With a fairly unceremonious motion in the Senate Taxes Committee this week, Democrats in the upper chamber turned negotiations on a bonding bill — and with that, end-of-session dealings — on their head.

The DFL majorities’ revenue bills in the House and Senate take substantially different approaches.

FL Sen. Ann Rest offered an amendment to the omnibus Senate tax bill on Wednesday that would pay cash for the $203 million remaining on repairs to the more than 100-year-old building, as well as allow the state to enter a lease-to-purchase agreement to construct a new office building near the Capitol. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said he didn't want to see the project, a priority for all four legilsative caucuses and Gov. Mark Dayton, held hostage in end-of-session negotiations.

Now that the Dayton administration and House Democrats have both released their tax plans for financing an ambitious $38 billion state budget that includes 6 percent in spending hikes, the last piece of the revenue puzzle comes down to the predilections of the Senate DFL caucus and its first-year Taxes Committee chairman, Sen. Rod Skoe.

The Senate Tax Reform Division has passed its division report on a 5-3 party line vote. The bill reduces Minnesota’s sales tax rate to 6 percent and expands the sales tax base to more products and services.

Everyone expected a bumpy road en route to a politically viable 2013 transportation bill, but the events of the past week have suggested that it may be entirely impassable.

The Senate Tax Reform Division has rolled out a bill that lowers sales and corporate income tax rates while simultaneously broadening the sales tax base and eliminating certain business tax breaks. Other major areas of the bill include a cigarette tax hike and increased funding for local government aid (LGA) to cities.

Legislation that would replace contested judicial elections with an up-or-down vote on sitting judges has been introduced in both legislative chambers. Similar proposals have been put forward in each of the last three bienniums, but failed to gain traction.

Legislation to establish a Minnesota health insurance exchange is nearing the end of its grueling committee march. The House version has cleared six committees, with stops at Taxes and Ways and Means still ahead. In the Senate, where the bill has also cleared six committees, it awaits only a stop in Rules and Administration before moving to the floor.

If his 2013 budget proposal is any indication, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton intends to make history. The document landed on Tuesday, containing some of the most significant proposed tax overhauls and increases in Minnesota in decades.