With all 201 seats in the Legislature and all four constitutional offices on the ballot, much of the campaign rhetoric related to this session will be on the things one side wanted to pass but the other side blocked.
Laura Kalambokidis, Minnesota government’s top economist for the last decade, said she worries not only about looming economic threats but the uncertainty of what’s to come.
As with dozens of other provisions never voted on at the Capitol, the preservation credit is a victim of bigger disagreements over bigger issues. Unlike other issues, however, the credit faces a deadline.
The session ended with a whimper two weeks ago, and the only actual meeting between Walz and legislative leaders came last Friday. There were few encouraging words. So what happened?
Three of the four private plaintiffs in the case have asked the special five-judge panel that drew the state’s new political maps to award them a little more than $1 million to cover attorney fees and costs.
“The value is not only to the candidates themselves but to the party writ large, to unify behind a candidate as early as possible and save our resources for a general election campaign,” says DFL Chair Ken Martin.
Because special education services are mandated by the federal government — and because federal and state funding doesn’t actually cover the cost of them — districts move money from other budget areas to cover the costs.
Gov. Tim Walz’s threat that he would not call a special session may have served as a catalyst for action, but in the end, it didn’t push lawmakers toward success — and may not have actually been true.
The tax bill is a major part of a so-called “4-4-4” deal to spend $4 billion of Minnesota’s historic surplus over the next three years on tax cuts, $4 billion on new spending and leave $4 billion remaining in reserves.
Due to a lack of contested races, the party’s state convention was sparsely attended and tepid in tone. It took all of six minutes for delegates to nominate and endorse both Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan by acclamation.
House Commerce Committee Chair Zack Stephenson, who has been in the middle of both issues, said he is not giving up on the gambling legislation — and is ecstatic about the proposed liquor law changes.
Not since 1994 has a non-endorsed GOP candidate won Minnesota’s Republicans primary, which means candidates must cater to the most active and conservative party members — the 2,000 delegates who show up at the state convention.
Unlike previous deals struck by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, the agreement announced Monday puts the onus on committee chairs at the Legislature to work out many of the details.
Jensen, a one-term Minnesota state senator and family doctor who rose to national prominence as a critic of COVID-19 restrictions, prevailed over four other Republican candidates.
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