There’s little evidence that film and TV tax credits work. Why Minnesota lawmakers funded a new one anyway.
The state’s new tax credit for TV and film productions will cost taxpayers $5 million a year over the next four years.
State Government
Still rolling in it: Latest report show Minnesota tax revenues continuing to surpass projections
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.
Minnesota lawmakers approved cash bonuses for essential workers. Now they just need to figure out who’s going to get the money.
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.
Pressure intensifies for Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho
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.
Why Senate Republicans targeted Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop for removal
GOPers blamed the agency’s Clean Cars rules — but was Bishop just a pawn in a bigger political game?
Is taking up appointments 2½ years into a governor’s term the way it’s supposed to work?
The Republican-controlled Senate is scrutinizing Gov. Tim Walz’s appointees in a continuation of the special legislative session.
After slog of a session, Walz, legislative leaders tout $52 billion budget
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.
In settling tax case, Minnesota agrees to pay Enbridge more than $45 million for overvaluing pipeline property
In conjunction with the deal, Minnesota lawmakers approved almost $30 million to cover the share of the money owed by local governments along the pipeline routes.
Remembering all the issues that died during this year’s Minnesota Legislature
Issue after issue was introduced in both the Minnesota House and Senate with the knowledge that they were unlikely to pass into law.
Stumbling toward a finish: Legislature ends Walz’s emergency powers after aborted deal almost blows up final day of session
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.
Why DFLers are pushing to have the state’s police board take on more reform measures
And why that strategy may have considerable limitations.
The Minnesota Legislature has three days to finish. Here’s where things stand.
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?
Minnesota lawmakers reach deal on public safety; bill includes restrictions on no-knock warrants, requirements for responding to mental health crises
Notably, the bill does not limit traffic stops for offenses like expired car tabs or a broken tail light.
Even as they make progress on other budget bills, Minnesota lawmakers remain at odds over policing reforms
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.
New rules for Minnesota’s large animal feedlots to be relaxed under compromise legislation
Included in a bill negotiated between the DFL-led House and the GOP-majority Senate, the change has the potential to draw blowback from the federal government.
With deals on education budget and money for frontline workers, Legislature closes in on finishing budget
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.
Legislative deal would exempt Cohasset project from some environmental review
A bill negotiated between the Republican-led Senate and the DFL-majority House says the plant won’t have to complete an extensive Environmental Impact Statement normally required for projects of its size.
Provision to decriminalize Metro Transit fare violations fails to make it into transportation bill at Legislature
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.
Solar panels can save homeowners money, but some HOAs bar installation. Lawmakers are trying to change that.
Their bill failed to pass this session, but Rep. Ami Wazlawik, DFL-White Bear Lake, and Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, plan to introduce the bipartisan measure to restrict HOAs again next year.
As the pandemic winds down, so does the Minnesota Legislature’s battle over Tim Walz’s emergency powers
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.
