Latest news with #NicoleNeri
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota lawmakers extend tax breaks for Big Tech data centers
Minnesota Technology Center houses multiple data centers, including a Cologix and a Vaultas data center, in this facility next to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Friday, May 23, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) The Legislature passed a bipartisan bill Monday that extends tax breaks for some of the country's most profitable technology companies on their data centers up to the year 2077, in a win for both Big Tech and the trade unions that build the data warehouses. The once boutique tax subsidy has exploded in cost in recent years, as tech companies chased the benefit to meet ever increasing demand for computing power. In fiscal year 2015, the state estimated a sales tax break for data center purchases of computers, servers and other equipment costs the state about $6 million. That number is projected to explode to $114 million in fiscal year 2025 — a 1,800% increase — according to state tax expenditure reports. Minnesota currently has 42 data centers, with the majority spread across the metro. Nationwide, tech companies are rapidly building data centers — warehouses with computer servers used to power the internet and, increasingly, AI — to store and process data. As Gov. Tim Walz and his fellow Democrats in the divided Legislature confronted a worsening fiscal outlook, however, they looked to the data center tax breaks. They settled on revoking the sales tax exemption on electricity bills, which are massive because of data center energy requirements. Curbing this tax break alone will bring in an estimated $140 million over the next four years. But lawmakers also gave Big Tech a win, extending the expiration of the state's sales tax break for data centers on purchases of computers, servers, software and cooling and energy equipment. Minnesota law currently allows data centers this sales tax exemption on technology equipment for 20 years, up to the year 2042. The bill passed Monday will extend the tax break to 35 years with a sunset date of 2042. This means that a data center that makes its first purchase in 2042 could continue claiming the exemption until 2077. Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, has been negotiating for the data center sales tax break throughout the session. Rest, the Senate's chief author of the data center bill, said the Legislature can use the tax breaks as leverage to ensure proper regulation of the nascent industry. 'This is the beginning of how we can bring a new industrial age that is one that we are going to control,' Rest said Monday. The bill also includes a new annual fee on large-scale data centers between $2 million and $5 million to go to the Department of Commerce's weatherization account, which grants energy upgrades to low-income Minnesotans. The bill also requires public utilities to offer a clean energy tariff for data center companies, i.e, the company can pay an additional fee to the utility for the utility to fund the development of clean energy technology that the data center could one day consume. Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, voted against the bill. 'I am anti-tax breaks for billionaires. When we are saying that we are trying to incentivize people to come to our state to build these facilities, we are saying that the tax burden is going to lie on our constituents,' Hollins said Monday. The sales tax exemption on technology equipment — even with the elimination of the sales tax break on electricity — is expected to cost Minnesota $133 million in fiscal year 2027 and jump to $219 million in fiscal year 2029 as the number of data centers increases and they purchase more equipment, according to the Department of Revenue. The data center tax breaks are a huge win for building trade unions, which warned lawmakers that Minnesota will lose jobs if it can't compete with neighboring states to entice tech giants to build their data centers here. Amazon recently announced it was suspending construction of a data center in Becker, citing regulatory uncertainty. Meanwhile, the company announced a $20 billion data center project in Pennsylvania, where Gov. Josh Shapiro — a potential Walz rival for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination — stood with construction workers to make the announcement. The Minnesota data centers package included a provision requiring that companies must pay workers a prevailing wage to build the data centers, which ensures much of the construction will be done by unionized companies. The House passed the bill 85-43 and the Senate 40-26. Walz is expected to sign the data centers package.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Feds: South Minneapolis law enforcement action was related to seizure of 900 pounds of meth
