Minnesota’s GOP leaders continue to struggle with saying the 2020 election was legitimate
What two Minnesota Senate resolutions say about where the parties are, even as Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
What two Minnesota Senate resolutions say about where the parties are, even as Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
One reason for the lack of action is anti-gambling sentiment among some legislators. Another is opposition from Minnesota’s tribal nations.
Since both the Minnesota House and Senate began allowing lawmakers to vote remotely, being “present” doesn’t require the 201 members to be, well, present.
An unemployment benefit bump makes up the largest amount of money, though there is also funds for rental assistance, public schools, higher education, child care, COVID testing, vaccination programs, transit and highways.
A heated media forum Monday with the governor and the four legislative leaders featured a back and forth about the invasion of the U.S. Capitol and whether lawmakers’ rhetoric contributed to it. But it was sometimes hard to distinguish between anger over the attack and frustration over the state’s response to COVID-19.
Walz had been on the teleconference for more than 20 minutes before he spoke. When he did, he unloaded. “How do we find common ground when we have people who won’t say the election was fair?” Walz asked.
Among other reforms, one proposal would require lobbyists — and groups that hire them — to say how much they spend on television or radio ads advocating for or against particular legislation.
Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday he will allow bars and restaurants to serve indoors starting Monday. The governor is also easing limits on the number of people who can attend religious services, gyms, sporting events, theaters and pools.
The bad news: Minnesota lawmakers will once again be sequestered from the public unless they venture out beyond the chain-link fence that now surrounds the Capitol. The good news? Parking shouldn’t be a problem.
Five things that may have escaped your memory during a 2020 full of big things.
As much as COVID-19 and the homicide of George Floyd dominated government and politics in 2020, there were other stories that seemed important at the time — and will likely return to prominence after the pandemic is over.
State and local governments didn’t get a hoped-for second infusion of money in the $900 billion COVID relief package passed by Congress earlier this week, but they did get word that they didn’t have to spend CARES Act money within the calendar year.
About $2.4 billion of that money came from the state system, with the rest coming from federal contributions adopted in response to the economic fallout from COVID-19.
A Q&A with Alice Roberts-Davis, who oversees Minnesota’s Critical Care Supplies Working Group.
Among other things, the bill will provide the state with a share of $25 billion for rental assistance. Missing, however, is any direct aid to state and city governments.
Relph in 2020 was named a legislator of the year by the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an award he called “the single-best honor that I’ve received.”
Minnesota’s Department of Management and Budget reports local governments spent 99.6 percent of what they received.
Should the state government subsidize competitors to a controversial winner of a federal broadband grant?
Though the severity of the pandemic has shown signs of lessening in recent weeks, there are still high rates of COVID-19 test positivity, signaling that the outbreak hasn’t receded to levels seen over the summer.
Gov. Tim Walz plans to keep bars and restaurants closed to indoor service after the current restrictions expire Friday.