As usual, Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles and his staff have spent much of their summer preparing a raft of reports on state government programs for release this fall and winter. Ranging in subject matter from transit planning in the metropolitan area to the state’s sex offender civil commitment program, the forthcoming reports are sure to engender battles when the 87th Minnesota Legislature convenes in January.

As the election results began rolling in on Tuesday night, the mood was ebullient at Jax Café in Northeast Minneapolis. Even as torrential rains swamped Minneapolis, soggy, red-shirted supporters of House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher filed into the banquet room and bars of the renowned steakhouse. House Majority Leader Tony Sertich repeatedly took to the podium to offer updates on the Minnesota Twins' pounding of the Chicago White Sox, as if it ordained victory for the DFL-endorsed candidate.

In the face of opposition from the state's largest business association, the House Taxes Committee on Tuesday night laid over a proposal to eliminate so-called foreign operating corporations (FOC) for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.

Pretty much anything could happen in Duluth. That’s how wide open the DFL gubernatorial endorsement contest remains as party activists gather this weekend to select the party’s nominee. There are two clear frontrunners — House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak — but also a trio of other serious challengers for the endorsement.

In the wake of an emotional hearing on the dangers of distracted driving, Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka) crafted a bill that would completely ban cell phone usage in motor vehicles.

Is Minnesota headed towards a total ban on cell phone usage while driving? That seems likely after a hearing today before the joint House and Senate transportation committees. Legislators heard a litany of statistics describing the dangers associated with distracted driving.

Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) and Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) share a laugh at the adjournment of their joint Transportation hearing on distracted driving.

Following last week’s introduction of a bill that would scrap municipal garbage burning and landfill gas as renewable energy sources, the chair of a Minnesota House of Representatives panel said existing burners may be exempted from a proposed ban.

Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis; pictured), who chairs the subcommittee on Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division, tells PIM that he’ll be introducing legislation this ...

[This story was originally published in the 4/21/08 issue of The Weekly Report.] Once again, there’s a perennial proposal (HF 2662/SF 2605) to create staggered ...