Monthly Archives: May 2015

Monday night at the Capitol the Constitutional deadline for a midnight end of session was met with legislators speed reading, voting on unread bills, and shouting to be heard.

Governor Mary Dayton took no prisoners today, lashing out at Republicans for refusing to give an additional $125 million to K-12 education in the...

On an 83-50 vote, the environment and natural resources funding bill, HF 846, passed through the Minnesota House this afternoon and by a slimmer 35-30 vote through the Senate. One of Governor Dayton's top priorities, 50 foot buffers with stricter enforcement, was in the bill.

Late yesterday afternoon Governor Mark Dayton held a press conference to restate firmly that he will veto any bill that does not include more money for education, specifically, he wants $150 million more for K-12 and $173 million to establish a half-day universal PreK program for all Minnesota four-year-olds.

On May 5th, Senator Sean Nienow, R- Cambridge, offered three different measures that would avoid a complete government shutdown in case the legislature missed the midnight deadline tonight. None of the measures passed, nor had companion bills in the House. With hours remaining and Governor Dayton threatening vetoes on budget bills, legislators may regret not passing Nienow’s plans which had co-sponsorship from Sen Dan Hall, R-Burnsville, Sen Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes, Sen Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, and Sen Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake.

The State Senate recently passed a campaign finance bill, which was initially proposed as a technical, noncontroversial bill. Senator Nelson, however, believes that this bill is very controversial, and is expressing concern over a provision of the bill that will allow parties to donate to legislators during the legislative session, stating that it could lead to coercion in voting.

In the final day of the legislative session, one thing looks clear:  There will be no tax relief for Minnesotans who pay some of...

The Minnesota House has agreed to an overall budget target of $41.5 billion, a 5% increase from the previous biennium general fund spending, but...

In the final budget negotiations, it's likely that a major expansion of taxpayer-funded conservation easements will occur with support from House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown...

Many hot issues that haven't yet made it through both legislative chambers could still end up being passed as final budget negotiations wrap up. Granting...