Minnesota Lawyer

After initially resisting, the Minnesota Department of Human Services has agreed to split with the federal government a $30 million windfall the state received last year from the UCare health plan.

Lobbyists around the Capitol used to call them “waterboarding sessions.” The man getting rhetorically drenched was Tom Hanson, Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s commissioner at Minnesota Management & Budget.

The state’s candidate handbook has been revised so that it reads a lot less like the Torah and a lot more like a how-to manual.

The deer population is well managed, the Department of Natural Resources says. Now the agency must manage competing human expectations about the size of the herd.

Ward Einess is still adjusting to his role as one of the Capitol’s most in-demand new lobbyists. Back in the day, Einess says he always knew who was lined up on his side of the ball.

The state is extending the period during which citizens can give feedback on a pair of major river water-quality reports.

St. Paul grew visibly greener last week when local officials unveiled two new regional solar-powered electric car charging stations at Como Park.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has improved the internal controls it uses to ensure compliance with federal programs that it administers. But there are areas where it needs to improve.

Go on ahead, you kids. Have a good time. That is a rough approximation of the message sent on April 3 by the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board after Rep. Mindy Greiling’s volunteer campaign committee asked to use campaign funds to pay for a June “thank-you party” in Greiling’s honor.

There has always been a mismatch between the document collection donated to the Minnesota Historical Society by the late Minneapolis businessman Allyn K. Ford and MHS’ Minnesota-centric mission.