Minnesota Lawyer

Allegations of an improper relationship with a legislative staffer are what pushed former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch abruptly resign her post Thursday and announce she would not seek re-election in 2012, GOP caucus leaders confirmed at a Capitol news conference Friday. They would not identify the staffer in question, citing legal concerns, but said it was a male staffer and someone who reported directly to Koch.

As June began to slip away and it grew increasingly likely that the Minnesota budget impasse was headed for a government shutdown, talks around the Capitol began to revolve around the bargaining leverage each side would hold as the full attention of Minnesotans turned to its dysfunctional Capitol.

As Charley Shaw writes this week, the new Republican majority in the Minnesota Senate appears dedicated to projecting a considerably more conservative face when Session 2011 convenes in seven weeks.

When the 87th Minnesota Legislature convenes in January, it will seat 60 new members - the third-highest total of the past 40 years. Fifty-four of those new faces will be Republicans.