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MN Legislature return with plenty of bills still in the pipeline
The House and Senate convened Feb. 12 with a much less ambitious agenda than what they passed during a frenetic 2023 session.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Legislature will return from its Easter break on Tuesday with plenty of bills in the pipeline. They include a myriad of low-profile proposals but several high-profile pieces of legislation are in the mix, ranging from sports betting and cannabis and sports betting, to rights for trans people, to maintaining the state’s roads and bridges.
The House and Senate convened Feb. 12 with a much less ambitious agenda than what they passed during a frenetic 2023 session, when Democrats took full control of the Legislature for the first time in eight years. Now, with only a little extra money to work with, much of the focus has been on policy proposals that don’t cost much.
With less than two months to go before the adjournment deadline of May 20, here’s a look at the state of play:
The $72 billion two-year budget was largely set last year. While the surplus has inched up to $3.7 billion, Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic legislative leaders have agreed to spend only about $541 million more and bank the rest. The new spending includes $16 million for struggling emergency medical services in rural Minnesota, though some lawmakers say that’s not nearly enough. One problem got solved early when Walz signed a fix to an error last year that could have cost taxpayers around $350 million next year.
The main task this session is a public infrastructure borrowing package known as a bonding bill. Walz proposed a combination of $982 million in borrowing and cash. The final package is expected to keep an unglamorous focus on maintaining existing infrastructure, like roads, bridges and water treatment facilities. Bonding bills require 60% supermajorities, so it will need some Republican votes.
Proponents are trying bring it across the goal line. But the politics are a tricky needle to thread. The proposal in the works would put in-house and online wagering via apps under control of tribal casinos. But Minnesota’s two horse tracks want in on the action. Backers reached a deal to share revenue with charities that depend on gambling revenues that were slashed by restrictions enacted last year on electronic pull-tab games. One version includes a ban on betting after games start to restrain problem gamblers. Nothing is likely to pass without bipartisan support.
Lawmakers are making dozens of tweaks to last year’s law that legalized recreational marijuana. Many are technical. But there’s debate over giving “social equity applicants” harmed under the previous prohibition a head start on getting cannabis business licenses. Officials aren’t predicting when retail sales can begin statewide. Two tribes already have on-reservation dispensaries, and at least one more is in the works.
Lawmakers resolved a contentious issue early in the session when they voted to give school resource officers clearer authority. Restrictions enacted last year led around 40 police departments to pull officers from schools. The bipartisan compromise that passed with support from law enforcement ensures that officers can use prone restraints on students, while requiring better training and standards.
Floor votes could come soon on the Minnesota Voting Rights Act. It’s a move by Democrats to fill voids left by the courts in the landmark 1965 federal Voting Rights Act. A decision by a federal appeals court last year took away the right of individuals in seven states, including Minnesota, to sue under the federal law to challenge voting practices or procedures they believe discriminate on the basis of race.
Religious organizations weren’t exempted from protections for gender identity that were added to the state human rights law last year. In the name of religious freedom, Republicans have tried three times this year to carve out an exception. They say it’s needed to protect the rights of religious organizations and schools to govern themselves and to make clergy and personnel decisions in line with their teachings. Democrats have blocked the GOP push so far, with some calling it an attack on the trans and nonbinary communities.
Supporters are still trying to round up support for enshrining protections for abortion and trans rights into the state Constitution. A state-level Equal Rights Amendment against sex discrimination passed the Senate last year but time ran out in the House over language on abortion and gender-affirming care. Supporters have yet to introduce updated language. If it goes forward, the amendment would go on the 2026 ballot.
A proposal to allow physician-assisted suicide for patients with less than six months to live has had several hearings in the House, but it’s still not expected to become law this year. While House leaders have said they’re seeing a lot of public interest in the issue, they’ve also said there aren’t enough votes, especially in the Senate, where Democrats hold just a one-vote majority and at least one Democratic senator is opposed.
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Court documents detail the charges against 25-year-old Ameer Musa Matariyeh, which include second-degree murder, attempted murder and fleeing police.
WILLMAR, Minn. — A Minneapolis man is charged with second-degree murder and multiple other felonies following a multi-county shooting spree Tuesday that left a New London man dead.
Court documents filed in Kandiyohi County Thursday break down the charges against 25-year-old Ameer Musa Matariyeh, which also include attempted murder, first-degree assault and fleeing police.
Prosecutors say the crime spree began in Minneapolis around 12:30 p.m. that day when Matariyeh fired several rounds from the top floor of an Uptown apartment building at his estranged girlfriend and her new partner. It would continue through several counties as the defendant was pursued west at high speed by Minneapolis police, eventually entering Kandiyohi County.
