaign called Restore Sanity, which raised over $1.2 million during the first quarter of this year, according to campaign finance data. Nearly $1.1 million of that was donated by Restoration of America PAC, which is largely funded by billionaire Richard Uihlein.
By Chad Maschke
Millions of women could face new challenges to voting under Trump’s SAVE America Act, which would require voters to prove their citizenship before casting a ballot.
The federal legislation would mandate that most Americans show a birth certificate or passport to register to vote. But people with names that don’t match their birth certificate in some instances could have to produce additional documents like a marriage certificate or divorce decree linking their past and current identities.
That’s just one proposal with potentially outsized consequences for the future of American elections.
Given its complexity, and the Republican rush to pass it, the SAVE America Act needs a robust explainer, and the Reformer is giving you one. We walk through every major provision, the talking point used to sell it, and what the bill text and evidence actually show. It includes a voter impact simulator, an election judge scenario exercise, and a sourced FAQ addressing the most common objections.
By Ashley Murray
An effort to force President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval for further war actions in Iran failed in the U.S. Senate for the fourth time Wednesday, with all but one Republican continuing to support the president’s Middle East conflict.
Senators voted down the measure, 47-52, with a similar partisan breakdown as earlier votes that saw one Republican and one Democrat break with their parties.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who previously sponsored one of the Iran War Powers Resolutions, again split with his party to oppose Trump’s military actions in Iran, which the president launched without approval from Congress.
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OH BY THE WAY
Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, is back to his old ways after a brief hiatus: He posted a six-minute video last night, called “Armed but NOT dangerous: surviving police,” responding to the media coverage of his recent involvement in a police traffic stop. Last month, Rep. Elliott Engen was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Hudson was also in the truck and carrying a handgun while intoxicated.
It’s a misdemeanor to carry while intoxicated, but officers didn’t conduct any screening tests on Hudson, so he won’t be charged due to the lack of evidence.
Hudson conceded that he made a “severe error in judgement,” but in the video implied that he had been removed from his committee assignments — a more severe punishment than meted out to other lawmakers who have been charged with DUIs in recent years — because of his commentary about the killing of Alex Pretti.
Hudson had made a video shortly after Pretti was killed implying that Pretti was an irresponsible permit-carrier.
“The moment you choose to carry a firearm, your responsibility goes up, not down,” Hudson said at the time.
Hudson in his latest video touted his compliance with the officers.
“I’m alive. (Pretti) isn’t. And both of those outcomes are the direct result of how each of us decided to engage with law enforcement. You don’t have to like that, but you can’t deny it,” Hudson said.
Consider another example, however: Philando Castile was a licensed permit holder who informed police he had a gun but was shot and killed anyway.
That’s all from me. Have a nice Thursday.
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