The Minnesota Farm Bureau is backing Republican candidates running against incumbent Reps. Kim Norton and Tina Liebling, both of whom are Rochester DFLers. The Minnesota Farmers Union, which is known for being more DFL friendly than the Farm Bureau, also has reservations about Liebling and Norton.

In 2009, there were 4,895 incidents across the state in which police officers permanently seized property from individuals allegedly involved in criminal activity. Almost all of these seizures involved cash, firearms or vehicles. The total street value of the haul, according to a study released this week by the State Auditor’s office: $4.8 million. That money helped bolster the coffers of police departments and county attorneys across the state.

The House is expected to debate legislation dealing with the state's forfeiture statute today. "I think that will be one of the first orders of business we take up," said House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, on a call with reporters this morning.

Rep. Tina Liebling's proposal to overhaul the state's forfeiture statute stalled out in committee. When the Rochester DFLer determined that the bill didn't have the votes necessary to pass, she pulled it from consideration.

State legislators have solved roughly one-third of the $1 billion budget shortfall they currently face in the 2010-2011 biennium.

R.T. Rybak called a Capitol press conference this afternoon to announce support from seven state legislators for his gubernatorial campaign. The only problem: the House and Senate members were still stuck trying to complete their work before the Easter break.

There is a price to pay for crossing law enforcement's blue line of silence. Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson is finding that out in no uncertain terms.

Cops shouldn’t be allowed to “eat what they kill.” That was the message conveyed by Rep. Tina Liebling at Thursday’s hearing before the House’s Civil Justice Committee. The Rochester Democrat was seeking support for legislation that would overhaul the state’s rules governing forfeiture of property associated with criminal activity.

The proposed expansion, which would increase capacity at the Moose Lake facility by 400 beds, came before the House's Health Care and Human Services Finance Division for a hearing earlier this week.