DFL Reps. Joe Atkins and Dan Schoen have introduced legislation that would prohibit out-of-state-ownership of medical facilities run by the University of Minnesota. One bill would implement a ban on such takeovers through the end of 2014, while the other measure would create a permanent ban.

There’s an old adage at the Capitol that first-term legislators should be seen and not heard. St. Paul can take some getting used to, the thinking goes, and most issues debated at the Legislature are so complex that newcomers would do well to sit back quietly and learn.

A ten-member conference committee has been named to hash out differences between the House and Senate versions of the health insurance exchange bill.

Through his experience as a member of the Cottage Grove Police Department, Dan Schoen witnessed firsthand the dangers of synthetic marijuana. Working with DFL Sen. Katie Sieben and GOP Rep. John Kriesel, Schoen helped build support for legislation outlawing such substances.

The Republican takeover of a Minnesota House seat that’s home to cities like Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park was one of the more surprising turns among the many upheavals in the 2010 election.

The last two election cycles have witnessed wave elections for both parties that tilted the Minnesota House of Representatives in polar opposite directions.

n the four months since legislative maps were released, political strategists and journalists have been scrutinizing the new House and Senate districts to determine which ones favor Republicans or Democrats and where the key battlegrounds will be in 2012.

Republican and DFL activists endorsed a slate of candidates in the slightly-redrawn Senate District 54 this weekend, a southeast suburban district that will be a key battled ground in the 2012 election.