For DFLers preparing to take the reins of both legislative chambers, there was good news in Minnesota’s November economic forecast. And the forecast’s bad news — well, that was good news for Democratic leadership too.

As Gov. Mark Dayton pieces together his 2014-2015 budget, he’s hearing from a bipartisan group of mayors that state lawmakers have cut their funding too deeply and too capriciously during the past decade.

If there’s one thing lobbyists and longtime Capitol observers of all stripes can agree on with respect to the 2012 legislative session, it’s that the pressure is off.

Property taxes will once again be a politically volatile issue at the Capitol. That was readily apparent at a committee hearing Wednesday evening on a proposal to phase out the state’s business property tax over a dozen years.

The boards of advocacy associations from a variety of policy areas have issued their priority wish lists in time for the start of the 2012 legislative session. Many of the issues of significance for groups ranging from business to labor are rooted in last year’s session.

When House Taxes Chairman Greg Davids stepped to the podium at a Capitol news conference Monday, it was clear the high-ranking Republican’s pitch for property tax relief wouldn’t be an apology for changes made last session.

Some bills were only posted online in the early hours of Wednesday morning, just hours — or minutes — before they passed. By morning they were signed into law by the governor. Now some lobbyists, many of whom spend long days and nights at the Capitol during session, are scrambling to understand the budget bills’ implications for their clients.

The stark contours of Gov. Mark Dayton’s shutdown filing Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court have sent shivers down the spines of a broad assortment of people who work for and with the state. School officials, social service providers and heavy industry are among the groups that are bracing for state funds to dry up after July 1.

Members of the Capitol lobbying corps could have been excused for thinking they were in the wrong building at the start of the 2011 legislative session. A new administration and 60 new legislators took office in St. Paul, and a new complement of Republican leaders and chairs took the place of DFLers in both legislative chambers. The Capitol building itself was just about the only thing that resembled the state of affairs from the prior year.

When Senate Republican Taxes Chairwoman Julianne Ortman rolled out her omnibus tax package last week, Capitol watchers were struck by the many differences between her strategy and that of her House counterpart, GOP Rep. Greg Davids.