Steve Drazkowski

Sep 23, 2015

Howe takes plunge into nearly empty CD 2 pool

John Howe hasn’t taken out a personal loan since 1996, according to an answer he gave reporters during a Tuesday morning press conference. That period of conservative financial management is ...

Feb 21, 2014

Session ’14 agenda: The fine print

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.

Jan 14, 2014

The Capitol Note: GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Honour raised $500,000 in 2013

Honour pointed out that he had collected that total despite his status as a "political outsider."

Jan 14, 2014

Dozens of House Republicans endorse Nguyen for Secretary of State

Though the total number of Nguyen's House endorsements is impressive on its face, he failed to win the support of House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt.

Dec 5, 2013

The Capitol Note: GOP Sen. Torrey Westrom to run for Congress

DFL U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson finally has a strong Republican challenger in the 1st Congressional District. Today, state Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, will make his candidacy official, following months of rumors about Westrom's interest in challenging the Democratic incumbent. Westrom is in his first term in the Senate, and won election to the upper chamber in 2012 following seven terms in th[...]

Nov 6, 2013

Lawsuit: Shelve online voter registration

Republican legislators and conservative groups filed a lawsuit this week aimed at suspending an online voter registration program that they claim was improperly implemented by Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a DFLer, without legislative approval.

Nov 5, 2013

News links: Ritchie’s online registration hit with lawsuit from GOP legislators

If the lawsuit is successful, the registry system launched in launched in late September would be halted until legislative action is taken.

Nov 4, 2013

Republican legislators sue to suspend online voter registration

The GOP advocacy groups leading the effort, Minnesota Majority and the Minnesota Voters Alliance, filed a lawsuit in Ramsey County Court on Monday, alleging Ritchie used unilateral power to install a new online voter registration tool after session ended and without bringing it through the proper legislative channels. They are asking the court to suspend the the tool, which was launched at the end[...]

Sep 20, 2013

Mounting data-privacy lawsuits threaten to swamp governments

Blame it on Anne Marie Rasmusson. In 2012, the former St. Paul cop filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking damages for more than 400 instances where law enforcement officials looked up her driver’s license records without justification. That case has resulted in more than $1 million worth of settlements with local governments, including nearly $800,000 from the cities of St. Paul and [...]

Sep 18, 2013

Dayton defends MNsure rollout, calls driver’s license data breach ‘outrageous’

Gov. Mark Dayton defended the roll out of MNsure, the state’s not-yet operating health insurance exchange program, after a data breach raised concerns about the security of the system, and he said he's looking to change state law next year to deal with an uptick in state employees breaching private driver's license data.

Sep 12, 2013

Drazkowski, Wabasha County officials file lawsuit charging data privacy violations

State Rep. Steve Drazkowski and 17 other Minnesota residents have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging that public employees repeatedly violated their privacy by wrongly accessing state driving records.

May 24, 2013

House inaction dooms MSOP reforms

At a Friday morning committee hearing, just 10 days before the close of the legislative session, Rep. Steve Drazkowski offered an idea for dealing with the state’s troubled civil commitment program for sex offenders. Drazkowski proposed creating a bipartisan task force to recommend changes to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.