After five hours of emotional debate, the House voted to place a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the 2012 ballot. The amendment – which previously passed the state Senate on a largely party-line vote – passed off of the House floor on a 70-62 vote Saturday evening. Four Republicans voted against the amendment, with two DFLers crossing over to vote for the measure.

State Rep. Erin Murphy is supporting Chris Tolbert in the Ward Three St. Paul City Council contest. Tolbert, an attorney, is seeking the DFL endorsement in a district that includes Highland Park.

DFL House representatives Erin Murphy and Tom Huntley have filed a friend-of-the-court brief defending the federal health care law.

Since the beginning of February, at least 11 bills have been introduced with the purpose of providing greater accountability or reducing payments to the state's health maintenance organizations. Currently, the state's nonprofit health plans receive roughly $3 billion annually to provide coverage to more than 500,000 of the state's poorest residents.

As HMOs seek a bigger share of Minnesota's health care business, former Minnesota Hospital Association attorney Dave Feinwachs leads a charge to see how they are spending the money

In the PIM legislator and politician of the year awards for 2010, Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch and House health care odd couple Erin Murphy and Matt Dean take top honors.

DFL Rep. Erin Murphy sent out a statement criticizing the move less than an hour before the committee was scheduled to meet.

The expansion was something Dayton said would be among his first official acts as governor. Republicans criticized the move as constitutionally questionable.

Here's a rundown of the year's top 10 political stories.

Thissen said the caucus was concerned about the slimmed-down committee roster Republicans put in place upon regaining control of the House and the committee leads are intended to maintain attention on some key issues.