Star Tribune
Minnesota’s e-bike rebate application will reopen July 2
Minnesota’s application system for e-bike rebates has its chain back on the gears and is ready to roll again.
The system crashed shortly after it went live earlier this month but will reopen at 11 a.m. next Tuesday, July 2, the state Department of Revenue announced Tuesday.
The rebates can cover 50% to 75% of the cost of the e-bike and qualifying accessories, depending on the applicant’s income. Prices generally range up to $2,500 or more.
The state allocated $2 million each year in 2024 and 2025 for the program.
The application process this time around involves some adjustments. Here’s what to know:
What’s new
The program proved popular enough that the rebooted system is taking queues from sports teams when selling playoff tickets: Users may need to spend time in a virtual waiting room before accessing the application.
Once access is granted, users will have 15 minutes to complete and submit an application. The Department of Revenue has encouraged applicants to familiarize themselves with the process before applying.
Applicants will receive a response by July 9.
The department said the application window is expected to be brief because only 10,000 submissions will be accepted. About half of the applicants will receive a rebate.
You can sign up to receive an emailed application link
Using the Department of Revenue’s website, you can sign up to have a link to the application emailed to you before July 2.
Waitlisted applicants may be approved in the fall
Denied applicants may be placed on a waiting list, and if the state program has money remaining after Oct. 1, rebates will be issued to those waitlisted.
Eligibility requirements
Applicants must be at least 15 years old; a resident of Minnesota in 2023 and 2024; and must not have been claimed as a dependent in the previous tax year.
For more information
Full details of the rebooted rebate application can be found here.
There, you’ll also find more details, such as estimates on an applicant’s potential rebate, information on qualifying e-bikes and accessories, and more on the program.
Star Tribune
Trump is set to respond to Harris on immigration during his visit to a small Wisconsin town
Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.
Michelle Marie Dietrich, a public defender representing Coronel Zarate in the Prairie du Chien case, declined to comment. Charlotte Wynes, another public defender representing him in Prairie du Chien along with Dietrich, didn’t respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Michelle Brandemuehl, a public defender representing him in Madison, also didn’t respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed migrants as criminals and blamed Harris for failing to stem an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, though border crossings have fallen since President Joe Biden instituted an executive order limiting asylum claims. Democrats, in turn, have blamed Trump for persuading allies in Congress to kill bipartisan legislation that would have funded more border agents and given the Homeland Security secretary authority to prohibit entry for most people over a daily limit.
One option presented to some vendors has been to register for the state’s Cottage Food Producer permit, based on a 2015 law that allows people to “make and sell certain nonpotentially hazardous food and canned goods in Minnesota without a license.”
Chavez said that’s a step in the wrong direction. Such a permit would allow vendors to sell homemade baked goods and pickled fruits and vegetables, but still wouldn’t allow them to operate on city sidewalks or in traffic.
“People might apply, but it isn’t actually going to address the root issue that people are struggling with,” he said.
The issue is one of equity according to Chowdhury, who said some vendors don’t have the necessary knowledge or resources because they’re still new to the country. Licensing or permit fees become barriers for new vendors trying to become compliant.
“When it comes to folks that are immigrants, new to our community, that’s an incredible barrier. So if we’re going to do economic empowerment, that’s the barrier that we want to help resolve, and so I’m 100 percent supportive of waiving these fees,” she said.
A street vendor near Lake Street and Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis. (Dymanh Chhoun, Sahan Journal)
Claudia Lainez, workers’ center director at COPAL, a Latino advocacy organization, said they have been monitoring the growth of street vendors across the metro area specifically because many are undocumented. She said vendors tend to be women because men, even undocumented, typically struggle less to find work.
A Minneapolis family is grieving after their 34-year-old husband and father died Thursday when he was struck by an SUV while riding an electric scooter.
Benjamin Nyman Walker was weaving through traffic while headed south on Nicollet Avenue near Interstate 494 when he was struck by a southbound Jeep Wrangler at 5:44 p.m., Richfield police said. Police, emergency workers and HCMC paramedics tried to save Walker, but he died at the scene.
An organizer collecting funds to support the family said Walker was on his way home from work when he was killed. Walker’s wife, Crystal, said he was a loving man who was quick to tell dad jokes and quicker to help others.
“He would give you the shirt off of his back in times of need. He was someone who was there to listen and give his truth,” said Crystal Walker, adding that the two had been planning to move to Wisconsin. “He was the light in any room when he was happy, and he tried his hardest to always make sure he kept everyone’s spirits up.”
“Being without him is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be,” said Walker’s daughter, Karissa. “He was so sweet and he always cared about other people’s feelings.”
A similar scooter accident led authorities to arrest a woman in Texas for fatally injuring 52-year-old Andre Zedrick Steward in a July hit-and-run collision in Minneapolis. The woman told a witness that she was driving drunk when she hit a man, adding that she and her sister had fled the scene and flown to Las Vegas.
Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