The criminal complaint filed against Matariyeh says Kandiyohi County law enforcement was informed shortly after 1:50 p.m. that a man was headed their way in a stolen vehicle on Highway 7, being followed by members of a multi-county drug task force.
Shortly after 2 p.m., a 911 call came in from a Kandiyohi County farmstead in Lake Lillian reporting that a man had been shot in the chest. The wife of the victim, 25-year-old Peter Mayerchak, told investigators he was out doing some work in the shed when she heard a pop, then looked out the window and saw her husband and another man yelling at each other. Mayerchak then ran into the house and she saw he had been shot.
Investigators later discovered multiple bullet holes in the home’s windows and walls.
Prosecutors say Matariyeh continued to flee west on Highway 7, and then on a county road at speeds reaching up to 130 mph. Eventually, law enforcement said, the defendant looped back to State Highway 23 and headed towards Willmar. Local law enforcement was informed that a Minneapolis PD crisis negotiator was on the phone with Natariyeh and that he was threatening to commit suicide by cop. Multiple squads, including one driven by Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson, were pursuing the suspect’s vehicle.
At 2:25 p.m., court documents say, law enforcement had OnStar disable the engine of the stolen car Natariyeh was driving, and one officer saw the suspect vehicle rear-end a green pickup near the Highway 7/23 bypass. That same officer said he saw Natariyeh jump out of the stolen Chevy, open the driver’s side door of the green pickup, and then noted that the defendant’s arm pointed and recoiled as if he fired a shot before running into traffic.
The criminal complaint says at that point, Sheriff Tollefson and another officer ran up to the pickup and discovered that the driver, identified as 55-year-old Jerome Skluzacek of New London, had been shot in the head. Responding officers attempted life-saving measures but Skluzacek was declared dead on the scene.
Multiple officers eventually caught up with Natariyeh, who raised his hands above his head and was taken into custody without incident. The firearms he allegedly used in the shootings were recovered near the highway median. While in the back seat of a squad car, Natariyeh reportedly said he wanted to die, and that he threw his life away because his girl had cheated on him.
Additional charges could be filed against Natariyeh in Hennepin County in connection with the shooting incident in Minneapolis.
Hunter Buckentine was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation.
CLEAR LAKE, Minn. — An Avon man will serve a prison sentence of nearly 10 years after pleading guilty in a 2023 crash that left one person dead and another badly injured.
The Sherburne County Attorney’s Office shared Thursday that 24-year-old Hunter Buckentine was sentenced to nine years and eight months in the fatal crash, which took place around 1 a.m. on Aug. 19. The Minnesota State Patrol said a vehicle driven by Buckentine was clocked at 132 mph on Highway 10 in Becker before it slammed into a second vehicle, killing 34-year-old Jordan Kramer of Clarissa. Another person in the car, 38-year-old Candice Pooler of Clarissa, was taken to a nearby hospital by air ambulance with life-threatening injuries while another woman was found in the ditch with minor injuries.
Buckentine would be charged with third-degree murder but eventually pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide and another of criminal vehicular operation.
“This level of recklessness on our roads led to senseless injuries and loss of life,” said County Attorney Kathleen Heaney. “The only measure of justice that the system can give to the families and friends impacted is that of holding the defendant accountable for his deeds. With this accountability, it is our hope that the families and friends may begin their journey of healing
A witness told investigators he had been drinking with Buckentine in a Becker bar before the crash. Prosecutors say shortly before hitting the other vehicle Buckentine took a Snapchat of his speedometer reading 150 mph and posted it with a caption that read “a new record.”
Crash reconstruction by the Minnesota State Patrol said Buckentine’s Infiniti was moving at 133 mph when it rear-ended the victim’s vehicle.
This free event will take place Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Editor’s Note: This photo is from the 2018 Artability event.
As the holidays approach, it is a great time to shop around for unique and artistic gifts for loved ones.
The Artability Art Show and Sale is a great opportunity to purchase local art and support a great cause. The event will platform artists who have mental health diagnoses.
This year’s theme is play and stations will be set up throughout the event so that visitors can craft their own artwork to bring home. This free event will take place at St. Paul’s Union Depot on Friday from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Artability is the greatest equalizer for individuals living with mental health vulnerabilities.” CEO of People Incorporated Mental Health Services Jill Wiedemann-West said in a release. “When they create art, they are simply artists.”
To learn more or get a glimpse of the work that will be on display, click here.
