Posts By: Matt Doll
Blue Line extension blockage highlights transportation inequities in Minnesota
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Last week, municipal elected officials from several northwestern Twin Cities suburbs – Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, and Robbinsdale – called on state and Metropolitan Council leaders to push harder for the construction of the Bottineau Blue Line project, which would extend Metro Transit’s light rail corridor to… Read more »
Third time’s the charm? Legislature to reconvene Monday
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Governor Tim Walz has called the Legislature to return this Monday for another summer special session, after the previous special session from June 12-19 failed to bear fruit on critical issues. The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted normal operations of the Legislature significantly, but strong bipartisan cooperation earlier this year has… Read more »
With Senate stonewalling, special session ends with no agreement
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Early this morning, the Minnesota Legislature adjourned its weeklong special session after reaching no agreements on racial justice, police accountability, funding for environmental projects, COVID-19 responses, or any other outstanding major issue from the end of the regular session in May. Though Governor Walz and leadership in the DFL-controlled House… Read more »
How the Legislature should make the most of the next week
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Yesterday, on June 12, the Minnesota Legislature reconvened for a Special Session, as they were legally required to do owing to laws concerning Governor Walz’s emergency declaration. The Republican-controlled Senate has indicated that they only plan to stay in session until next Friday, leaving less than a week remaining to… Read more »
Racial justice, bonding on the table in special session
Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership The Minnesota Legislature is almost certain to reconvene for a special session starting by this Friday, June 12. Several major items of concern are likely to be considered that are of great importance to Minnesota’s environmental community. The Legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus has put forward a series… Read more »
On George Floyd and justice: Where do we go from here?
George Floyd was murdered. It’s an outrage and an injustice. But we need to do more than just make this declaration. He was murdered by the staff of a Minnesota city. By police that were hired, trained and retained under the laws of our land, empowered with our collective tax dollars. And this isn’t the… Read more »
Legislative session ends, but lawmakers’ work isn’t over
By Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership May 18 marked the final day of the Minnesota’s 2020 Legislative Session, but the third Monday of the month marked more of a pause than a conclusion to the Legislature’s work for the year – a comma, not a period. The Legislature plans to pick up its work where… Read more »
Minnesota Senate stonewalling may leave Environmental Trust Fund money on the table
By Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership On Tuesday, we received troubling news about Minnesota’s work to restore and protect our natural spaces. State Representative Rick Hansen, chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division, posted a letter from his Senate counterpart, Bill Ingebrigtsen, in which Senator Ingebrigtsen said that the Senate does not… Read more »
Upgrading Minnesota water systems: Vital to our health, a boost to our economy
By Matt Doll, Minnesota Environmental Partnership The Minnesota Legislature has been working aggressively over the past few weeks to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and its harsh impacts on our state’s communities. Throughout the rest of the spring (or summer, if a special session is called), they will have to contend with tough questions about… Read more »