Jessie Diggins got dissed but Russian hackers got a pass? Here’s what didn’t happen at the Capitol.

May 29--Even Jessie Diggins got nothing.

From Minnesota's bid to host a World Cup cross-country skiing event to the secretary of state's simple need for permission to spend federal money to stop Russian election hackers, a ton of seemingly no-brainer things didn't get done at the Capitol.

This happens to some bills every year. Lawmakers just don't get to everything.

But this year was different. Almost all the big policy issues -- and a number of not-so-big ones, including those listed below -- ended up being lumped together in one huge bill -- a roughly 990-page tome that might be the most prodigious bill that ever thudded upon a Minnesota governor's desk. Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed it.

Blame whoever you want: Dayton the Democrat or the Republican-controlled Legislature. (They're blaming each other.) That's not the point of this list.

Nor are we talking here about issues like addressing the opioid crisis or protecting nursing home residents. There was universal agreement that something needed to be done on those, but there were disagreements over what needed to be done and how to pay for it. (Nothing got done with either.)

These are ideas that didn't raise partisan eyebrows. We can't say for sure that Dayton would have signed every one, but they did enjoy bipartisan support, and opposition, if any existed, was essentially silent.

This is a list of just some of the collateral damage from the vetoed fate of the Legislature's humongnibus bill, also informally known as #OmnibusPrime.

DIGGINS' WORLD CUP DREAM

Olympic cross-country skiing gold medalist and Afton native Jessie Diggins didn't return home in April merely to receive a standing ovation in the House chamber, although she got that.

Diggins teamed up with the Loppet Foundation and U.S. Ski and Snowboard and pitched the governor and lawmakers on bringing an International Ski Federation World Ski Championship to Wirth Park in Minneapolis in 2020. They pretty much swooned.

Her official request of lawmakers was for two things:

1. For Dayton and lawmakers to direct the Amateur Sports Commission to support a bid for the event, and

2. For some money to help put it on.

She got neither.

To be clear, the money was never publicly promised, but it could be raised elsewhere. As for the state's official seal of approval, that would have cost nothing.

But x-c ski fans needn't despair. John Munger, executive director of the Loppet Foundation, said they're still pursuing the event.

ELECTION CYBERSECURITY

There's $6.6 million in election cybersecurity funding sitting in a federal government bank account with Minnesota's name on it. Secretary of State Steve Simon wanted to spend $1.5 million of that before November's election to shore up the state's election system from attacks, notably from Russian hackers, who tried once before.

But Simon, a Democrat, needs the permission of the Legislature and governor to have access to it. Minnesota is one of the few states where that's the case. There was widespread bipartisan support.

But it was vetoed with that big bill. Now, he says, his office will do the best it can, and the money will sit there. (It will earn interest, at least.)

SEXUAL CONDUCT AND BUTT-GRABBING

There were at least four sexual-conduct provisions -- all intended to modernize statutes that contained exceptions many today would consider odd, if not offensive -- that had widespread bipartisan support. None happened.

* Outlaw butt-grabbing once and for all. There's currently a clothed-buttocks exception.

* Prohibit police officers from having sex with people in their custody, regardless of whether the person in custody "consents."

* Ban high school teachers from having sex with students or former students during the summer after graduation. Currently, teachers can -- and occasionally do , to the frustration of prosecutors -- have sex with students who are 18 or older.

* Remove what became known as the "marital rape exception," an antiquated piece of language that some prosecutors said creates a loophole for spouses who have sex with a partner who is incapacitated and thus unable to consent.

3D MAMMOGRAMS

Health insurance would have been required to cover preventative breast cancer screening using digital breast tomosynthesis -- 3D mammograms -- for people at risk for breast cancer under a health care provision that didn't survive.

FARMERS' MENTAL HEALTH

A Dayton-backed plan that Republicans also supported would have spent $217,000 to hire one mental health specialist for farmers and rural Minnesotans. There's currently only one such position. And it looks as if it will stay that way.

CHILD PORN

A bill would have enacted stricter penalties for producers and sellers of child pornography if they're repeat offenders, or if the victim is 13 or younger. Didn't happen.

SAFER DRIVING

A series of provisions aimed at reducing accidents related to emergency vehicles didn't survive. One would have specifically required vehicles to slow down when passing parked emergency vehicles. Now, it will remain up to an officer to cite the person for unsafe driving, a more nuanced violation.

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

Last year, the Legislature established a county scholarship program wherein funds could be collected, via donations or other means, for locally designated two-year scholarships at Minnesota State colleges and universities. But the counties needed legislation to establish the actual accounts. They didn't get it.

KILL FEWER TREES WITH RULES

Currently, the Department of Natural Resources is required to print at least one copy of fishing and hunting regulations for every license it sells. It's a strict requirement in an age where many buy their licenses -- and consult the regulations -- online. But the agency will have to keep doing it because the effort to repeal it didn't make it.

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