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Bonding will be bargaining chip again
When lawmakers reached a truce that ended last year’s government shutdown, one essential sweetener in the final budget deal was a bonding bill to pay for state construction projects.
Something old, something new: Veteran Howes, freshman Kriesel are PIM’s politicos of the year for 2011
Rep. Larry Howes helped broker the end of a three-week government shutdown and Rep. John Kriesel took political risks and emerged as an important new presence at the Capitol.
Off-year deal complicates bonding prospects for 2012
By conventional wisdom, 2012 is a bonding year. It’s during even-numbered years that the Minnesota governor and Legislature usually assemble and pass a large package of bonding projects. And at present, that prospect is further sweetened by historically low interest rates and a voracious appetite for construction work, sources say.
A fix, and maybe a fight, on stadium bonds
Planners for a new Vikings stadium may have come up with a solution for one part of the financing puzzle — one that improves the stadium’s opportunities in the bond market but also may threaten new skirmishes at the Legislature.
Property tax backlash may prompt 2012 fix
To some, the changes made to the state’s property tax system during this summer’s special session looked like a step in the right direction.
For committees, a quiet prelude to 2012
GOP legislative leaders are expressing hope that the 2012 session can be uncharacteristically brief and wrap up by Easter. The push for a short session — a perennial ambition that has usually failed to come to fruition — suggests that legislative activity will need to move fast.
Bonding 2012: It all depends
In an ordinary environment, state lawmakers would be poised to pass a large bonding bill in 2012. But Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders this year took the unusual step of passing a sizable bill in an odd-numbered year.
State agencies detail their wish lists
State agencies have submitted their preliminary requests for construction projects that they would like to see funded in preparation for a bonding bill during the 2012 legislative session
Shutdown’s End: Final negotiations involved tussles over where policy meets spending
After the framework of a budget deal was announced last Thursday, commissioners, chairs and fiscal staff members went to work, turning the still-closed Capitol into a hive of private meetings on each bill, featuring shuttle diplomacy visits from the leadership as needed.
Persell seeks to organize rural coalition to alter budget impasse
Rep. John Persell is trying to organize a coalition of rural legislators that he hopes will help solve the state's budget impasse. The two-term Bemidji DFLer believes that outstate legislators might be able to find some common ground in how to eliminate the state's $5 billion budget deficit.
In the House, centrist Republicans could play a pivotal role in budget fight
Moderate legislators are hard to come by these days. By most accounts, last fall’s election saw voters oust most of the middle-of-the-road DFLers in the Minnesota House and replace them with a spate of freshman Republicans elected on a strong right-wing wave that swept the nation.
St. Paul Saints quietly build support for new ballpark
The St. Paul Saints are seeking $27 million for a new ballpark. The team's efforts have been overshadowed by the Minnesota Vikings pursuit of a football stadium, but the minor league baseball club remains in the game.
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