A demonstrator watches while an officer sprays mace following a raid at Las Cuatro Milpas in Minneapolis, Minnesota Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Law enforcement officers found 900 pounds of methamphetamine in a Burnsville storage locker recently, which led them to raid eight Twin Cities metro locations seeking evidence related to the drug find, as well as evidence of bank fraud, illegal guns and human trafficking, according to a federal court filings. The details of the raid were revealed in a federal indictment announced on Tuesday against a 27-year St. Paul woman for 'assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers' during a protest at one of the search locations, Las Cuatro Milpas in south Minneapolis. The indictment is filled with details that would seem to be tangentially related to the alleged assault on an officer, but shed light on the larger operation. The attempt to execute a search warrant in south Minneapolis led to a contentious confrontation last week between a bevy of law enforcement agencies and demonstrators, who feared an ICE raid amid the agency's increasingly militarized tactics. The indictment also confirms that the operation was not related to immigration per se but was an ongoing investigation of major drug trafficking. Federal officials say they found the meth — valued between $22-25 million — in Burnsville and were then granted eight search warrants for locations in Bloomington, Inver Grove Heights, Northfield, Burnsville and Minneapolis. They found two gold-plated guns, documents, digital evidence and images from the Brian De Palma film, 'Scarface,' which is a common homage of narco-traffickers, according to the indictment. At Las Cuatro Milpas on East Lake Street last week, officers showed up to serve the warrant wearing the uniforms of ICE, DEA, FBI, the criminal investigation arm of the IRS. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office was also present as was the Minneapolis Police Department, though only for crowd control. An ICE spokesperson said the 'groundbreaking' operation was Minnesota's first under President Donald Trump's Homeland Security Task Force, which he established via executive order on the first day of his second term. The overwhelming show of force motivated people in the community — fearing an immigration raid — to protest. The demonstration led to clashes with police A slew of local elected officials questioned the effectiveness and purpose of the law enforcement operation. Gov. Tim Walz called it 'chaotic.' Attorney General Keith Ellison said 'it seemed like the point was to inflict terror and fear into the community.' Minneapolis City Councilman Jason Chavez told MPR's Cathy Wurzer that the operation was intended to intimidate residents. 'It felt like a very tactical decision to escalate, cause pain and trauma, to the people that live here in the heart of south Minneapolis, and it felt like an intentional decision to unfortunately scare the people that live here.' Despite the new information on the south Minneapolis operation, federal law enforcement is still likely to face skepticism in the Twin Cities following the raid, especially given the Trump administration's escalation of immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, which now includes use of the U.S. military.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democrats protect ban on noncompete agreements from carve-outs sought by big businesses
The Minnesota State Capitol, April 24, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Democrats successfully beat back an attack on the state's ban on noncompete agreements, one of their signature pro-worker victories in the 2023 session, with Republicans dropping demands for carve-outs for highly paid workers hours before a marathon special session began on Monday. Under noncompete agreements, employees are barred from working for a competing company — or starting one — for a period of time and within a certain geographic area. Rolling back the ban on noncompete agreements for highly paid workers and those with access to confidential and proprietary information was a top priority for Minnesota's largest companies, whose lobbyists argued the ban jeopardized their right to protect valuable scientific discoveries and trade secrets. Democrats rejected that argument, saying the push to revive noncompete agreements was more about stifling competition and suppressing wages than protecting trade secrets. 'There's no evidence that noncompetes actually foster an innovator's economy,' said Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, an author of the ban. 'It actually does the opposite.' About one in five American workers — in jobs ranging from medicine to child care — are bound by a noncompete agreement, and they cost workers more than $250 billion per year by decreasing competition, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Under the Biden administration, the Federal Trade Commission moved to ban noncompete agreements nationwide last year, estimating it would increase new business development and raise workers' wages by an additional $524 per year on average. A federal court later blocked the ban, and the Trump administration signaled it's likely to reverse course. Despite the pressure from large technology companies to repeal the ban, retired 3M chemical engineer and patent agent Jim Klein told lawmakers that Minnesota is on the right track. Klein, who managed 3M's intellectual property portfolio for 23 years, encouraged the House and Senate labor working group to maintain the blanket ban on noncompete agreements. He said the United States has sufficient protections for trade secrets — like the Uniform Trade Secrets Act — beyond restricting employees' careers. 'It does not make proprietary information any more secure,' Klein said. Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, the author of the carve out, argued the ban would put the state at a competitive disadvantage, noting Minnesota is one of just four states with such broad non-compete bans. The other states with noncompete bans are North Dakota, Oklahoma and California, where the lack of enforceable non-compete agreements has been credited with fueling the immense, wealth-creating innovation of Silicon Valley. The issue tied up the labor committee in the House for weeks until they reached a compromise that passed the House, which would have carved out workers making more than $200,000 and whose primary duties included 'the creation, analysis, or modification of trade secret information.' The bill also carved out workers making more than $500,000 a year regardless of their duties. The Democratic-controlled Senate never passed that provision and the legislative session ended without a deal, which sent the issue to a labor working group, where Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, tried to revive House Republicans' original proposal. That would have carved out workers making more than $120,000 a year and whose primary duties include 'research and development or the creation, analysis, or modification of confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information.' Greenman called the proposal a 'trojan horse' with language so broad that it would effectively allow employers to use noncompetes with any employee simply by calling their work 'confidential.' The labor working group couldn't reach a compromise, but Baker said on the House floor on Monday night that lawmakers must revisit the issue or else large companies like Medtronic will shift operations elsewhere. 'If we don't fix this, these other companies are going to slip away,' Baker said. Democrats were largely able to protect their progressive agenda from 2023 even while passing a smaller budget ahead of a forecasted deficit, with the notable exception of repealing MinnesotaCare for undocumented adults at the end of the year.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota Legislature to pass gloomy $66 billion budget
Lights stay on inside the Minnesota State Capitol Building as the sun sets during a special legislative session Monday, June 9, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) The Minnesota Legislature was expected to pass the final bills comprising the $66 billion, 2026-27 budget in the early hours of Tuesday morning — an 8% decrease from the previous biennium. With final passage of budget bills after a marathon 21-hour special legislative session, the divided Legislature was on pace to hit the most important deadline of all — June 30, after which a partial state government shutdown would commence, affecting schools, roads and social services. The bleary-eyed finish late Monday and early Tuesday morning is a fitting end to a fitful session, which began just after a Democratic senator died in office, putting the upper chamber in a 33-33 tie, later resolved by a Democratic victory in a special session. T he Minnesota Supreme Court was forced to settle a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over the control of the House after Democrats boycotted the Capitol for multiple weeks. Another special election brought the House into a 67-67 tie and a power-sharing agreement. A Democratic senator had her burglary trial delayed, and a Republican senator was arrested in a police sting and charged with one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. Lawmakers adjourned on May 19 without a budget deal, which was followed by weeks of secret negotiations. Lawmakers this session also confronted a tough fiscal reality: The state is spending more money than it's bringing in and is expected to blow through its reserves as soon as 2028. While tax revenues have regularly exceeded expectations, the cost of providing government services — particularly care for the elderly and disabled — has grown even faster. 'The budget we are passing will fund the services Minnesotans rely on to live their daily lives, including care for people with disabilities and seniors, maintenance for roads and bridges, funding for courts and correctional facilities, and support for veterans,' Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said in a statement. 'We are making difficult but responsible decisions to reduce the budget without sacrificing core services.' Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, who hopes to be the majority leader in 18 months, criticized the budget for not cutting spending and taxes. 'We are here today not because we agree with this budget,' Johnson said. 'Minnesotans deserve much, much better.' Legislators could find themselves back in St. Paul later this year: Federal cuts — like those included in the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act — could quickly put the state in a more dire financial position. In 2024, Minnesota spent $18.5 billion on Medical Assistance, Minnesota's Medicaid program, and the federal government covered $11 billion of that. Any Medicaid cuts on the federal level will have major ramifications for the state budget, especially DHS. Many lawmakers are expecting to return to the Capitol sometime in the fall or winter for another special session to grapple with the steep cuts to Minnesota's budget once the federal cuts are signed into law, as expected. Here's some key takeaways from the now completed budget, pending the signature of Gov. Tim Walz, who has 14 days after he receives