×

Local Editorials

Vaccine fears must be addressed

A report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released Monday indicates that only a third of nursing home workers have been getting COVID-19 vaccinations when they are first offered. In a look at 11,000 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities, 78 percent of the elderly ...

Biden should talk to GOP senators

President Joe Biden is pressing to get a COVID-19 relief bill passed, and he indicated he is willing to push it through with the slim Democratic majority he has in Congress. This weekend a group of 10 Republican senators proposed he meet with them to hear about a bill, a $600 billion bill ...

Back again: Voter ID bill

The idea of requiring a photo ID from people before they cast votes keeps yo-yoing back in the Legislature. Sen. Scott Newman, (R-Hutchinson) is proposing a bill to present photo identification at the polls. This bill has been proposed and shot down before, most notably in 2012, when ...

Et Cetera

Cut budgets or raise taxes? COVID-19 rescue plans have wreaked havoc on federal, state and local budgets. While many of the items in the rescue plans are needed such as the paycheck protection program, eviction protection, K-12 school funding and stimulus checks. Some items are not. Why ...

State-endorsed gambling taxes the poor

Once again, the issue of legalizing sports betting is popping up in the Minnesota Legislature. Democratic Sen. Karla Bigham, of Cottage Grove, and Republican Rep. Pat Garofalo, of Farmington, are proposing a bill that would allow on-site sports wagering at tribal casinos for the first year, ...

Walz’s budget needs more planning

Gov. Tim Walz has announced his budget plan for the coming biennium, a $52.4 billion budget that would raise the income tax on wealthiest Minnesotans, lower the income tax for low earners, and slap another $1 tax on cigarettes and snuff. He would create a new tax bracket for those in the top ...