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By Allison Kite

Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Good morning, and happy Friday! The first week of the Minnesota Legislature's 2026 session got off to a busy start. 

As my colleague Walker Orenstein and I reported, GOP lawmakers focused the bulk of their energy on anti-fraud measures as Minnesota grapples with fraud in its social services programs. DFLers, meanwhile, spent much of the week hearing from Minnesotans affected by the monthslong immigration crackdown that left two U.S. citizens dead.

While other issues, including gun violence, are expected to come up this year, immigration and fraud loomed large over the first week. 

Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, proposed a measure meant to keep immigration agents out of schools and hospitals. 

“To target our children — what does that say about how far we have fallen?” Mann said.

Republicans kicked off the week by questioning officials from the Department of Human Services on safeguarding programs from fraud.

“We are at this crisis now where we are the laughingstock of the nation,” said Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, during a committee hearing on addressing fraud. “Quite frankly, it’s embarrassing.”

After a DFL anti-fraud bill — which Republicans said was a watered down version of the proposal — stalled in committee, GOP House members tried to fast-track it to the floor. That motion failed on a party-line vote. Read more. 

State may close part of Capitol tunnel system. Typically, one can make a snow-free loop walking from the State Capitol to the Veterans Service Building about a half-mile to the south via the Capitol Complex Tunnel System. The west side of the loop, though, is currently closed due to State Office Building construction.

And now, it appears that the east side of the loop might close, too.

The Walz administration is proposing to spend $18 million to knock down the aging Centennial Office Building in the next few years. The state would close the tunnel in that area until the site was redeveloped at some point in the future, Department of Administration Assistant Commissioner Wayne Waslaski told the House Capital Investment Committee yesterday.

That plan is contingent on legislators passing a bonding bill this year, Waslaski clarified to my colleague Nathaniel Minor. That’s not a certainty. And several legislators had concerns over accessibility for people with disabilities and people who park in a nearby parking ramp.

The state could add an entrance from the parking ramp to the remaining part of the tunnel for about $2 million, Waslaski said. Otherwise, pedestrians wanting to get from the Capitol to the Veterans building would be encouraged to use the western tunnels — once they reopen.

Klobuchar, Smith urge Trump admin to collaborate on Pretti investigation. U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi to press the federal government to work with state law enforcement on the review of Alex Pretti's killing by immigration agents.

The letter comes after the FBI denied the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension access to evidence of Pretti's killing on south Minneapolis in January. The BCA has also sought evidence in the immigration agent's killing of Renee Good and shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis.

Klobuchar and Smith said it was "critical there be a thorough, objective and impartial investigation," which they said requires "full cooperation" with state and local authorities. The senators noted after the assassination of Minnesota House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman last summer, federal officials worked with state law enforcement.

"The administration’s decision raises serious questions about its objectivity, particularly after administration officials have made statements, including calling Mr. Pretti a 'domestic terrorist,' that prejudged the matter and conflicted with videos and other evidence that has already become public," the senators wrote. 

DFLers in the Minnesota House sought to fast-track a bill yesterday that would allow the BCA to independently investigate acts of force by federal authorities, but that effort failed on a party-line vote. A Minnesota Senate committee will hear a similar bill today. 

Walz has no public events scheduled today. 

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The Senate Judiciary Committee will weigh several bills proposed by DFLers related to the immigration crackdown, including prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks and allowing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate shootings involving federal agents.