A state transportation bill introduced last Friday includes a gas sales tax that would help road improvement funds keep pace with inflation, an idea that has the strong support of transportation backers but is likely to face stiff resistance in an election year.

Discussions about the repeal of new taxes, a bonding bill and a proposed increase to the state minimum wage seem destined to take center stage this spring.

Move MN, a coalition of transportation funding advocates, hopes the two revenue streams would result in $727 million per year.

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

During the 2013 legislative session, DFL lawmakers and Gov. Mark Dayton settled on a $300 million funding package for so-called Corridors of Commerce. In October, when Dayton announced the awarding of grants for 10 projects spread throughout the state, his announcement was heralded as good news by a number of Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove.

When DFL State Rep. John Benson announced in December that he would not seek a fifth term representing District 44B — a suburban legislative tract comprising northern Minnetonka, southern Plymouth and Woodland — two young men who’d been itching to run for office got their chance.

Gov. Mark Dayton sent a harsh letter to IBM in December, which faulted the tech company for failures with MNsure's website.

The continued technical difficulties come at a critical point for the exchange.

A new proposal to regulate the controversial “ex-gay” therapy treatment for gay and lesbian youth has not been introduced yet, but the bill’s chief author is already trying to clear up some confusion. Rep. Susan Allen, DFL-Minneapolis, said early press reports about the proposal have referred to an attempt to “ban” that kind of therapy, which is not true.

A recent KARE-11 report about the secretive use of cellphone tracking devices by Minnesota law enforcement agencies has sparked calls for hearings from lawmakers and outraged open-government advocates.