Hot dish 09.24.24

By Sydney Kashiwagi

Hello! And welcome to another DC Dish.

We’ve got day two of our Minnesota poll out this morning, this one looking at how Minnesotans feel about Gov. Tim Walz.

WHAT THE NUMBERS SHOW: Minnesotans of different political stripes vary dramatically in how they believe Walz handled the COVID-19 pandemic and the riots after the police murder of George Floyd, and remain divided now that he is running to become vice president, my colleague Josie Albertson-Grove reports on the latest Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll.

The poll also found 53% of those surveyed said they approved of how Walz has done as governor, while 44% disapproved. Voters who did not identify with either major political party were slightly more likely to have an unfavorable opinion of Walz’s job performance. Forty-eight percent had a favorable opinion of Walz, while 47% were unfavorable.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who would succeed Walz if he is elected vice president, is still largely unknown to Minnesotans. Some 47% of respondents said they were not sure if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of her. Even among Democrats, almost a third said they were not sure what they thought.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, was similarly polarizing for Minnesotans, with 91% of Democrats seeing him unfavorably, and 93% of Republicans favorable.

The poll’s findings were based on interviews with 800 likely Minnesota voters conducted from Sept. 16 to Sept. 18. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

DEBATE PREP: Rep. Tom Emmer is helping Vance get ready for the first VP debate next week with Walz, the New York Times reports.

Vance reportedly chose Emmer so that the congressman can help him prepare for “Walz’s folksy style,” and Emmer has been doing his homework by “immersing” himself in Walz’s previous debates and policy views.

JOINT INAUGURAL COMMITTEE: Members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) and the Architect of the Capitol kicked off construction of the inaugural platform the next president and vice president-elect will be sworn in on during the first Nail Ceremony for the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies last week.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar leads the six-member bipartisan committee that’s tasked with planning and overseeing inaugural events of the president and vice president-elect. The committee has overseen inaugural events at the U.S. Capitol since 1901.

During the ceremony, Klobuchar used a nail that was made from iron ore mined and processed on the Iron Range by U.S. Steel at their Keewatin and Mountain Iron facilities. She also used a hammer that was made by Malco Tools from Annandale.

POLAR SEMICONDUCTOR: Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee, announced today that the U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded Polar Semiconductor’s Bloomington Manufacturing Facility $123 million in federal funding as part of the CHIPS and Science Act to expand its facility.

The Minnesota manufacturing facility produces at least 21,000 wafer semiconductors a month.

“America must stay on the cutting edge of manufacturing to maintain our economic edge on the world stage. This landmark federal investment in Polar Semiconductor’s Bloomington facility is a major step toward strengthening domestic production of advanced semiconductors,” Klobuchar said in a statement.

“Today’s announcement that the Department of Commerce has finalized the first commercial CHIPS Incentives award with Polar Semiconductor marks the next phase of the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, and demonstrates how we continue to deliver on the Investing in America agenda,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “Polar’s new facility will also be completed under a Project Labor Agreement to support its construction workforce, creating good-quality union jobs in Bloomington, Minnesota.”

Business reporter Burl Gilyard reported on Polar’s preliminary agreement in May.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN UPDATE: House Republicans have unveiled a new short-term spending plan over the weekend that would fund the federal government for another three months, the AP reported.

The spending plan includes funding for a presidential transition as well as a $231 million boost to the Secret Service after the second assassination attempt against Trump.

The controversial SAVE Act that Trump was pushing to include was scrapped from the latest plan. The measure, which was attached to the previous version of the spending plan, would require proof of citizenship in federal elections.

The House will vote on the bill sometime this week.

FREE ELECTION COVERAGE: We’re making all of our election news coverage free to read, as of Monday.

“One of our most basic responsibilities as citizens is to vote, and one of our most essential jobs as a news organization is to inform our readers about the candidates, campaigns and issues and to track election results. With the state’s largest elections reporting team, we’re committed to delivering top-notch coverage for Minnesotans,” Editor and Senior Vice President Suki Dardarian wrote.

BIPARTISANSHIP: Last week, Minnesota’s federal delegation worked together across the aisle to introduce two new bills.

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith and Reps. Angie Craig (D) and Brad Finstad (R) reintroduced the 21st Century Workforce Partnerships Act. It’s a bill that would create grant programs within the U.S. Department of Education to help middle and high school students explore future career opportunities. The grants would fund initiatives like partnerships between higher education institutions and businesses that would provide career training programs for those students.

Finstad and Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips also teamed up to introduced the Pathways to Policing Act last week. Craig is also a co-sponsor of the bill and it’s endorsed by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, and the National Fraternal Order of Police. The bill that would allow the Department of Justice to fund and operate programs that seek to expand the pipeline of candidates interested in law enforcement jobs and help with local law enforcement agencies struggling with staffing.

DC PITSTOPS: Jake Coleman, the Minnesota state director of the conservative political group Americans for Prosperity is in town this week for the group’s annual “Capitol Conference,” where he and other AFP state directors are meeting with members of their respective congressional delegation to discuss the looming fiscal cliff.

State Sens. Judy Seeberger (DFL-Afton), Grant Hauschild (DFL-Hermantown) and Rob Kupec (DFL-Moorhead) are also in town this week with representatives from the state’s Emergency Medical Services Task Force to talk about EMS initiatives in Minnesota. They will meet with Minnesota’s federal lawmakers and White House staffers. Their visit comes after state legislature created Minnesota’s new Office of Emergency Medical Services and provided funding for the Sprint Medic Pilot Program in Otter Tail County and Saint Louis County and gave $24 million in funding for struggling EMS providers

WHERE’S WALZ:

Walz has no public events scheduled on his official gubernatorial calendar.

The Harris-Walz campaign notes that Walz will remain in St. Paul where he will hold internal meetings and in the afternoon, plans to deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, First Lady Gwen Walz is headed to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to canvas with Democratic volunteers this afternoon. This will be her second trip to the state.

READING LIST

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