DFLers hit swing districts to push accomplishments.

The most important spending to many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, a 5 percent pay hike for home and community-based services workers, will cost a projected $91 million.

The policy would have had an effect on the "most independent" people within the DHS network of long-term care.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce was not impressed by the work of the DFL legislative majorities during the 2013 session.

There’s an old adage at the Capitol that first-term legislators should be seen and not heard. St. Paul can take some getting used to, the thinking goes, and most issues debated at the Legislature are so complex that newcomers would do well to sit back quietly and learn.

On Thursday night the Minnesota House of Representatives gave final passage to the bill establishing a state-run health-insurance marketplace, leaving the long-disputed measure just a Senate vote away from reaching the governor’s desk.

As the first committee deadlines of 2013 loom, Minnesota legislators have spent the week holding hearings on high-profile legislation ranging from the legalization of same-sex marriage to state funding for a Mayo Clinic-driven “destination medical center” development push in Rochester.

A ten-member conference committee has been named to hash out differences between the House and Senate versions of the health insurance exchange bill.

Rep. Joe Atkins (Staff photo: Peter Bartz-Gallagher) Legislation establishing a health insurance exchange cleared the House on a largely partisan vote on Monday evening. The 72-58 vote followed more than five hours of contentious debate over the proposal to provide a marketplace for individuals and businesses to purchase insurance products under the federal Affordable Care Act.

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.