Monthly Archives: May 2015

Last year--when Democrats had control of the legislature-- $4 million was allocated to expand school lunch and breakfast programs in Minnesota. Of that amount, $569,000 was spent to provide free breakfasts for all Minnesota public-school kindergartners.

Minnesota College Republicans' Chairwoman Aly Eichman speaks about the future of Republicanism.

When the legislative session ended on May 18th, there was some resolution on data privacy issues in relation to law enforcement.  Legislation was negotiated...

While the majority of Minnesotans spent their Memorial weekend grilling and relaxing, Governor Mark Dayton was busy vetoing an additional two key spending bills, adding to the existing controversy and speculation surrounding the upcoming special session, which was originally generated after his veto on the legislature’s education budget.

State Auditor Rebecca Otto has been in activist mode since the legislature passed a bill that would allow Minnesota counties to hire private auditing firms instead of being obligated to use the auditor's office for their needs. The auditor's office has oversight of the billions of dollars that local governments spend every year, but unlike Minnesota cities and school boards, the counties were required to pay the state office for annual audits. Governor Dayton has already signed the state government bill that would enact the changes, but an upcoming special session may cause the issue to be revisited as Dayton has stated that he wants legislators to repeal the provision.

overnor Dayton came out with a laundry list of priorities he wants to see tackled in a special session including expansion of rural broadband. The funding would be a part of the omnibus jobs bill that was one of the three large bills vetoed by the Governor. Last year the Governor rejected the larger $100 million funding request for rural broadband because the plan “lacked details about specific projects,” and while the grant program provides no greater detail than it did last year, the Governor wants additional funding to be included in new budget negotiations.

Governor Dayton vetoed two more bills over the holiday weekend, bring the total to three for the upcoming special session. Dayton will spend his time today with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges to welcome U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and campaign for paid family and sick leave.

Governor Mark Dayton has followed through on his threat, and vetoed the education bill that does not meet his demands for funding a universal pre-k program for all Minnesota four year olds. The veto has legislators waiting to hear when and where a special will take place in order to pass critical legislation.

Governor Mark Dayton officially vetoed the K-12 education bill yesterday under the auspices of wanting $173 million to start a half-day universal PreK program for all Minnesota 4-year-olds.

The state government bill that passed through the legislature before session-end included a measure to suspend Minnesota's Political Contribution Refund (PCR) program.  The $10 million program allows individuals...