them to sign or veto the bills passed during the Tuesday special session: The budget is smaller than the record-breaking $72 billion two-year budget passed by the DFL-controlled Legislature in 2023, which was bolstered by the American Rescue Plan and other federal spending under President Joe Biden. The budget bills take a step towards resolving the deficit projected to begin in the 2028-29 budget years, but don't avert it entirely. It closes the gap between revenue and spending by 45%, and will leave approximately $1.9 billion on the bottom line at the end of the biennium. But current projections — which are likely to change significantly based on the economy and federal budget — predict a $290 million deficit in 2028-29. The budget will cut approximately $283 million from projected expenditures over the next two years, with most of the savings coming from the Department of Human Services. Republicans, who control half of the House, won a major concession from the DFL: the repeal of MinnesotaCare eligibility for undocumented adults. The vote came after impassioned speeches from Democrats opposed to the bill. Rep. Kaohly Her, a St. Paul Democrat, said she was 'illegal' because her father lied on an immigration paper to expedite her family's journey to the United States, highlighting the desperate circumstances many immigrants find themselves in. She later clarified that she and her family are American citizens. Lawmakers opted not to give agencies a bump in funding to cover inflation, except for areas of the budget where inflation is built into funding formulas, like education and some areas of DHS. The move saves money across the budget, but will squeeze state agencies as the cost of providing services outpaces their funding. The budget holds education funding steady for the next two years. It also funds pay raises for home care and nursing home workers. The Legislature was also expected to pass a $700 million infrastructure package to pay for upgrades to the state's roads and bridges. The package, known as a bonding bill around the Capitol because it's funded with borrowed money, requires a three-fifths supermajority to pass. It was expected to garner enough votes to pass, though as one of the last bills.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Legislature to repeal MinnesotaCare for undocumented adults
Demonstrators gather for a protest organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee calling for the continuation of MinnesotaCare for undocumented adults at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Despite Democratic-Farmer-Labor control of the state Senate, the governor's office, and half of the House, Republicans forced Democrats to roll back one of their signature accomplishments from the 2023 legislative session: health care for undocumented people. The Legislature is expected to vote Monday to repeal undocumented adults' eligibility for MinnesotaCare, the state-subsidized health insurance program for the working poor. Children would still be covered. Republicans successfully used their leverage — the threat of a government shutdown starting July 1 — to force the Democrats' hand on an issue that is of supreme importance to GOP lawmakers. The DFL pulled out all nearly of the stops to avoid cutting health care access for undocumented adults. During negotiations, DFL leaders offered Republicans concessions related to paid leave, earned sick and safe time, and noncompete agreements — but Republicans didn't budge, said Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina. 'They turned all of those things down, because all they wanted…was to make sure that the 17,000 people were left out to die, that we worsen our health care system and that we decrease our tax revenue,' Mann said at a press conference Monday decrying the move. When Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders announced a budget deal — contingent on repealing MinnesotaCare eligibility for undocumented adults — on May 15, lawmakers with the People of Color Indigenous Caucus protested outside the door. They told reporters later that they were blindsided by the deal. After the announcement, POCI caucus members brought alternatives to legislative leaders, said Rep. Liish Kozlowski, DFL-Duluth. The POCI caucus suggested capping undocumented enrollment in MinnesotaCare, raising premiums, allowing children currently enrolled to retain coverage instead of aging out, or making exceptions for elderly people or those with chronic conditions. None of those options made it into the bill, which is expected to be heard first on the House floor during a 21-hour special session beginning at 10 a.m. Republicans have repeatedly exaggerated the cost of providing health care to undocumented people enrolled in MinnesotaCare. Enrollment has exceeded the state's expectations, however, with more than 17,000 undocumented people currently enrolled. Meanwhile, per-person spending on the undocumented population has been lower than expected, according to the Department of Human Services. Federal politics and funding have complicated the issue: A budget bill passed by the GOP-controlled U.S. House would cut funding to states that provide health care to undocumented people, including Minnesota. And while the federal government pays for some of the cost of MinnesotaCare, it doesn't contribute any money for undocumented enrollees. Walz is expected to sign the bill into law.
