Heading into the 2012 session, a now-familiar litany of questions surrounds the politics of a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. But while the legislative prognosis is far from clear, one thing is certain: Gov. Mark Dayton wants action on stadium legislation to get under way soon after the session is gaveled in next Tuesday.

Fearing that next year’s legislative session would be complicated by another budget deficit, Gov. Mark Dayton spent much of the fall pressing legislative leaders to cobble together enough votes to pass a publicly funded stadium for the Minnesota Vikings by Thanksgiving.

The state Department of Revenue is feeling some pressure to implement a tax analytics program that’s supposed to generate $82 million for the biennium.

Sitting in his second floor office just down the lawn from the state Capitol, Larry Shellito talked more about his time in the army than his new job in Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration.

With a host of issues like light rail ridership and civic pride on the line, Hennepin County officials are keeping their powder dry in the event that they can find an opening to advance a Minnesota Vikings stadium plan.

Gov. Mark Dayton’s crusade to get a Minnesota Vikings stadium bill passed before Thanksgiving has been turned on its head by a series of objections from legislators about the financing of the project and the timeline for a special session.

As Gov. Mark Dayton’s self-imposed deadline of Nov. 7 to announce a stadium proposal draws close, there’s growing sentiment that he is seriously weighing whether to cover the state’s share of the project with revenue from electronic pulltabs.

State lawmakers are mulling a significant change to the state’s pension policy as they prepare for the 2012 legislative session.

The marathon talks between the administration of Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders that led to the end of the state government shutdown have drawn widespread criticism for their haste and secrecy.

The agreed-upon "framework" is based on an approximately $35.5 billion spending offer GOP leaders presented to Dayton on the eve of the shutdown, which the governor re-presented to them — with added conditions — on Thursday. But there remain many questions about the particulars of the agreement.