Hearings Set On Alberta Clipper Oil Pipeline
Following a hearing Tuesday night in Hallock, the Public Utilities Commission has hearings set for Wednesday in Thief River Falls and Cass Lake, and Thursday in Floodwood and Duluth.
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Following a hearing Tuesday night in Hallock, the Public Utilities Commission has hearings set for Wednesday in Thief River Falls and Cass Lake, and Thursday in Floodwood and Duluth.
Gov. Mark Dayton kicked up a storm Tuesday in his return to the Minnesota Capitol, chastising fellow Democrats for not moving quicker on a tax-relief measure and suggesting that a controversial Senate office building proposal had improperly gotten in the way.
Leaders of the Minnesota Senate say they hope to pass a $434 million tax relief measure on Thursday, though it's not clear if differences with a House version will delay its path to Gov. Mark Dayton.
Duluth Democratic Rep. Erik Simonson says a bill written with bipartisan support could be the answer to the synthetic-drug problem that's plagued Minnesota for years.
Minnesota Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans said Tuesday his agency is fast approaching an internal deadline for alerting income tax preparers and software vendors of new tax breaks that filers might qualify for this year.
Advocates for children with reading problems caused by dyslexia say they're frustrated the issue isn't getting attention from state lawmakers. GOP Sen. Roger Chamberlain of Lino Lakes figures there are up to 135,000 students in Minnesota public schools afflicted by dyslexia, in which the brain struggles to distinguish characters and sounds.
Some proud beer drinkers took a rather festive approach Monday to the legislative process. The group Minnesota Beer Activists is trying to raise money to push for alcohol sales on Sunday. Several bands offered to play in support at First Avenue in downtown at a four-hour concert on St. Patrick's Day.
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken wants the federal government, not the state government, to cover the 40-cent co-pay required if a child can't come up with the money in the school lunch line.
Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson said Monday he'll seek a 13th term representing a western Minnesota congressional district. Peterson revealed his plans in an interview with KFGO-AM ahead of a news conference in Moorhead.
With tax breaks on everything from child care expenses to college tuition hanging in limbo, Minnesota lawmakers appear increasingly unlikely to meet Gov. Mark Dayton's goal of enacting a substantial relief package this week.
A Minnesota Senate subcommittee on elections unanimously approved a bill Monday to reinforce a gift ban that was softened last year. The exception passed last spring allowed lawmakers to get lobbyist-purchased meals at receptions as long as all legislators were invited.
Two State lawmakers recently offered several bills that would achieve the same goal: allowing Sunday liquor sales in Minnesota. The bills range from allowing state-wide sales on Sunday to just allowing sales at breweries and tap rooms across the state. Another proposal by Sen. Roger Reinert of Duluth and Rep. Jennifer Loon of Eden Prairie would let individual cities decide if they want to allow Sunday sales.
Besides being the seat of state government, the Minnesota Capitol is practically an art gallery, filled with murals of historic scenes and allegorical images of virtues the building's designers hoped to see in their leaders: wisdom, courage, integrity. But almost 110 years after the Statehouse opened, a massive renovation project has provoked a mild but deeply felt debate about the artwork, with some lawmakers hoping to update a calcified collection and others committed to leaving it unchanged. An impromptu remark by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton helped spark the discussion when he wondered during a renovation-related meeting whether his reception room really needed six paintings of Civil War scenes.
Minnesota lawmakers are getting nowhere over how to resolve constitutional questions about the state's sex offender treatment program, but the same can't be said about the program's costs. They're going somewhere — up. About 50 new patients enter the program every year, a growth rate that threatens to swamp existing facilities in the next few years. A Senate committee on Thursday will review a request for $7.4 million this year to renovate and expand the St. Peter treatment center; another $30 million or more is on the drawing board for future growth there and in Moose Lake.
The up-and-down medical marijuana bill at the Capitol may be down again. Top lawmakers in the House and Senate say it's not likely to pass this year. Advocates of legalizing medical marijuana are hoping to make Minnesota the 20th state in the country to do so. Thursday, the advocates said it's possible to pass it this year. But it's not about medicine at this point at the Capitol; it's about math.
