Democracy At Risk

On February 17, your Chamber executed on a fabulously successful Annual Meeting. It was so wonderful to see so many of you in person, and the energy throughout the evening was palpable.  As you know, our keynote speaker was General Paul Nakasone, the Director of the NSA and Commander of US CYBERCOM.  Looking back, the timing – and our speakers’ much bigger responsibilities – gives me pause.  Up until the very day of the event, we were preparing for the potential of a virtual appearance from the General. Now we know why, don’t we? Despite the international crisis that subsequently ensued, General Nakasone still chose to take the trip to Minnesota to talk to you. I find that extraordinary. His message: business is vulnerable to cyber intrusions, take steps to protect your business.
 
And today? All eyes are focused - with horror – on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. No one more so than our Minnesotans with Ukrainian ties. The juxtaposition, one week to the next, grips me.
 
To add to my ruminations, last week I read a commentary by The New York Times communist German Lopez, Putin vs Democracy. Lopez speaks to the “global retreat” of democracy worldwide for the past 15+ years. The invasion of Ukraine — the largest war in Europe since World War II — is a significant escalation even among the world’s increasingly ruthless authoritarian leaders. The country’s fall would mark a violent end to one of the world’s democracies. “Maneuvers like Putin’s, as well as insufficient pushback from other governments, have fostered this global democratic decline, experts say. Just one in five people now live in countries designated as “free,” down from nearly one in two in 2005, a new report from Freedom House found.” 
 
Freedom House is the oldest U.S. organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world. It originally was established in New York in 1941 to promote American involvement in World War II to fight against fascism. Its current president, Michael Abramowitz, said to The New York Times in that same article, that the invasion of Ukraine is “a taste of what a world without checks on antidemocratic behavior would look like.”  
 
Note that President Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday at 9 p.m. I will be watching to learn more about the U.S. and world response.
 
See you in the trenches.
B

• Mask mandates lifted in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Remain in effect for city buildings. Here’s what’s next in the COVID-recovery plans.  Dakota county requirement is being lifted March 1 for county buildings, and February 28 in Washington county.
• CDC eases masking recommendations for 70% of the country, including inside schools.  
• New omicron COVID subvariant BA.2 detected in the Twin Cities wastewater.

• ​Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller lays out the case for a half-point March interest rate increase - provided the economic data calls for action, adding that inflation "is far too high and needs to come down" and that the central bank "must demonstrate the will" to use its tools to combat rising consumer prices. Meanwhile, in the February Consumer Spending Report: inflation over the past year has spared few sectors of the economy, with growing shares of household expenditures going toward staples such as groceries and housing. 
• On Wednesday, St. Paul and Minneapolis teachers filed their intent to Strike, starting March 8. ​
• The Met Council has released the 2022 Regional Solicitation on February 22 and will accept applications for federal transportation funding until April 14 at 4 p.m. The Transportation Advisory Board will select projects for funding in late 2022. About $180 million in federal transportation funds will be available for allocation in 2026 and 2027. Eligible applicants include the seven metro area counties, cities and townships, state agencies, tribal governments, transit providers, and other organizations in partnership with government agencies. Learn more and apply online for the regional solicitation.
• Today, the Office of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released the state’s February budget forecast, which projects the state budget to have a $9.253 billion surplus for the biennium, which began on July 1, 2021 and runs through June 30, 2023. This is a $1.507 billion improvement from the state's November budget forecast.
  

​Public Safety:

• St. Paul Area Chamber public safety listening sessions: register for a session in your ward.  We need your input!
• Governor Walz hosted public safety roundtable in Brooklyn Park.  He spoke to his $300M grant package to fund a variety of public safety initiatives.

 
Federal:

• The St. Paul Area Chamber has signed on to a letter authored by the National Association of Manufacturers, urging action to protect manufacturers’ ability to immediately deduct research and development expenses from their taxes. Starting this year, these expenses must be amortized over a period of years, which will negatively impact manufacturers’ ability to innovate, grow, and create high-paying jobs.

