State wins legal challenge to Minnesota’s insulin affordability program
In a ruling issued this week, U.S. District Court Judge David Doty dismissed a suit brought by PhRMA that sought to have the legislation declared unconstitutional.
State Government
Minnesota is getting $550 million in stimulus money for child care. Now comes the hard part: deciding how to spend it.
While the money has been celebrated by child care advocates, the windfall has also raised questions over how best to use it.
Is Minnesota’s tax system unfair?
Most analyses find that Minnesota already has one of the nation’s most progressive tax systems, even that isn’t the only measure of what makes for a good system.
With memories of the 2020 election, DFLers wrestle with how to keep ‘imposter candidates’ off the ballot
During the 2020 election, some of the candidates who filed under the banner of Minnesota’s marijuana legalization parties had tenuous — or nonexistent — connections to the parties or the cause of legalization.
Why some Minnesota school districts haven’t yet gone back to in-person learning
A few districts and charter schools plan to be in distance learning for at least several more weeks, including the largest district in Greater Minnesota: Rochester.
What to know about the latest expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in Minnesota
Who qualifies, where to get a shot, and whether you’ll have to show proof of a job or health condition.
As Chauvin trial gets under way, lawmakers remain at odds over paying for security
Democrats who have a majority in the state House have rejected both Walz’s plan and all Republican proposals, in part because they want new regulations on police, not just money for law enforcement.
What does the latest federal COVID-19 relief bill mean for Minnesota? At least $4.72 billion, for starters
The U.S. House could vote to approve the bill by Tuesday.
Electric vehicles are coming to Minnesota. Republicans and Democrats have very different ideas on how state government should respond.
So far in 2021, the Republicans who control the Minnesota Senate and DFLers who control the House have found little common ground on how the state should react to the burgeoning EV industry.
Legislators close to a deal on Metro Transit fare enforcement
Legislators from both parties worked over the summer and fall to learn about how Metro Transit enforces fare collection — and to seek some common responses. Metro Transit also used that time to implement changes in response to GOP complaints about crime and safety on the system.
Smoke signals: with the Minnesota House debating recreational marijuana, the Senate moves to expand the state’s medical cannabis program
In response to an “intensifying” legalization conversation, Senate Republicans are pushing an effort to do away with Minnesota’s unique ban on letting medical users smoke marijuana.
How Minnesota officials are trying to blunt the impact of looming heating bill spikes
The chaos in the South that drove up natural gas prices will significantly affect Minnesotans’ heating bills. Here’s what state lawmakers and regulators are looking to do about it.
Why Minnesota’s projected $1.6 billion budget surplus isn’t going to end the Legislature’s debate over taxes
Republicans said the new numbers prove that tax hikes would only further burden families and businesses. DFLers are taking a much different approach.
Bill in Minnesota House would forgive state portion of income taxes on extra unemployment payments
As tax bills come due, some Minnesotans have been surprised to learn that extra unemployment payments through the CARES Act and later executive action didn’t have taxes withheld.
Minnesota now projects $1.6 billion surplus for next budget cycle
The forecast is a dramatic improvement for a budget that was once projected to have a $4.7 billion shortfall.
Bonding bill request speaks to security vulnerabilities at Minnesota Capitol
The spirit of the Minnesota Capitol is to be open, but the invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 “was a wake-up call,” says Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who chairs an advisory committee looking at security issues at the complex.
Minnesotans who got extra unemployment payments could see big tax bills this year
Minnesota did not withhold state or federal taxes from the $600 and $300 bonus unemployment payments, which are taxed as regular income.
Lawsuit pushes Minnesota’s redistricting process into the courts, where it was likely to end up anyway
The purpose of the lawsuit is to put the issue before the courts in case the Legislature can’t agree on new political maps — which is highly likely.
Bipartisan effort at Legislature would make it a crime to publicize a police officer’s home address
To be illegal according to the bill, disseminating the information would have to pose “an imminent and serious threat” to the safety of a police officer or a member of their household.
Senate Republicans — and four DFLers — vote to strip Walz of power over schools amid frustration over emergency powers
Even after Walz announced a relaxation of limits on in-person learning for middle and high schools in Minnesota, the state Senate moved to make sure he could never again have the ability to close classrooms in the first place.
