State Roundup – March 8

Test drill site near Babbitt confirms rich helium pocket

A company looking for helium beneath Northeastern Minnesota’s forest floor said it found the lightweight gas this week, confirming an earlier 2011 finding.

In a news release Thursday, Feb. 29, British Columbia-based Pulsar Helium said its drilling rig encountered gases with a 12.4% helium concentration at depths of 1,750 and 2,200 feet. The concentration was measured with an on-site mass spectrometer. The collected gas samples will be sent to a laboratory for “full molecular composition, removal of atmospheric (air) contamination, and isotopic characterization.”

The discovery of helium caught many off-guard, including state regulators. It’s not clear which state agency would be in charge of overseeing helium production.

Indian national charged with smuggling illegals over MN border

An Indian national has been charged in federal court for his alleged involvement in a human smuggling operation that transported illegals from Canada to the United States.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 28, was charged with multiple federal crimes for arranging to illegally smuggle Indian nationals into the U.S. via Minnesota’s northern border with Canada. Two years ago, a family of four were found frozen to death in Canada near the Minnesota border. Patel allegedly hired a man named Steve Shand to assist multiple illegals, including the family of four, in their attempts to illegally enter the U.S. Shand was arrested in January of 2022 for his role and is currently awaiting trial. Shand assisted authorities in tracking down Patel, who was arrested in Chicago last week.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in the District of Minnesota, Patel is charged with transportation of illegals in violation of federal law, and “conspiracy to bring and attempt to bring an illegal alien to the United States.”

Walz ignores risk of illegal immigration in state budget forecast

Gov. Walz’s Office of Management and Budget released the February forecast last Thursday showing an alleged improved outlook for the economy and the state budget for the current two-year budget cycle. The state is set to spend $70.5 billion in fiscal years 2024-25 with $60.9 billion in revenue.

The forecast for the next budget cycle improved but still shows the state spending $1.4 billion more than it will take in ($66.2 billion in spending against $64.8 billion in revenue). The Walz administration calls this a “structural deficit” but claims everything will be fine as long as the legislature doesn’t spend the $2.2 billion balance that’s expected to carry over from the current (24-25) budget.

One risk conspicuously absent from the forecast the effect of illegal immigration on Minnesota—no mention of its cost on school enrollment, health care (free for illegals) college tuition (free for illegals) and added crime. The flood of illegals could turn out to be a huge drain on state and local resources, just like we’re seeing in New York, Chicago, and Denver—and the problem will be exponentially worse if the legislature adopts the proposal to make us a sanctuary state.

New report warns MN welfare spending ‘a fiscal time bomb’

A new report released by Center of the American Experiment highlights the unsustainable growth in human services spending that is driving the Minnesota state budget toward a deficit. Including the $6 billion passed in the 2023 legislative session, spending on welfare programs such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and childcare is slated to grow by $14 billion during the next four years.

In that period, $42 of every $100 in new general fund spending will be allocated to health and human services. The report also found that Minnesota is among the most generous states in the country with welfare spending, ranking third in the nation on spending per person living below federal poverty at $34,379.

“The heavy and growing burden of our expanding welfare system on the state budget, taxpayers, and the broader economy should be cause for concern,” said American Experiment economist Martha Njolomole. “If left unaddressed, Minnesota’s welfare system is a fiscal time bomb.”

Painting without a license could soon be illegal in Minnesota

Minnesota lawmakers are, at best, offering a “solution” to a problem that doesn’t exist. At worst, they are weaponizing the law to benefit special interests. A new bill (SF 3554) proposed by the Minnesota Senate seeks to impose strict new regulations on who can paint, and what kind of paints can be used.

The legislation would restrict the “sale of certain solvent-based paint materials to licensees; [establish] a paint contractor board; [and require] licensing for paint contractors and journeyworker painters.”

What precisely is wrong with the current situation is unclear. It surely can’t be because Democrat Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy’s husband owns a painting company, could it?