House and Senate races across the state are rapidly shaking out after the release of the 2012 legislative map last month. And with local endorsing conventions set to take place throughout March, incumbents and challengers alike have little time to make decisions about their political futures.

House and Senate races across the state are rapidly shaking out following the release of new legislative maps.

Responding to potential proposals for new casinos and racinos that would finance a Minnesota Vikings stadium, a group of legislators from both parties spoke this morning against expansion of gambling in Minnesota.

Transportation funding represents a minuscule portion of the state’s overall general fund spending. In the current biennium, $166 million goes toward transportation spending out of a total budget of more than $30 billion. Roughly three-quarters of the transportation budget is funneled to the Metropolitan Council, the regional planning agency that operates the Metro Transit bus system.

Just weeks after the party swept both chambers in last fall's historic election, then-House Speaker-elect Kurt Zellers and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch took the podium at a press conference to announce the first-ever full slate of Republican committee chairs. Only one legislator - Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, the incoming chairwoman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee - joined the two leaders in front of the press to speak.

By the time the omnibus transportation budget passed off the House floor Monday evening, Republicans and Democrats seemed to agree on just one thing: The final bill is politicized.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said that it is a "fantasy island" scenario for Republicans to believe that the state will receive a waiver from the federal government in time for the start of the next biennium in July.

Dogged by allegations of politically motivated cuts - and beset by criticisms and questions about some of its funding mechanisms - the House State Government Finance bill has become a controversial and complex affair.

Gov.-elect Mark Dayton has picked Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity CEO Susan Haigh to lead the Metropolitan Council. She will juggle her executive role at Habitat and serve as council chairwoman.

Transportation policy wonks wondering how the new Republican legislative majority will approach the Metropolitan Council can find a hint in the state GOP platform. The party's position is succinct and seemingly unambiguous: