Politics Friday

The Senate health and human services committee will hear a bill that would establish an insulin assistance program. The proposal from Republican Senator Eric Pratt would provide access to insulin for Minnesotans unable to afford it. It also includes an emergency supply provision similar to one favored by House Democrats.

Some polls are showing Democrat Amy Klobuchar within striking distance of Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden in New Hampshire as voters there head to the polls Tuesday. And Minnesota lawmakers kick off their 14-week session to tackle insulin, a bonding bill and other issues.

Legislative leaders say they hope to come away with a bonding bill and some other compromises despite an election-year session with lots of distractions. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar is campaigning for the final day before the New Hampshire primary.

On this edition of Politics Friday, host Mike Mulcahy sits down with newly elected Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent. Sen. Kent defeated longtime leader Sen. Tom Bakk to become the first woman to lead the caucus. She joins the program to talk about her new role and what it means for the upcoming legislative session.

Then we speak with House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler on the DFL's push to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota. Later in the hour, we check in with MPR News reporter Mark Zdechlik and two experts on the presidential race ahead of next week's New Hampshire primary.

On today’s edition: The debate over copper nickel mining goes to Washington; Minneapolis and St. Paul step up anti-crime efforts

"No one gets momentum out of a fifth-place finish in Iowa,” said Dante Scale, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. He said Klobuchar's apparent poor showing in Iowa could be the end of her presidential campaign.

Iowa Democratic Party officials say there were problems with an app that was designed to streamline the reporting of caucus results. It didn’t go as planned.

It’s Caucus Night in Iowa. Democrat Amy Klobuchar says she’s surging. And the Line 3 oil pipeline’s environmental review gets another look from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Gov. Tim Walz talks about the upcoming legislative session, coronavirus and whether DFLers and Republicans can make a compromise on insulin. We also hear from reporters Brian Bakst and Mark Zdechlik, who are on the ground in Iowa ahead of that state's caucuses.

Members of civil rights and social justice organizations gathered in Minneapolis yesterday to call for Sen. Amy Klobuchar to drop out of the presidential race. They cite a story by the Associated Press that alleges Klobuchar oversaw the prosecution of a then-teenager who may have been wrongly convicted of a deadly shooting.