Flanked by almost the entire GOP caucus, Sen. Geoff Michel vigorously defended his handling of the Amy Koch-Michael Brodkorb scandal at a hearing before the Senate ethics panel on Friday afternoon.

The House and Senate appear to be heading for a conference committee battle over the marquee land-acquisition proposal in this year’s Legacy bill.

Although legislative leaders appear to be hastening to finish the 2012 session early, environment chairs in both chambers still have a number of policy issues to wrestle with before their work is done.

The constitutional amendment passed in the GOP-controlled committee after more than three hours of debate on a 7-6 vote. GOP Assistant Majority leader Bill Ingebrigtsen voted against the bill alongside all DFLers on the committee.

For Republican Sen. Dave Thompson, time is running short. The freshman from Lakeville has spent the last six months readying a ballot initiative that would enshrine so-called “right-to-work” language in the state’s Constitution.

U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson has picked up another Republican challenger in the 7th Congressional District in western Minnesota. State Sen. Gretchen Hoffman, R-Vergas, has announced her plans to challenge the conservative Democrat. Her announcement resolves the conflict that arose when the Senate districts were redrawn to put Hoffman and fellow Senate Republican Bill Ingebrigtsen of Alexandria in the same district.

The fourth round of constitutionally dedicated funding for outdoors projects is under way at the state Capitol.

Republicans in the state Legislature are advancing a new set of initiatives to overhaul environmental regulation. The measures come after they reached accord last year with Gov. Mark Dayton on a sweeping bill that streamlined the environmental permitting process.

A total of 10 senators have signed on to two versions of the bill that would bypass the Gov. Mark Dayton's veto and instead put a controversial elections reform measure before voters this fall.

As the Minnesota Legislature prepares to gavel in for 2012, legislators are already looking ahead to the once-in-a-decade electoral challenge posed by a new set of district maps and the presence of all 201 seats on the November ballot.