MNsure board chair Brian Beutner told reporters that he was sad to see Todd-Malmlov leave.

. "We have just barely got our head above water now with a positive forecast after we've had these nagging problems," Bakk said.

The race had divided many of the city's prominent Democrats.

State lawmakers and transportation advocates have their summer homework cut out for them in crafting a politically feasible way to begin addressing a projected $20 billion shortfall in the state’s transportation funding over the next two decades.

The court’s ruling means gay couples in Minnesota -- which will be able to be legally married starting Aug. 1 thanks to a law passed in the Legislature this year -- will now also have the federal benefits of a married couple.

In the end, the DFL-controlled 2013 Legislature finished its budget work on time — with four minutes to spare, to be exact. It was 11:56 p.m. on adjournment day by the time the Minnesota Senate wrapped up its vote on the tax bill.

Whether the 2013 legislative session in Minnesota was a successful one depends on which Democrat you ask. While many long-sought DFL priorities were achieved at the end of the five-month session, including gay marriage and increased spending on education, a handful of high-priority issues were ultimately shelved in 2013 in the hustle and bustle of crafting a $38 billion budget.

The Senate passed a transportation finance bill that includes no significant new revenue by a 43-24 vote on Sunday evening. The bill already cleared the House and is now headed for a signature by Gov. Mark Dayton.

DFL legislative leaders have taken a proposed increase in the state’s per gallon gasoline tax off the table. Although nothing at the Legislature is ever truly dead until adjournment, the fate of the gasoline tax appears to be sealed, according to news reports and the House and Senate transportation chairs.

Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration on Thursday for the first time floated an idea to House and Senate transportation negotiators for funding highway construction. Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle told the House and Senate transportation conferees that $300 million in trunk highway bonding would be a way to pick up the pace on improving the state’s transportation infrastructure.