On Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and former Attorney General Mike Hatch will host a fundraiser for Gov. Mark Dayton's re-election campaign at the Minneapolis Club. The cost of entry: $1,000 per person.

Gov. Mark Dayton said he will assign chief of staff Tina Smith to press state legislators to pass a multi-million dollar subsidy for a destination medical center project for Rochester and the Mayo Clinic. The project's prospects at the Legislature are uncertain.

Tincher, who currently serves as the director of caucus and legislative services for the House DFL, has accepted a job as Dayton's deputy chief of staff for policy and legislative affairs. Tincher replaces Michele Kelm-Helgen, who was a critical figure in the passage of a bill to build a new Vikings stadium and has since been appointed chairwoman of the newly-formed stadium authority.

Nearing the end of Session 2012, Dayton has mostly kept out of the headlines, the spotlight directed instead at scandals and internal battles within the Republican caucuses.

With another state budget deficit looming, Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration is planning to go public with ideas to change how government operates. House Republicans have made the most noise this summer and fall about government restructuring with their Reform 2.0 initiative.

Sitting down at the long, rectangular wooden table in the back of the governor’s reception room on Thursday, Gov. Mark Dayton noted that the last time he had sat there was during the 20-day state government shutdown that ended in July.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter says state agencies can restart a day after the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton approve a final budget bill, but it could take weeks for services to return to normalcy.

As Minnesotans head into the first week of a historic state government shutdown, staffers from both Gov. Mark Dayton’s office and the Legislature will continue on the payroll as they work to hash out a deal to solve the $5 billion budget deficit.

Dayton's cabinet picks have leaned toward individuals with few close ties to the Capitol. But in assembling his legislative affairs staff, the DFL governor is relying on a roster of legislative veterans with established relationships under the dome.

Gov.-elect Mark Dayton’s transition team is casting a wide net as he assembles the first DFL administration in a generation.