Good morning and welcome to Thursday.  It’s been a busy 24 hours, so let’s check the Digest.

1. A Ramsey County judge Wednesday declared DFL Gov. Mark Dayton’s line-item vetoes of funding for the Minnesota House and Senate violated the separation of powers clause of the Minnesota constitution and are “null and void.” Dayton says he will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Ramsey County Court Chief Judge John Guthmann wrote that because the vetoes were unconstitutional, the funding for the Legislature included in the state departments funding bill that Dayton signed became law with the rest of the bill. It’s unclear whether Dayton will appeal the decision. Legislative leaders urged him not to. (MPR News)

2. In his first public comments since Saturday’s police shooting in Minneapolis Dayton defended Minnesota law enforcement and called the death of Justine Damond “a horrible tragedy.” Dayton said he has reached out to the U.S. State Department to coordinate any response with the Australian government, and reached out to the Australian consulate in Chicago to “offer whatever support or assistance I could.” He said he has also offered his condolences to Damond’s family. When asked if her death and the prior police shootings of Jamar Clark and Philando Castile show a “trigger-happy” policing system, Dayton responded: “I don’t think ‘trigger-happy’ is an appropriate term to apply to Minnesota law enforcement. We’re all dependent on them to be patrolling every minute of every day and night to keep it safe… 99.99 percent of the time they conduct themselves admirably and with restraint.” (Pioneer Press)

3. Dayton described a meeting Wednesday with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt as “productive and cordial” and said he’s hopeful the Trump administration will eliminate some of the federal government red tape dealt to state agencies. “We don’t believe we need to be micromanaged by Region 5 in Chicago,” Dayton said during a news conference following a meeting at the Capitol that lasted more than an hour. Dayton said state agencies want to establish a “collaborative and cooperative” relationship with the EPA. Pruitt is on a tour of states to emphasize Trump administration moves to roll back directives of the previous Democratic administration. That includes the Waters of the United States rule that spells out which wetlands, streams and lakes fall under federal jurisdiction. (MPR News)

4. More than 200 people crowded into a meeting at the Minnesota Department of Education Wednesday to make their stances known about the department’s tool kit for “Safe and Supportive Schools for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.” Opponents of the tool kit, led by the Minnesota Family Council, a conservative Christian coalition, showed up wearing red at the MDE offices in Roseville. Advocates for transgender students, led by OutFront Minnesota and their allies, showed up in purple. The tool kit is essentially a nonbinding guide for schools with information about providing welcoming environments for all students and offering guidelines for school officials to support transgender and gender nonconforming students. Opponents say it goes too far. (Star Tribune)

5. Former Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was back in the spotlight Wednesday at a forum for Republican candidates for governor in Waconia. Her words, at times pointed and inflammatory, often targeted the state’s changing demographics and its Muslim Somali population. “Minnesota is a state that now has a reputation for terrorism,” she said, mentioning, among other things, a 2016 stabbing attack in a mall in St. Cloud. “That’s what I see in Minnesota — too many people who are afraid of being called ‘racist,’ ‘bigots,’ ‘Islamophobe,’ ” Bachmann said. “I’m not afraid of it.” She also mentioned Justine Damond, who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. She called Noor an “affirmative-action hire by the hijab-wearing mayor of Minneapolis, Betsy Hodges,” and insinuated that Noor may have shot Damond for “cultural” reasons. Bachmann said she is not running for governor. (Star Tribune)

by Mike Mulcahy MPR