The Select Committee on Disparities and Opportunities will be co-chaired by Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis, and Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis.

An agreement has been reached on legislation designed to protect homeowners and reduce foreclosures. Representatives from the banking industry, social justice groups, and other interested parties were working out the final details on Thursday.

The Minnesota Senate has passed the “Prosperity Act” -- better known as the “Dream Act” -- which would allow undocumented immigrants to receive instate tuition rates. The bill would also allow undocumented students to receive financial aid and scholarships if the students go to a Minnesota high school for at least three years and graduate.

For many lobbyists, working the Legislature is as much about the bills they are able to stop as the bills they are able to pass. That’s why Friday’s final deadline for policy measures to pass through committees in both chambers will be cause for either celebration or relief for Minnesota’s Capitol lobbying corps.

The Senate DFL has formalized its committee structure and appointed the chairs who will direct the flow of legislation in 2013.

It was one of those votes no one wanted to take. The state’s new maps dropped DFL senators and allies John Marty and Mary Jo McGuire into Senate District 66, forcing activists in the area to pick between them at a recent endorsing convention.

Eight-term DFL Sen. John Marty prevailed in an endorsement contest against fellow senator Mary Jo McGuire after only one ballot.

A report by the Minnesota Legislative Auditor that points to flaws in the state’s K-12 online education program is likely to land on the 2012 legislative agenda.

Rep. Sarah Anderson has released the first plan for redrawing legislative districts based on 2010 Census figures. The proposed map would pit 20 current House members against each other and six sitting senators, according to an analysis by Minnesota Public Radio.

The last time around, Senate District 13 in western Minnesota played host to one of the most intense legislative races in recent history. Republicans, DFLers and several independent groups waged an expensive and pitched battle there in 2006 that culminated in the defeat of Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, by a razor-thin 553 votes.