Minnesota Lawyer

It used to be that the Minnesota Legislature devoted every other year to setting a biennial budget for the state’s general fund and then used the so-called “off years” as a time to green-light capital improvement projects and concern itself with social issues and stray details. But the wretched economy and the state’s now-chronic inability to create a structurally sound budget is making budget-balancing emergencies a perpetual fact of life in St. Paul.

When R.T. Rybak first ran for mayor of Minneapolis eight years ago, he was perhaps best known for a stunt of activism. Back then he organized a group “pajama party” at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as a member of Residents Opposed to Airport Racket (ROAR).

Since the close of the 2009 legislative session in St. Paul, the normally combative Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, has been polite but persistent in his attempts to keep his elected colleagues and the general public cognizant of the economic tsunami poised to lay waste to the state’s general fund budget in the coming years.

Despite political obstacles in Congress that have made the federal health care reform package less expansive than originally advertised, the stakes remain high for Minnesota. The key issues at this point involve proposed reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, the twin pillars of federal health care funding, that could go a long way toward reducing state costs to care for the poor and stopping the net outflow of Minnesota tax dollars.

Back in 2008, funding for Lake Vermilion State Park was one of the signature accomplishments of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s legislative maneuvering, a prize for which he had twisted arms and played hardball in last-minute negotiation with legislators.

In these times of budget catastrophe, it’s worth remembering that taxpayers will fork over $10.25 million out of the state’s general fund every year through 2031 to help pay for the TCF Bank Field.

[This story originally appeared in the June 12, 2009 PIM Weekly Report.] The school children hadn’t even clambered on to the buses for the final ...

[This story originally appeared in the June 12, 2009 PIM Weekly Report.] The school children hadn’t even clambered on to the buses for the final ...

State Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-Minneapolis) (pictured) is appropriately regarded as one of the most liberal members of the Minnesota Legislature, especially with respect to providing ...

During Sunday afternoon’s House floor debate over whether to override Governor Tim Pawlenty‘s line item veto of the General Assistance Medical Program, Rep. Rod Hamilton ...