Late-Feb. Start Planned For Minn. Lawmakers In '14
When Minnesota lawmakers finish their session Monday, they'll have a full nine months to cook up plans for next year's session. Legislative leaders on Saturday set their return date. It's Feb. 25.
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When Minnesota lawmakers finish their session Monday, they'll have a full nine months to cook up plans for next year's session. Legislative leaders on Saturday set their return date. It's Feb. 25.
The Minnesota House has voted to give nursing home workers in the state a 5-percent pay increase. The pay hike is included in a broader, $6 billion a year budget for health and human services programs that the House passed Friday night by a party-line vote of 73-61. It's one of the biggest chunks of state spending and includes funding for services for the poor, elderly and disabled.
The Minnesota House has defeated an $800 million construction projects bill that failed to win a needed super-majority. The bill is a rare area where Republican held veto power. Because it involves long-term state debt, it required 81 votes to pass.
The Minnesota Senate has voted to freeze tuition rates at the state's public colleges and universities for the next two years. The Senate passed a state higher education budget by a bipartisan, 44-22 vote on Friday that includes a $250 million spending increase.
Nearly 100 amendments await Minnesota House lawmakers if they move ahead as planned on a bill that could lead to unionization of in-home day care providers and personal care attendants. The volume foreshadows a long fight should the House brings the bill up on Saturday as planned.
The Minnesota House is planning to vote on a constitutional amendment that would take decisions about their own pay out of their hands. The House planned a Friday debate on the amendment.
With time running out in this year's session, Minnesota lawmakers appear to be close to a deal for the next state budget. It doesn't involve taxing clothing or any changes to the alcohol tax, but there will be some noticeable changes for some people.
Leading Minnesota lawmakers have sorted out a tax package that is the linchpin of the next state budget. The top two percent of income earners will pay two percent more on a portion of their income. The per-pack tax on cigarettes will rise by $1.60. Some corporate tax preferences will go away. But there won't be any changes to the alcohol tax.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has rushed out a television ad in hopes of capitalizing on the latest U.S. House vote to undo President Barack Obama's health care law. The Republican critic of the Affordable Care Act — dubbed Obamacare by foes — was to begin airing the ad Thursday night in Twin Cities market. She put about $85,000 into the TV spot.
A Minnesota woman was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for sending money to an al-Qaida-linked group in her native Somalia, despite her insistence that she was only trying to help the poor in the war-torn East African country.
A new plan for paying off Minnesota Vikings stadium debate is about to surface at the state Capitol as the legislative session nears its conclusion. Leaders of a House-Senate committee crafting a wider-ranging tax bill alluded to the new proposal while trading offers on Wednesday.
As gas prices in Minnesota reached record high prices of about $4 per gallon, Sen. Amy Klobuchar called on the Department of Energy to take action. The gas price spike came after the closure of oil refineries in the Midwest for maintenance.
Gov. Mark Dayton is proposing that lawmakers use new revenue from taxes on cigarettes and corporate income to shore up the state's share of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium. Dayton's revenue commissioner unveiled the latest proposal Thursday in the House-Senate tax conference committee.
Rep. Michele Bachmann is joining the calls for a thorough investigation as President Obama prepares to answer further questions about the growing controversy at the IRS. The acting commissioner resigned on Wednesday after the agency admitted it targeted conservative groups.
The state Senate majority leader says a proposed increase in the state minimum wage is not likely to happen this session because Democrats in the House and Senate can't agree how much to raise it. Sen. Tom Bakk says Thursday there are not enough votes among Senate Democrats.
