Even though Minnesota faces a $1.1 billion budget deficit, there are still some much-coveted pots of money up for grabs in 2013, thanks to the Legacy amendment’s provisions for spending on outdoors and cultural projects.

The path through any budget session leads to a negotiating table at which the governor and legislative leaders work out the most politically palatable taxing and spending deal they can muster. But the budget is never the only game in town. Before the session endgame gets played out, a network of committees will play host to various and sundry dramas involving policy issues before state government.

Silica sand mining has become a booming business in southeastern Minnesota, and as a result it’s also become a burgeoning issue at the Legislature.

Although legislative leaders appear to be hastening to finish the 2012 session early, environment chairs in both chambers still have a number of policy issues to wrestle with before their work is done.

While environmental spending is a relatively small portion of Minnesota’s general fund budget, the environment and natural resources funding bill appears likely to remain in play for as long as this year’s budget battle lasts.

The flood-relief bill that state legislators gathered to pass unanimously in Monday's special session reflected a changing sensibility about how Minnesota should deal with the threat of floods. It also offered an object lesson in the resourcefulness of environmentalists and conservation interests looking to keep their priorities in play even in a climate of budget crises.

In previous legislative sessions, Room 107 of the state Capitol has been the scene of lengthy conference committee meetings concerning legislation that asks voters if ...

A large gaggle of clean water activists went home relatively happy after the 2006 legislative session. State lawmakers authorized $24.9 million to boost the state’s ...