Roger Moe

May 14, 2014

The real Roger Moe

After decades of tamping down his personality, ex-Sen. Moe now enjoys more freedom.

Mar 5, 2014

Bakk looks to raise bar for amending constitution

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk says proposed amendments to the state constitution should need backing from 60 percent of both the Senate and the House.

Oct 25, 2013

Dayton girds for re-election bid

Dayton and his campaign team are adamant about his plans to run for re-election, and with roughly one year to go before Election Day, they’re crafting a campaign message that highlights job creation, higher education funding and lower property taxes during his first term as governor. Likewise, the five Republicans currently seeking the nomination to take Dayton on next fall are combing through h[...]

Dec 19, 2012

Session ’13 politics: Let the games begin

The last time DFLers controlled all the levers of power at the Capitol, during the 1989-90 legislative session, Duane Benson was the Republican Senate minority leader. Benson recalls making a floor speech at the time comparing the dynamic to a basketball contest between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals.

May 31, 2012

Caucus campaign teams gear up

It was supposed to be a show of electoral force, and it was: After filing for office en masse on Thursday morning, several dozen GOP lawmakers and candidates lined the back wall and spilled out the doors of a press room in the State Office Building.

Mar 23, 2012

Adjournment fever pandemic strikes Capitol

The conventional wisdom from the start was that Session 2012 would be a short one. A healthy budget surplus plus newly redrawn legislative districts meant less work to be done at the Capitol and more to be done back home, where some lawmakers will face intra-party endorsement challenges and others have to get to know a daunting amount of new territory.

Mar 9, 2012

Capitol veterans think second half of session will be as uneventful as the first

If there’s one thing lobbyists and longtime Capitol observers of all stripes can agree on with respect to the 2012 legislative session, it’s that the pressure is off.

Feb 17, 2012

A stable budget and redistricting preoccupations leave the session’s endpoint in limbo

So far this session, Gov. Mark Dayton has steadfastly beat the drum for his legislative program to give a boost to the state’s job market: a bonding bill, a Vikings stadium and a jobs tax credit. The Republican majorities in the House and Senate, meanwhile, have pushed through committee numerous proposals that they contend will reduce the tax and regulatory burden on business and make government[...]

Feb 15, 2012

Rybak for Governor campaign fined, ordered to return donations

The Campaign Finance Board ruled that the Rybak for Governor campaign violated state law by accepting three campaign contributions from lobbyists during the 2010 legislative session.

Nov 9, 2011

Expanded metro area opens door for GOP gains

The new district maps coming in 2012 promise to alter Minnesota’s political landscape for at least the next decade. But one key decision made last week could have an outsized effect — and portend GOP gains — for districts in one very important part of the state: the metro area.

Nov 2, 2011

Pogemiller’s appointment to Office of Higher Ed ends storied legislative career

No one seemed to see Larry Pogemiller’s departure coming. Not even him. Gov. Mark Dayton announced late last week that the Minneapolis senator of nearly 30 years would move to the Office of Higher Education to replace former Director Sheila Wright, who resigned suddenly in September.

Sep 16, 2011

Lobbyists got more gray hairs than victories in 2011 session

At the close of a news conference in July called by Republican legislative leaders to discuss the $11 billion health and human services bill, former DFL House Speaker Bob Vanasek offered some pointed criticism to Republicans David Hann and Jim Abeler from the back of the room.