Updating Minnesota’s Prohibition-era liquor laws likely has a lot of support. Here’s why that doesn’t matter.
Bills that attempt to change Minnesota liquor laws run into several interconnected obstacles.
State Government
The Minnesota Legislature’s fight over paying for Chauvin trial security has become a debate about policing. And taxes. And farms.
Even as top lawmakers pledge to negotiate a compromise over funding for extra security for the trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the episode has highlighted the deep divisions between the state’s rural and urban areas.
Why the Minnesota Legislature’s recent efforts to respond to the pandemic aren’t really about responding to the pandemic
The latest bills offered in the GOP-controlled Senate and DFL-controlled House are stand-ins for a continuing argument over the governor’s emergency powers.
Officials say Minnesota’s ‘angel’ tax credit program is crucial for the state’s post-pandemic recovery. It’s also long failed to meet equity goals
Though the program — which allows those who invest in early-stage Minnesota businesses to claim a 25 percent tax credit — has been popular, it has come nowhere near its goals for boosting startups by nontraditional owners.
How ‘defund,’ local government aid and the Buffalo shooting have become part of the Legislature’s debate over Chauvin trial security
A bill advancing through the Minnesota Senate aims to put Minneapolis on the hook for any law enforcement help it receives from around the state during the March trial of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Minnesota continues to see higher state revenue numbers than expected
On Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz also tipped attendees at a League of Minnesota Cities webinar that an upcoming budget forecast would be good news — that the state’s current surplus would grow and the projected shortfall in the future would “shrink even substantially more.”
Helping to preserve historic buildings may be the one thing everyone at the Minnesota Legislature agrees upon
That still doesn’t mean lawmakers will pass legislation to make a key state tax credit permanent before it expires.
Equity, taxes and criminal justice: Minnesota’s latest effort to legalize recreational marijuana is about more than legalizing marijuana
In many ways, the bill introduced at the Minnesota Legislature this session reflects the latest national trends around the issue.
What to know about Walz’s plan to fund security around Derek Chauvin’s trial — and how it’s being received
The idea is to entice law enforcement from other parts of Minnesota to help with security around the trial for the ex-Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd. But the plan has already faced opposition from legislative Republicans.
DFL groups poured money into 2020 legislative races. How’d that work out for them?
In 2020, the DFL-affiliated groups vastly outspent their GOP counterparts and saw their House majority shrink, while also failing to retake the state Senate.
‘This is like a war’: Minneapolis Fed’s Kashkari backs aggressive COVID stimulus plan
Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, was at the Minnesota Capitol Tuesday to brief lawmakers on economic conditions in Minnesota and the country.
The conflict between Secretary of State Steve Simon and state Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer has become a proxy war over the 2020 election
What had been a tense-but-civil relationship has become one of open antagonism, for the same reason much of state and national politics has: the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Walz’s ‘tax the rich’ plan doesn’t just tax the rich
Yes, Minnesota’s corporate income tax is borne by owners and shareholders. But also by workers and consumers.
Why federal grants may set rural broadband in some areas of Minnesota back for years
Companies that could quickly build out fiber optic internet have been squeezed out of areas covered by a federal grant to a company with limited resources and experience, something state funders said was necessary to avoid duplicate use of taxpayer money.
Minnesota lawmakers split over using state money to help Minneapolis recover from Floyd riots
Gov. Tim Walz wants to authorize $150 million in bonds to help redevelop parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul. A GOP proposal, meanwhile, would bar any state disaster aid from paying for repairs to public infrastructure damaged in the riots.
Walz’s budget: more support for those hit hardest by pandemic; more taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans
State Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said tax increases are a non-starter with Senate Republicans, however, calling it “a line in the sand.”
On the fence: Minnesota Capitol likely to beef up security with permanent enclosure
Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who chairs the state’s Capital Security Advisory Committee, said the state must balance building security and access for the public.
After COVID-related livestock kills, a push to diversify meat processing in Minnesota
Processing plant closures due to coronavirus forced farmers to euthanize hundreds of thousands of animals. Now, many of the biggest players in Minnesota agriculture are debating how to strengthen the food system.
Why lawmakers introduce bills that have little chance of becoming law in Minnesota’s divided Legislature
And why a lot fewer of those bills have been introduced this year.
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.
