Some significant bills that deal with local government aid (LGA) to cities are in the mix for consideration in the omnibus bill in the Senate Tax Reform Division.

Midway through a March 13 hearing in the Senate Jobs, Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, Sen. Carrie Ruud, R-Breezy Point, asked about the thought process behind a proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage. Chief author Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Park, explained to Ruud that she had set a minimum level of $7.75 because it was thought to be “harmless” to the state’s businesses.

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.

Duluth DFLers will gather Saturday to endorse a write-in candidate to replace Gauthier after sex scandal

It’s been a dizzying 10 days for Democrats in Minnesota. It was back on August 15 that news reports first indicated that first-term DFL Rep. Kerry Gauthier was investigated – but not charged – by police for having oral sex with a 17-year-old male at a public rest stop.

In advance of Friday’s special session, Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders put their signatures to a set of written terms and a spreadsheet for disaster relief for northern Minnesota. Following a couple of weeks of scrutinizing the proposed financing, lawmakers agreed to $167 million for flood and wind damage in northern Minnesota, a figure that falls $27 million short of Dayton’s initial proposal.

Embattled DFL Rep. Kerry Gauthier shocked nearly everyone in the Minnesota political firmament on Wednesday morning when he announced that he plans to seek reelection to his seat in the state House of Representatives. The announcement came one week after it was publicly reported that Gauthier had been investigated by Duluth police following an incident in which he used a Craigslist ad to meet and have oral sex with a 17-year-old male at an area rest stop.

Officials from Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration and high-level Republican lawmakers met over the past week in an attempt to get closer to a deal on a disaster relief bill related to this summer’s floods in northeastern Minnesota.

Governor, legislative leaders want disaster-relief-only special session, but will they get it?

No “if” about it: There will be a special session to appropriate state funding to help with the aftermath of the floods that wrought destruction last month in northeastern Minnesota. And part of the preparation involves seeking assurances from legislative leadership that their caucuses won’t use the session to advance other political aims.