On Wednesday, legislation dealing with the Minnesota Sex Offender Program was introduced in the House. Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Park, offered a bill that would require any civilly committed sex offender who is convicted of a felony while at MSOP to serve prison time.

Legislation to establish a Minnesota health insurance exchange is nearing the end of its grueling committee march. The House version has cleared six committees, with stops at Taxes and Ways and Means still ahead. In the Senate, where the bill has also cleared six committees, it awaits only a stop in Rules and Administration before moving to the floor.

Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center, has introduced legislation that would require civilly committed sex offenders who commit felonies to serve prison time. Currently some individuals are placed on probation instead of being sent to prison.

January is generally not the time of year for four-hour committee hearings at the Capitol. But Wednesday’s gathering of the House Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Committee nearly reached that dubious mark.

On New Year’s Eve day, a group of experts on mental health issues gathered to discuss goals for the looming legislative session. The meeting was spurred in part by urging from DFL legislators to draw up ideas for tackling the issue in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

A bipartisan group of legislators unveiled a bill on Wednesday to create a state-administered marketplace where individuals and corporations will be able to purchase health insurance. Minnesota must enact such legislation by the end of March in order to be in compliance with the federal Affordable Care Act, which will be fully implemented in 2014.

Key question: Does Minnesota want to be more like Massachusetts or Utah?

Close observers and key players in Minnesota’s project to create a health insurance exchange have some advice for those who want to follow the process: Pay close attention, and don’t blink.

Sex offenders will be on the policy agenda when the Legislature convenes in January. Whether legislators want to deal with the politically volatile issue or not, the actions of a court-mandated task force examining the state’s troubled civil commitment program ensures that they will be compelled to address the subject.

House Republican leaders have registered their opposition to a state-administered health exchange with a letter of protest to Gov. Mark Dayton.