 
State:

• Total State ARPA money:  $73 billion came to Minnesota from three big federal laws: the CARES Act of March 2020; the Coronavirus Response and Relief Act of December 2020; and the American Rescue Plan Act of March 2021. 
• A showdown is brewing over temporary vs permanent tax cuts. Minnesota Senate Republicans rolled out a proposal Thursday to reduce the first-tier income tax rate from 5.35% to 2.8% and eliminate the state tax on Social Security benefits.

 
Regional

• Last week Mayor Carter gave his annual State of the City address. He outlined ongoing priorities around public safety and called for changes to the rent stabilization ordinance including exemption for new construction.  
• Last week St. Paul’s City Council shared that $4.5 million of Federal ARP dollars awarded to the City would be used to fund grants for tourism geared toward bringing visitors back to Saint Paul.  In Scott County: After two intensive works sessions, the Scott County Board provided direction on how ARPA funds should be invested in programs. See page 22 of this report.  
• Transit ridership began to recover in 2021. Met Council staff presented the full ridership report (PDF) at the February 14 Transportation Committee meeting.

 
Read more updates in our weekly Chamber Advocacy Update.

• March is Women’s History Month. Join us on March 9 for Lunch with Leaders, featuring mavericks:  Kenya McKnight-Ahad, Founder/President of Black Women’s Wealth Alliance; Major General Johanna Clyborne, Assistant Adjutant General; and Lara Juras, Executive Vice President of the Minnesota Vikings. Register here!
• 2022 Equity Leadership Series, presented by Bremer Bank,  kicks off on March 16. Facilitated again this year by Anika Ward of Sankofa Leadership Network. Register here!
• It's that time again: Minnesota Manufacturing Awards, hosted by the MSPBJ. Also, if you could promote the nominations in your network, that would be wonderful.​

• The retention mistake companies continue to make in the COVID-19 era.
• Many women remain out of the workforce. How can employers get them back?
• This was a very interesting read, new concept for me.  Best-selling author Patrick Lencioni has an exercise for you: the next time you meet with your executive leadership team, ask each of them, “What's more important: my team that you're a member of or the team that you're the leader of?” If the answer is their team, it may be time for a conversation. In this two-minute excerpt from his exclusive event with the Vistage community, Lencioni explains why putting the executive team first will help build cohesion across an organization.​​

• The federal jury last Friday found Kueng, Thao and Lane guilty of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. 
• I sit on the Board of USA Expo 2027, in support of Minnesota’s bid to host the 2027 World Fair in Bloomington MN. This would mark the first time the U.S. has hosted the Expo in over 40 years. Four other countries are competing – Serbia, Spain, Argentina, and Thailand. We will be working towards a Spring 2023 presentation, with a decision to be announced in June of 2023.
• Minneapolis and St. Paul have launched a network of 100% renewably powered on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging stations called the EV Spot Network.They can be used by private EVs as well the new Evie Carshare fleet operated by HOURCAR, a non-profit carsharing service. The EV Spot Network is the first in the country powered entirely by renewable energy. Five electric vehicle charging spots opened for public this month and the other 65 will be installed by fall 2022. Check here to learn more about EV Spot Network.  Partners include: HOURCAR, East Metro Strong, and Xcel Energy.  

• On Sunday, the U.S. Economic Development Administration announced the list of the 509 applications submitted for the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge.  To find a list of applicants and to read Assistant Secretary Alejandra Y. Castillo’s letter to them, please click here.
• Industrial sector on the rise: a “record-breaking” year, according to a report released by JLL last week. In the Twin Cities, demand for industrial space was “unprecedented” in the fourth quarter of last year, with nearly 1.8 million square feet of construction delivered and about 80% of that preleased.
• Metro-area homebuilding permits tank in February. Builders pulled permits for 432 new single-family houses during the month, down 17% from February 2021, according to a month-end report released Thursday by the Keystone Report, which tracks homebuilding permits in the 13-county metro area. After a solid January, single-family permits are now underwater for 2022. So far this year, the metro area has seen permits for 1,038 new single-family dwellings, down 2% from 2021, according to Keystone.

• Scannell Properties, owner of the former Deluxe Corp. HQ site in Shoreview, is considering redevelopment plans that could bring several in new office buildings, or a mixed-use project.
• Developers are forging ahead on office projects despite uncertainty over remote work: 48.5M SF of new office space in 2022, nearing pre-COVID-19 levels. ​