Theo Keith Profile picture
Jul 31, 2020 12 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Speaking of #MN05, the one scheduled debate between Ilhan Omar and challenger Antone Melton-Meaux is at 1 p.m. today on WCCO Radio (there was a forum earlier this week, but not a debate).

Watch here: facebook.com/wccoradio/
Omar takes little time to get to Gov. Tim Walz's endorsement -- she mentions it in her first answer.
Pretty cordial so far. Melton-Meaux takes a glancing shot at Omar by saying Washington needs more leadership to fix a "toxic" atmosphere.

Omar responds that she's a progressive leader. She says not everyone who's endorsed her personally likes her, but respects her ability.
The third candidate in the debate, @JohnMasonMN, says the Democratic party's activist wing brings up a lot of major economic changes but "the movement in terms of getting things done is very slow. We’re not feeling it in the Fifth."
.@Antone_MN says @IlhanMN's $1 trillion "Homes for All" public housing push is unrealistic because it has few cosponsors, no funding mechanism, and no Senate companion bill.

“That’s not a progressive agenda. That’s simply a platitude," he says.
@Antone_MN @IlhanMN After a commercial break, Melton-Meaux faces a question about the GOP donors who've contributed to his $3.2 million second-quarter fundraising haul.

He says GOP donors who've given to him have also contributed millions to Democratic campaigns.
@Antone_MN @IlhanMN Melton-Meaux calls Omar's criticism of him "quite hypocritical" and “simply a desperate attempt to resurrect a campaign that’s in trouble."

He notes most of her donations come from outside the district, too.
@Antone_MN @IlhanMN NEW: @IlhanMN says her campaign paid her husband's consulting firm $600,000 in July for ad buys on TV and digital, lit from vendors.

"I don’t pay my husband. I pay the firm to do work," Omar said.

It's her first explanation of the payments seen here:

docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/…
The third candidate, @JohnMasonMN, is defending Omar and going after Melton-Meaux.

He says Melton-Meaux is benefiting from "dark money" and says “there’s a lot of spin happening with Antone that I’m concerned about."
Melton-Meaux says the criticism of his campaign funding is "ironic" because he doesn't have any campaign finance violations.

Omar was ordered to pay a small fine last year in Minnesota: fox9.com/news/rep-ilhan…
Melton-Meaux commits to doing 12 public Q&A town halls a year if elected, says Omar has never done one.

Omar says she's done 32 town halls.

The actual number is murky, as we reported last year: fox9.com/news/town-hall…
After defending Omar earlier in the debate, @JohnMasonMN says in closing comments that "in many ways, she’s Trump’s best dream” and “really the only one benefiting from Omar is Omar on lots of things."

She can't respond because it's the top of the hour and the debate has ended.

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More from @TheoKeith

Dec 6, 2022
Gov. Tim Walz, speaking to reporters, mentions four priorities for the surplus:

-Expanding child care
-Relief to Minnesotans for inflation, in the form of rebates
-Road and bridge funding
-Public school funding

"We can do all of these things," he says. "It isn't either-or."
Walz says he supports excluding more Social Security income from state tax in 2023.

But he's not committing to a full elimination, which was part of the spring 2022 deal that never passed.
Walz says he's going to propose $1,000 rebate checks per adult again despite being rejected by #mnleg in 2022.

He's open to changing the income limits he proposed earlier this year.
Read 5 tweets
Dec 6, 2022
Minnesota's budget surplus is now projected at $17.6 billion between now and June 2025, per @MMBCommunicates.

The projections will help #mnleg decide short-term spending plans and a two-year budget.
@MMBCommunicates Higher-than-expected tax collections and #mnleg's failure to strike deals in 2022 have contributed to another record surplus, which Democrats now have control over.

Initial story ahead of news conferences that start at 11:45 a.m.:

fox9.com/news/minnesota…
@MMBCommunicates There's the full budget forecast: mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/a… Image
Read 9 tweets
Sep 21, 2022
.@MNLegAud releases audit of $200 million in state money given by @mnhealth to health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overview below. Report here: auditor.leg.state.mn.us/fad/pdf/fad220…
@mnhealth .@mnhealth assigned 35 staffers to review grant applications and recommend awards, but failed to comply with state requirements and get conflict of interest disclosures from the people, auditors found.

This left the state open to potential fraud and abuse, auditors said.
@mnhealth .@mnhealth says the people *did* file conflict disclosures, but the agency didn't retain electronic records of them. That's been fixed, health officials say in their response to the auditor's findings.
Read 4 tweets
May 21, 2022
Details of #mnleg's deal on taxes:

-Cuts individual income tax rate from 5.35% to 5.10%

-Makes all Social Security income exempt from state taxes

-Makes renter's tax credit refundable

house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/docs/1u-H…
There are several other smaller provisions, but those three together account for $3.4 billion of the $4 billion bill.
Conference committee due back within the hour to discuss (you know the drill on the timing, though).
Read 5 tweets
May 20, 2022
“There is enough time,” House Speaker @melissahortman says about concerns that some of the largest bills, like health and human services, won’t get done by Sunday.

“Everybody has to get realistic,” Hortman says, and no one will get 75-80% of what they want. #mnleg
I asked which issue areas are in the worst shape.

Hortman says K-12, public safety, health and human services are “tied.”

That’s…a lot. #mnleg
Hortman says the tax bill will definitely have an expansion of the renter’s credit and an individual income tax cut.

That’s about all we know for certain. #mnleg
Read 4 tweets
Apr 25, 2022
NEWS: St. Paul Police say DFL Rep. John Thompson showed up after officers pulled over his daughter Sunday afternoon, screamed and yelled at police, identified himself as a state lawmaker and handed out his business card during a "chaotic" scene.

(Thread)
Officers say they stopped Thompson's adult daughter for erratic driving and expired registration. Cops smelled marijuana. As more officers arrived, so did Thompson.

To diffuse tensions, police say they decided to charge Thompson’s daughter out of custody and let them both go.
Police are asking the St. Paul city attorney to charge Thompson's daughter with 3rd degree DWI-test refusal, a gross misdemeanor.

Thompson does not face charges, though police say the case is open.
Read 7 tweets

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