With most major finance bills clearing the House and Senate floors, attention will now turn towards conference committees this week. Conferees on several bills have already been appointed by legislative leaders.

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.

In the past week state lawmakers have inched toward a special session to deal with flood damage in northeastern Minnesota, but the movement has been marked by repeated Republican objections to the size and specific details of the $190 million relief bill proposed by Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration.

Grover Norquist’s no-tax pledge apparently shares some characteristics with flypaper. Once you touch it, you’re stuck.

When news broke last week that longtime former House Chief Clerk Ed Burdick had died, representatives took time to reminisce on the chamber floor. Preston Republican Rep. Greg Davids remembered a time when the clock struck midnight on the last night of session. The Legislature was constitutionally required to adjourn, but had yet to finish its work.

We are in the thick of campaign season-and this time around we are all focused on the governor's race.

If the phrase “sure thing” can be applied anywhere in politics, it might be appropriate in a small part of St. Paul, including Falcon Heights and a swath of territory north of Interstate 94.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of lawmakers, lobbyists and labor officials made their way to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. The occasion was a memorial service for Mark McAfee, a beloved lobbyist and advocate for economic justice who stalked the Capitol corridors for three decades.

"This is my replacement!" Rep. Cy Thao introduces Jeremiah Ellis to Rep. Mary Murphy.

An omnibus bill that proposes to shore up public pension funds by reaching into the pocketbooks of both public employees and retirees is teed up for end-of-session floor debate.