Peter Callaghan covers state government for MinnPost. Follow him on Twitter or email him at pcallaghan(at)minnpost(dot)com.
A law passed in 2017 was aimed at increasing the supply of condos and townhomes. But it also required developers, and condo associations, to fund upkeep of the buildings.
Rep. Esther Agbaje said the seemingly ubiquitous buildings are often used by people in desperate situations.
If the pending settlements are approved, current fees on drug-makers and distributors — worth around $20 million a year to Minnesota — would likely be all-but canceled under the terms of a bill passed by the Legislature in 2019.
Rep. Rena Moran said she thought the DFL “did pretty darn good” on equity issues in 2021 considering the Minnesota Legislature divides power between a DFL-controlled House and a GOP-controlled Senate.
The state’s new tax credit for TV and film productions will cost taxpayers $5 million a year over the next four years.
In just the last three months of the 2020-21 two-year state budget — April, May and June — collections were 28.7 percent, or $2.12 billion, more than was expected in February.
The three people who are deciding who will be part of the group coming up with a plan — Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, Gov. Tim Walz and House Speaker Melissa Hortman — have their own ideas about who should qualify for the money.
Unlike other Walz appointees left unconfirmed at the Legislature’s adjournment Wednesday, Ho was not given any assurance that what several DFL senators referred to as a Sword of Damocles wasn’t still dangling overhead.
The Republican-controlled Senate is scrutinizing Gov. Tim Walz’s appointees in a continuation of the special legislative session.
The Legislature finally finished a $52 billion two-year state budget with a few hours to spare before a partial government shutdown. At the same time, the state met at least one measure of a successful vaccination effort: 70 percent of residents 18 years old and older with at least one shot.
Issue after issue was introduced in both the Minnesota House and Senate with the knowledge that they were unlikely to pass into law.
Working until 2 a.m. Wednesday, the House and Senate completed 11 of the 13 omnibus spending bills that will fund government for the next two years, including a compromise public safety bill that contains a handful of new police accountability and criminal justice reform measures.
For weeks, Minnesota legislative leaders predicted that a series of budget bills would not only be adopted early enough to avoid a shutdown, but to avoid even the preparations for a shutdown. So how’s that going?
Lawmakers have now agreed to 12 of the 13 bills that will likely make up Minnesota’s $52 billion state budget. The one thing left to wrap up: the bill tied to public safety, corrections and the judiciary.
After weeks of foreboding, days of filibusters and speculation on lack of progress, lawmakers face looming … success, with agreement on 10 of the 13 budget bills and two more that are said to be close.
Moving to civil citations for fare violations and using transit ambassadors for enforcement have been priorities for both the Metropolitan Council and DFLers in the Minnesota House.
Now that most of the governor’s executive orders have been rescinded, Walz and the Legislature may reach a deal to end Minnesota’s state of emergency.
Lawmakers also announced Monday that they have agreed on a three-phase eviction moratorium “off-ramp.”
Year-to-date tax receipts are now $2.170 billion more than projected just four months ago.
Looking at you, liquor law liberalization.
