St. Paul Teachers Vote To Ratify Contract Agreement
The St. Paul teachers union says its members voted "overwhelmingly" to ratify the tentative contract agreement reached with the school district less than two weeks ago.
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The St. Paul teachers union says its members voted "overwhelmingly" to ratify the tentative contract agreement reached with the school district less than two weeks ago.
Assembly Republicans plan to vote on removing Rep. Bill Kramer as majority leader amid allegations that he groped a woman after a Washington fundraiser last week and verbally abused another on the flight home. Kramer has checked himself into an unspecified treatment facility and is not expected to be at the meeting.
Gov. Mark Dayton's administration is laying out a list of ideas for pruning Minnesota's statute of duplicative, outdated or problematic laws. The so-called "unsession" agenda is likely to touch most areas of state government. Three Dayton commissioners were planning to roll it out Tuesday.
Great Lakes advocates are meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to lobby for funding of environmental projects and to discuss strategies for dealing with challenges such as invasive species. More than 100 people from the eight-state region are attending the Great Lakes Commission's semiannual meeting and other activities.
New projections about how much Minnesota homeowners, businesses and others will pay in property taxes this year have set off a dispute among Democrats and Republicans. The Department of Revenue released figures late Friday, but the feud carried into Monday and will undoubtedly persist into the fall campaign.
Proposed amendments to Minnesota's Constitution would be less frequent under a proposal backed by a state Senate committee. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk told the Senate State Government Committee Monday that it should be harder to change the state constitution.
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler warned that world-famous research at the U could slow down if the legislature does not approve funding to update its century-old laboratories.
A group of health experts and faith leaders were at the state capitol Monday to ask lawmakers to raise wages to improve the health of workers. Statistics show that low-income workers die eight-years earlier than other workers. Shaquonica Johnson, 37, has been a personal care attendant for 15 years. She works several different jobs at $8.50 an hour to care for her two children.
Minnesota lawmakers who saw colleagues put several hot-button political issues on the statewide ballot in 2012 are now mulling proposals that would make it harder to do that again.
Minnesota lawmakers have the kind of problem on their hands that, at first glance, would appear to be a good thing. Friday the state announced a surprising $1.23 billion surplus. But the debate about what to do with the surplus is so intense its even pitting members of the same party against each other.
Long before gay rights activists in Minnesota launched a successful campaign to legalize same-sex marriage, they were aiming for another high-profile goal: a state law protecting children from school bullies.
Minnesota property taxes owed this year are mostly static once refunds and credits are factored in, state officials said Friday, despite their earlier prediction that those taxes would drop considerably. A Department of Revenue analysis shows a net $8 million drop in a property tax system that generates $8 billion a year.
Minnesota's projected budget surplus swelled Friday to $1.233 billion, giving lawmakers more leeway to pursue tax cuts and increased spending this session. State finance officials released the updated outlook that showed the surplus is $408 million higher than what was projected a few months ago.
New Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is reviewing the department's use of force policies, a Homeland Security official said Friday. The official said Johnson has been reviewing the rules about when border agents can use their guns since he took office in December.
Republican leaders in the Minnesota Legislature say the $1.2 billion budget surplus is no cause for celebration because it shows state government overtaxes its citizens. Republicans unveiled their response Friday to news of the enhanced surplus: "Give it back."
