Why Minnesota and other states are worried about FEMA COVID relief payments
Minnesota and other states are being told that personal protective equipment might be removed from the list of expenses FEMA will reimburse them for.
Peter Callaghan
Peter Callaghan covers state government for MinnPost. Follow him on Twitter or email him at pcallaghan(at)minnpost(dot)com.
Southwest light rail, a project left for dead (more than once), is 25 percent complete
Earlier this month, the Federal Transit Administration sent what’s called the full funding grant agreement for the $2 billion project to Congress, triggering a 30-day review that is mostly a formality.
How marijuana legalization party candidates could decide control of the Minnesota Senate
Numerous legislative battleground races include pot party candidates, some with tenuous connections to the legalization movement, causing some DFLers to believe the candidates could simply be there to hurt Democrats.
‘Enthusiasm and a poor grasp of the facts’: a Q&A with the Bud for Minnesota campaign, whatever that is
The campaign was created to promote Budland Q. “Bud” McKenzie, who supposedly operates a mail order clothing catalog for barrel-chested dogs out of Bloomington, to run for a yet-to-be-named office.
How Minnesota Senate Republicans could dismantle the Walz administration, commissioner by commissioner
And what Walz could do about it.
Who’s running for the Minnesota Legislature in 2020
Between now and Election Day, we’re keeping track of all the candidates for the Minnesota Legislature’s 201 seats.
Don’t expect much to get done during the Minnesota Legislature’s latest special session
One issue that might be taken up this week: using federal CARES Act money to increase grant funding to provide day services for people with disabilities.
The fence restricting access to the Minnesota State Capitol isn’t coming down anytime soon after all
Two weeks after the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Administration said the fence would soon be gone, she is now recommending that it remain in place — with no date for removal.
Despite projected deficit, Minnesota officials in no rush to implement budget cuts
Compared to other states, Minnesota hasn’t taken drastic measures, or many measures at all.
A field guide to one of the weirdest Minnesota primary elections ever
From most compelling races to the oddity of voting in the time COVID, an overview of what might be one of the more notable elections of our lifetimes.
As Congress debates additional pandemic relief money, Minnesota debates how to spend the last of what it got in March
Some in the Legislature want to use what’s left of Minnesota’s CARES ACT money to reimburse the state for its pandemic response, while Gov. Tim Walz worries the money will be needed to fund additional costs related to COVID-19.
What my yearlong effort to get information about an officer-involved traffic accident reveals about Minnesota’s public records laws
After witnessing an accident involving Minneapolis police officers, I decided to use the incident as a way to look the MPD’s response to citizen requests for public information.
Turns out ‘ambassadors’ would make Metro Transit trains and buses safer
A report commissioned by East Metro Strong found that using non-police staff on buses and trains to deal with fare evasions and minor misbehavior has produced “genuine safety benefits” in other cities around the country.
How the bonding bill went bust
A bill to fund $1.8 billion in public construction projects in Minnesota now appears dead — due to a dispute over Gov. Tim Walz’s use of emergency powers to combat COVID-19.
The Legislature just passed a police reform bill. What it does — and doesn’t do — to reshape law enforcement in Minnesota
Even as lawmakers celebrated the bill’s passage, a debate broke out over whether the Legislature should have done more to reform policing in Minnesota after the killing of George Floyd.
Is the latest deal to end the 2020 Legislature even constitutional?
The mechanics of the deal — putting a tax bill inside a public construction projects bill — are rare if not unprecedented, and some GOPers are questioning whether it’s even legal under the Minnesota Constitution.
Bonding bill includes historic funding for bus rapid transit in Twin Cities
The $1.35 billion bill for public construction projects includes $55 million to complete funding for both the D Line and B Line Bus Rapid Transit routes, which would serve some of the region’s most highly used transit corridors.
The state is putting $100 million toward rental assistance for low-income Minnesotans. Why did it take so long?
It took four months for the state to put a rental assistance program amid the economic fallout of COVID-19 — even after there was a general agreement on the issue among Republicans and DFLers.
Despotic or spot on? The debate over the governor’s emergency powers shows just how differently the parties see the pandemic in Minnesota
Some Minnesota Senate Republicans expressed doubts about the seriousness of the dangers posed by COVID-19, portraying Walz’s use of his emergency powers as dictatorial.
Former CMS head Slavitt: Minnesota can have its economy back — if it stays ‘hyper-vigilant’
During an appearance before a special select committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives Wednesday, the former acting director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offered some hope for battling coronavirus.
