Agate-ing along: Minnesota's divided Legislature agrees on gemstone license plates
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Here's something lawmakers at Minnesota's narrowly divided Capitol can agree on: It's the state gemstone's time to shine.
Driving the news: The Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill specifying that a new specialty license plate supporting state parks should celebrate the Lake Superior Agate.
- "This bill rocks, quite literally, but more importantly it brings people together around something uniquely Minnesotan," DFL Sen. Grant Hauschild said ahead of the 48-18 vote.
The big picture: With just over three weeks to go until the adjournment deadline, the House and Senate are picking up the pace.
Zoom in: Just this week, proposals to increase penalties for sextortion cases, provide relief for dairy farmers, improve prison mental health access, empower crime victims who oppose plea agreements, and crown the toboggan as the state sled cleared at least one chamber with bipartisan support.
- The House also advanced a pair bills inspired by homeowner's insurance issues that Melissa and Mark Hortman's children faced after their parents were killed.
Friction point: Some of the biggest policy sticking points, including gun control, tax cuts, Operation Metro Surge relief and financial help for Hennepin County Medical Center, remain unresolved.
Plus: Some issues sailing through one chamber remain stalled in the other.
- For example, a bill to give the state more power to cut off payments to suspected fraudsters cleared the tied House 134-0 Monday, but hasn't gotten a committee hearing in the DFL-led Senate.
The Senate, meanwhile, adopted language restricting the use of NDAs by local officials, just a weeks after a similar bill got stuck in a House committee.
What we're watching: Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders have started meeting behind closed doors.
- Senate DFL Leader Erin Murphy told reporters that their next discussion will center on proposed tech upgrades for counties.
🪨 As for the agate plates, the exact design will be determined by a contest run by the DNR later this year.
- "This bill truly shows the power of the people," GOP Sen. Jeremy Miller said, noting that agate enthusiasts, not special interests, came up with the idea.
"So to all the rock hounds throughout the state, good work, and rock on."