The battle over transit funding that’s brewing at the Capitol this year has its roots in the 2008 transportation bill that ultimately saw the Legislature override Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto.

The changing demographics and DFL-friendly voting record of Senate District 46 signaled an easy win for DFL Sen.-elect Chris Eaton in Tuesday’s special election.

At the close of a news conference in July called by Republican legislative leaders to discuss the $11 billion health and human services bill, former DFL House Speaker Bob Vanasek offered some pointed criticism to Republicans David Hann and Jim Abeler from the back of the room.

During the early part of her two-plus decades in the state Legislature, retired Republican Sen. Pat Pariseau remembers being just one of a handful of Minnesota legislators who could call themselves members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In 11 nonconsecutive terms as a DFL legislator going back to 1977, Sen. Linda Scheid has made a name for herself as a highly knowledgeable and instinctually bipartisan legislator with an independent streak. Long before legislators were chanting “jobs, jobs, jobs” in unison, Scheid cast moderate, pro-business votes that sometimes raised eyebrows among fellow DFLers.

The 2010 elections bolstered the ranks of fiscally conservative Republicans in the Legislature. And that spells trouble for a bonding bill's prospects in the 2011 legislative session.

Kudos to Minnesota Legislative Reference Library Director Robbie LaFleur and her staff. As noted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NSCL), the library: "[H]as ...

Kudos to Minnesota Legislative Reference Library Director Robbie LaFleur and her staff. As noted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NSCL), the library: "[H]as ...