Will Republican Party’s close ties to GOP majorities make it harder to reach budget deal?

Gov. Mark Dayton did not attend a meeting on Monday with GOP legislators on the education budget - the first of a series of meetings scheduled in the coming weeks to solve the $5 billion budget deficit before a required government shutdown.

For former DFL Sen. Jim Carlson, it was a matter of a little reflection and time to “lick my wounds” before he knew he was ready to run again for the state Senate. Carlson, who served one term in the chamber, was ousted last fall by Republican newcomer Ted Daley as part of a massive GOP wave that saw the party take control of both the House and Senate for the first time in nearly four decades.

For five months DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the GOP-controlled Legislature sparred at the Capitol over how to eliminate the state’s $5 billion budget deficit. But with the legislative session concluded and no end to the budget impasse in sight, the debate will now move beyond St. Paul as legislators face constituents in their home districts.

Former Rochester DFL Sen. Ann Lynch, who was ousted by Republican Carla Nelson in the fall, is already raising money for a possible 2012 Senate bid to reclaim her old seat in the upper chamber.

A bill to ban synthetic marijuana, also known as K2, and other similar drugs has passed through the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

Today's 2010 campaign finance reports indicate some state legislative races were spendy affairs. We survey some of the marquee races.

Lobbyists who have been waiting on pins and needles for the House and Senate to release their committee rosters got an early holiday present on Wednesday, when the Senate GOP sent out a final list of Republican names that will make up the majority in the chamber's 16 committees next year.

Minnesota's Capitol is crumbling - a fact that won't change any time soon - while this month brought more bad news for the 105-year-old building.

As the Minnesota Legislature prepares for a transition that will see 60 freshmen join the rolls of the state Senate and House, PIM continues with our series of post-election portraits of the 2011 class. In this latest edition, we look at seven more members of the incoming Senate Republican majority.