Civil Rights
Congress brought back earmarks. Now they’re one more point of drama in a divided House.
WASHINGTON — The new Republican chairwoman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee said just before taking over the panel that she planned to “tweak” how the chamber earmarks spending for community projects — coveted state and local funding that members of Congress request. Some of those changes hinted at by Kay Granger of Texas have […]
Insulina a bajo costo, alivio fiscal y otros beneficios disponibles para inmigrantes en Minnesota
Read in English. Durante la reciente sesión legislativa en Minnesota se aprobaron varias leyes que amplían el acceso a beneficios para los inmigrantes indocumentados en el estado, incluyendo licencias de conducir y el programa de seguro médico público MinnesotaCare. La Legislatura controlada por el Partido Demócrata-Agrario-Laborista de Minnesota (DFL, por sus siglas en inglés) también […]
Cheap insulin, expanded tax credits and other benefits now available for undocumented Minnesotans
Leer en español. The legislative session featured a number of wins for undocumented immigrants in Minnesota, headlined by laws that opened up access to drivers’ licenses and the public insurance program known as MinnesotaCare. The DFL-controlled Legislature also passed a number of other programs — including several tax credits — that received less attention but […]
Study cited by Texas judge in abortion-pill case under investigation
Pharmaceutical sciences professor Chris Adkins was perusing news on his computer in December when he came across an item that fascinated him: Anti-abortion groups had sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to force a recall on a commonly used abortion drug. Adkins teaches future pharmacists at South University School of Pharmacy in Savannah, Georgia. […]
U.S. House spending bill for the VA renews fight over abortion access, transgender care
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans approved their first government spending bill Thursday, following tense debate about whether the Department of Veterans Affairs should provide abortions in limited circumstances and the GOP’s decision to cut military construction funding. The 219-211 mostly party-line vote on the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill sends the measure to the Senate, where […]
Minnesota Senate president aide moonlights for nonprofit with state government contracts
Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion’s executive assistant moonlights for a nonprofit foundation that has been paid about $3 million by a handful of state agencies in the past three years.
Book excerpt: The time Mayor Hubert Humphrey had to choose between civil rights and the police
Editor’s note: Buy the book from Oxford University Press here. Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey’s dilemma was that a cop could be incorruptible in terms of money while being entirely immoral in how he treated the public. Even as the reform effort proceeded, complaints to the department piled up — a drunken cop groping a veteran’s […]
Striking UPM Blandin paper mill workers rally in Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS — Fiery speeches drowned out the honks of passing motorists as hundreds of striking UPM Blandin workers and supporters gathered for a rally Friday. “I swear to goodness I saw the most American thing I’ve seen in the past 10 years happen today,” said Zak Radzak, secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters Local No. 346. […]
Harm of anti-LGBTQ laws includes economic pain for communities, families
Roberto Che Espinoza had been thinking about leaving Tennessee after the 2024 election, but in June they noticed that the state attorney general was seeking medical records on gender-affirming medical care, which Espinoza, a nonbinary transgender man, said included their own records. “Being on any kind of list … I knew after the release of […]
Leader of U.S. House progressives apologizes for Israel comments
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, apologized Sunday for saying at a progressive activist conference a day prior that Israel is “a racist state.” Jayapal’s impromptu response to pro-Palestine protestors at the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago sparked backlash from members of both parties on Capitol […]
Changes in state election laws have little impact on results, new study finds
In recent years, U.S. politics has been consumed by partisan fights over states’ election policies. But a new study by two political scientists is causing a stir by finding that state legislators’ changes to election laws — both those that tighten election rules in the name of integrity, and those that loosen rules to expand […]
Owatonna mayor pushes back on Pride; LGBTQ organizer calls for resignation
LGBTQ organizers of a Pride festival in Owatonna were forced to change plans after pushback from prominent members of the community, including Mayor Tom Kuntz. They celebrated anyway. A church and a restaurant that planned on hosting portions of the day’s events both received hateful messages from community members, as well as visits from the […]