Minnesota Lawyer

The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has announced $54 million in financial support through a variety of sources such as deferred loans, rental assistance and tax credits for affordable housing projects in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. The money, which was winnowed down from $170 million in requests, was awarded to nonprofit and private developers, community development agencies and local units of government.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who on Tuesday coasted to a third term, can look in just about any direction from City Hall and see a major economic development project on the horizon.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development this year got an infusion of money from state lawmakers for a variety of economic development programs. And since the money became available on July 1, the money has been flowing to companies and local governments for a variety of business expansions.

Downtown Minneapolis is no stranger to battles at the state Legislature when it comes to major economic development projects. City officials and boosters fought hard at the state Capitol in 2012 to get legislation passed for a new publicly owned stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.

State Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle has been traveling the state this summer and fall to discuss the need for increased funding to maintain the transportation system over the long term.

The former Republican House Ways and Means chair has filed a lawsuit alleging the funding for a new Senate building and Capitol parking facility in the 2013 omnibus tax bill is unconstitutional. The building is currently scheduled to break ground in February or March.

A national Republican group is hammering DFLers in three greater Minnesota congressional districts over the technical failures that have beset the rollout of the federal health insurance exchange.

Twin Cities executives and public officials who gathered on Monday night at Greater MSP’s annual meeting touted the pluses of the Twin Cities, but also sounded an alarm about global competition and the need for workforce development.

The Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) agreed on Wednesday to recommend $28.9 million worth of environmental projects to the state Legislature. The projects range from addressing the decline of bee colonies in the state to investigating the damage to Minnesota loons caused by the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The implementation of legislation to regulate frac sand mining in southeastern Minnesota has followed a rocky path this fall. During the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers charged the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) with devising a model ordinance for local governments to use as a template for processing applications from companies to extract silica sand.