ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton is blaming Senate Republicans for failure to pass a tax bill that would provide relief to thousands of Minnesotans.
Dayton says the GOP has refused to suspend rules to give the bill prompt consideration on the floor. Republican Minority Leader David Hann says majority party Democrats waited until the last minute.
Dayton was ready to sign legislation Thursday if it cleared both the Senate and House. He says the delay misses a deadline and will require many people to file amended returns to get tax cuts if the bill eventually passes.
The $432 million proposal would also put $150 million into a budget reserve.
Republican senators say the deserved more time to review the bill. They prefer a larger $500 million version passed earlier by the House.
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MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) - A Hennepin County grand jury has decided not to file charges against two Minnetonka police officers in the shooting death of 27-year-old man in October.
Officers fatally shot Michael Tray, of Austin, Minn., while he was waiting for his girlfriend in her Minnetonka apartment parking garage. Police were called on a report of a man carrying a cocked revolver.
In a statement, Minnetonka Police Chief Mark Raquet says while the department has always believed its officers acted appropriately, the grand jury decision “doesn’t relieve the anguish” of Tray’s family.
Tray’s family declined to comment to the Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/OBXDlMhttps://strib.mn/OBXDlM ). Earlier the family said the gun was an antique .44 Magnum revolver that Tray didn’t want to leave in his car.
It was the first officer-involved fatal shooting in Minnetonka history.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Hennepin County Jail will allow inmates to wear religious head coverings.
Sheriff Rich Stanek announced the new policy Thursday.
Stanek says inmates can wear a jail-issued hijab, the Muslim head scarf, or other religious headwear as long as there’s no threat to safety and security. The jail also will issue yarmulkes and kufi hats.
Minnesota Public Radio News (https://bit.ly/1duKQHFhttps://bit.ly/1duKQHF ) reports the sheriff’s office previously considered inmate requests for religious head coverings on a case-by-case basis.
Fartun Weli, a Somali public-health advocate who serves on the sheriff’s community advisory board, says the new policy, “addresses the most fundamental issue of civil rights.”
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Republican gubernatorial contender Kurt Zellers needs to update his campaign biography: He’s now a father of three.
The Minnesota legislator announced the birth of a baby boy Thursday who arrived about five weeks early. He said he and wife, Kim, decided early on to keep their pregnancy private.
Zellers says the newest addition to his family won’t change his campaign plans and that the family discussed it thoroughly beforehand. The former House speaker is among several GOP candidates vying for the party nomination to take on Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton.
The couple also has a 9-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy.
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