Another audit of MNsure has been teed up. This time, it's from the feds.

By an overwhelming margin, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill requiring police to return cash, vehicles and other possessions seized in connection with drug cases in which the suspect is not convicted and does not makes an admission to the underlying offense.

Measure aims to reduce chances for abuse of process.

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.

Rep. Karen Clark has authored a House bill to legalize gay marriage — a bill that DFL caucus leaders now believe has votes enough to pass. In her three decades in office, Clark has driven many changes in the state, and not just in the realm of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues.

As they prepare to take the reins of state government starting in 2013, Minnesota Democrats are attempting to strike a delicate balance between erasing a projected budget deficit and handling pent-up demand to tackle liberal social issues after two decades of divided control in St. Paul.

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.

Voters are faced with a familiar dilemma in the heart of the Minnesota Iron Range. The unexpected retirement of 26-year DFL Rep. Tom Rukavina at the end of session has left a big hole in DFL-friendly House District 6B, which stretches across cities like Virginia and Eveleth and includes some of the state’s most mining-dependent towns.

Attorney Susan Allen was elected in House District 61B, replacing former Rep. Jeff Hayden. Hennepin County staffer Kari Dziedzic easily won the Senate District 59 seat in northeast Minneapolis to replace former Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller.

Allen won the primary with a whopping 82 percent of the vote, beating out DFLers Josh Bassais, Nelson Inz and Paul Dennis. The second place finisher was Inz, a schoolteacher and DFL activist, who garnered nearly 10 percent of the vote.