When the House budget target for health and human services was released last month, it was greeted with cries of disbelief. Given that the DFL-controlled Legislature planned to increase taxes by roughly $2 billion, the common refrain went, how was it possible that they planned to cut $150 million in cuts to health and human services?

Even though state lawmakers won’t arrive at the endgame to the 2013 legislative session for another six months, they’re beginning to stake out their opening agendas as they convene in frequent pre-session panel discussions and media broadcasts.

Despite the relatively low public profile of legislative races in the dog days of summer, Republicans are starting to prime the issue of the Affordable Care Act for this fall’s general election.

Obamacare is here to stay. That is the apparent takeaway from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that largely upheld the 2010 federal health care overhaul.

While legislative leaders haggled in private regarding the 2012 session’s marquee legislation, rank-and-file legislators spent long hours on the floors of the House and Senate processing members’ pet bills.

During the 2011 legislative session, GOP legislative leaders repeatedly called for the state to seek a waiver on Medicaid rules from the federal government. Both the Senate and House initially booked significant cost savings contingent on receiving such a waiver.

In his administration’s drive to change the health insurance system, Gov. Mark Dayton has found an adversary in the state senator who presides over the committee charged with making the recommendation to confirm or deny his Health and Human Services commissioners.

Second-term Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL-Kerrick) has been appointed by the minority to replace retiring Sen. Linda Berglin as the lead Democrat on the Health and Human Services Committee.