AFSCME Council 5 and MAPE reached an agreement Friday with the state that will bring a $20 minimum wage and cost of living raises of 5.5% and 4.5% over the next two years. Legislative contract approval had become a partisan bargaining chip, backers said.
The topic had been off-limits since 2002, when lawmakers from some communities along the route objected.
No. During the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Minnesota bars cannot sell alcohol 24 hours a day but are allowed to do so “30 minutes before, during, and 30 minutes after a scheduled broadcast of a live World Cup match.”
It all goes back to a day back in 1903 when farmer Peter Jensen got in trouble for selling melons without a license.
Yes. Minnesota’s Legislature in 2023 established the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board with responsibility over wages, benefits and working conditions specifically for nursing home workers.
Greater Minnesota lawmakers had substantially less influence at the Legislature than perhaps ever before — during a year when the state had a record $17.5 billion surplus. It’s a result of political realignment along geographic lines that accelerated in the Trump era.
Contained in the Judiciary and Public Safety omnibus bill are 16 pages of changes ranging from a ban on landlords requiring pets to be declawed and devocalized to making it easier to expunge past evictions from court records.
Thank — or blame — the troubled Southwest Light Rail Transit project for the bipartisan view that big changes are needed at the Met Council.
Yes. Under a policy that went into effect in January 2023, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals can request placement at a facility that is in alignment with their gender identity, rather than their gender assigned at birth.
By next May the state flag will be lowered for the last time and replaced by a new banner designed by a 13-member commission created to approve both a new flag and a new “Great Seal of the State of Minnesota.”
No. The North Star Promise program enacted last month applies to all eligible Minnesotans — not just undocumented immigrants.
The governor and other supporters argue that incentives for a burgeoning industry can slash emissions, create jobs and provide a future for Minnesota’s large biofuels industry as electric vehicles become a larger share of ground transportation.
Something that will help makers of hemp-derived beverages is clarification that edibles and THC beverages can be sold in bars and liquor stores starting immediately.
The new effort is in response to rising crime on light rail and at stations. It is also aimed at increasing ridership levels, which have not fully recovered after the pandemic.
Most of the money is aimed at one stubborn issue plaguing cities across Greater Minnesota: workforce housing. And the aid got wrapped up in debate over helping Minneapolis rebuild in the wake of riots after the murder of George Floyd.
To receive a citation, a law-enforcement officer only has to see the phone in either hand — or both hands even — and doesn’t have to prove that the phone-holder was also engaged in any of the illegal activities covered by the existing law.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party plans to evolve, but a new state law makes it more difficult for political parties to gain major party status.
The building code measure passed amid a wave of climate and clean energy proposals that also includes major investments in weatherization, public transit, and electric vehicle incentives.
It was the second-costliest civil uprising in U.S. history, and there’s still a backlog of unfinished redevelopment projects.
Some sheriffs who opposed the red flag law could be more hesitant to file petitions to remove guns. When it comes to carrying out gun seizures ordered by a judge, the organization representing sheriffs across the state expects they will comply.
