In the final State of the State address of his first term, Gov. Mark Dayton called on lawmakers to come together despite differing political philosophies.

1.) The state health insurance exchange has about one month to present a 2015 budget to the Legislature, but probably won’t know its full financial ...

All eyes in the political scene have turned to the state health insurance exchange, it seems, and most are casting either a skeptical glance or a withering glare in the direction of MNsure. Earlier this week, the exchange began its own “end-to-end” review of its work process, while simultaneously holding a first meeting with Office of theLegislative Auditor (OLA) head Jim Nobles.

The board also discussed its thinking about hiring a full-time, permanent replacement for April Todd-Malmlov.

Leitz detailed efforts aimed at addressing website glitches, with a team of experts from IBM working on-site over the last two weeks.

As of December 27, more than 53,000 Minnesotans had made arrangements to receive coverage through MNsure.

MNsure board chair Brian Beutner told reporters that he was sad to see Todd-Malmlov leave.

Since the exchange was launched on Oct. 1, more than 34,000 people have visited the site, more than 12,000 people have opened accounts, and about half of those people have completed an application, according to numbers released at a MNsure board meeting on Wednesday.

The MNsure board of directors voted unanimously on Wednesday to take over control of the state-run health insurance exchange that's slated to open for business on Oct. 1. Previously it had been under the authority of the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget (MMB).

Just over two months remain before MNsure, the state’s federally mandated health insurance marketplace, is slated to open for business. But there remain numerous tasks that need to be completed before the Oct. 1 rollout.