Rep. Lyndon Carlson, who chairs the House Ways & Means Committee, said a few provisions in the agriculture and jobs portions of the budget were the most significant hang-ups left.

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The "implicit price deflator" would be capped at a 3 percent annual increase.

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House Majority Leader Erin Murphy said the budget plan would "build on our historic investments in education.

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1.) Three legislative caucus leaders are eager to go about repealing certain tax increases passed last year, but Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk is still hedging on the notion of giving up new revenue the state might need, according to ...

Tagged with: David FitzSimmons David Hann Michele Kelm-Helgen Pat Garofalo Paul Marquart Paul Thissen politicsinminnesota Richard Carlbom Tom Bakk

The idea is significantly more popular with the young and less affluent, and polls much better with Democrats than Republicans.

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Notably, both Democratic candidates get a slight boost when the poll of adults is trimmed to include only likely voters.

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On the same day the U.S. Supreme Court struck struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the Minnesotans United PAC released the full "Minnesota 15" list of pro-gay marriage legislators who will be made "priorities" in their reelection campaigns. That list includes the five legislative Republicans who voted in favor of the bill and 10 rural Democrats serving in the House who could be vulnerable after casting their "yes" votes.

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It was four minutes to midnight on the final day of session when the Minnesota Senate passed the omnibus tax bill that wrapped up the Legislature’s work on the state’s $38 billion budget for the 2014-15 biennium. The down-to-the-wire finish followed a contentious final two weeks of negotiations between House, Senate and the governor’s office over the terms of final budget and policy deals.

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The bill will increase the basic funding formula to schools by $234 million, or 3 percent, which Marquart said would break down to more than $300 in new spending per student.

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Traveling in the House and Senate budget bills are dozens of little-discussed provisions that could become sticking points in final negotiations.

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