State Government
HAVA, Russian hackers and provisional ballots: How an ‘early win’ became a legislative quagmire
Approving Minnesota’s allocation of the Help America Vote Act for election security was supposed to be easy. It has been anything but.
Peter Callaghan
Articles by this author:
State Government
Why the Minnesota Legislature loves/hates massive omnibus bills
One critic of omnibus bills, Sen. John Marty, takes issue with the notion that the reliance on omnibus bills is just business as usual.
State Government
As lawmakers take a holiday break, here’s where things stand at the Minnesota Legislature
There are stark differences in philosophy and strategy between the DFL-led House and GOP-run Senate, divisions best illustrated by each side’s omnibus spending and policy bills.
State Government
In a divided Minnesota Legislature, nothing divides like a $1.2 billion tax plan
DFLers say their proposed tax plan would provide the resources to make needed investments. Republicans say those funds aren’t resources — they’re taxes. And the money isn’t an investment — it’s just more government spending.
State Government
So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance: Why gun control is only mostly (but not completely) dead at the Legislature this year
Last week, after House DFL leadership announced its decision to put two gun control measures into a larger public safety bill, leaders of the GOP-controlled Senate declared both pieces of legislation were donzo. Unless …
State Government
Buzzkills: the Minnesota Legislature makes booze bills boring again
While there were lots of bills proposed this session to liberalize and modernize the state’s rules around beer, wine and liquor, none made it into the annual exercise known as the liquor omnibus bill.
State Government
‘Let’s write a new script’: six takeaways from Gov. Tim Walz’s first State of the State address
During the speech, Walz returned several times to his central theme: that things don’t have to be this way. “I hope you have come here not to act in someone else’s script. Let’s write a new script,” he said. And later: “We have to write a different story.”
State Government
How Big Pharma became the biggest villain of the 2019 Minnesota Legislature
Pharma has become such an inviting target that in a Legislature that can’t agree on anything, multiple bills taking on the industry are still alive in both the DFL-controlled House and a GOP-controlled Senate.
State Government
Does the 2019 legislative session have the makings of a state government shutdown?
With less than two months left in the session, it’s hard to see how any deal will come together, not only when it comes to the one must-do — passing a state budget — but also on front-page issues like health care, transportation and guns.
State Government
Wait, a bunch of DFLers just voted to exempt some of Minnesota’s lowest-paid workers from the minimum wage?
The workers are athletes who suit up for the St. Paul Saints, the minor league baseball team that plays home games at the heavily public subsidized CHS Field in Lowertown, 1.2 miles away from the state Capitol.