Senate Government Innovation and Veterans Chairman Mike Parry, R-Waseca, has sidestepped the traditional route for pension legislation - which runs through the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) - and placed on the fast track a proposal to shift more of the cost of pensions onto workers. His move seems all the more bold in light of the fact that the House has not introduced a companion measure, and at least one influential House Republican on pension issues has expressed significant reservations.

When news broke last week that longtime former House Chief Clerk Ed Burdick had died, representatives took time to reminisce on the chamber floor. Preston Republican Rep. Greg Davids remembered a time when the clock struck midnight on the last night of session. The Legislature was constitutionally required to adjourn, but had yet to finish its work.

The key staffers who have plotted the remaking of the Senate Republican Caucus in recent years will be running the show when they take the majority in January. Campaign guru Cullen Sheehan will continue as the caucus's chief of staff. Indefatigable GOP political operative and deputy state party chair Michael Brodkorb will continue in his role as communications director.

Republican state Rep. Tom Hackbarth proposes to expand gambling in Minnesota almost every year, but his bills have been repeatedly shot down by Democratic leaders in the Legislature and a Republican governor who was less than excited to see them on his desk.

Minnesota's 1st Congressional District has traditionally served as a bellwether for national political trends. In 1994 Republican Gil Gutknecht rode a surge of Clinton midterm discontent in wresting the seat from Democratic hands. A dozen years later, Tim Walz ousted Gutknecht as Democrats nationwide capitalized on anger at the Bush administration and the Iraq War.

While most Minnesota politicos are devoting their attention to the race for the governorship this year, a smaller power battle is brewing in the state Senate. Many who frequent the Capitol halls in St. Paul predict there will be a spirited race for head of the Senate GOP caucus after the general election, a spot that is looking more desirable to Republicans given boasts within the party that the GOP has a shot at taking the majority in the chamber.

Former Republican state Sen. Dick Day is backing Independence Party candidate Tom Horner in the governor's race -- at least for now. Horner is the only candidate that has explicitly endorsed a proposal to allow full-fledged casinos at the state's two horseracing tracks, a cause that Day has long championed.

Dick Day Dick Day Supporters of allowing the state's two horse-racing tracks to operate casinos have created a new political action committee. The Minnesotans for Racino PAC will funnel donations to political candidates who support the decade-old proposal to expand gambling.

Racino rides again: State Rep. Al Juhnke this morning successfully inserted his proposal to allow slot machines at Minnesota horse racing tracks into a biomass study bill.

Two hours of testimony and debate Wednesday in a state Senate committee on a proposal to raise state revenues by allowing slot machines at two Minnesota horse racing tracks ended without a vote.