The state's high court has given the Dayton administration the green light to borrow money to finance state operations that will be financed by the state's settlement with tobacco payments.

If appropriation bonds are deemed unconstitutional, the state’s means of raising $348 million disappears.

Issuing tobacco bonds to help fix the budget deficit was perhaps the most controversial aspect of the ultimate budget deal agreed to by Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican leadership at the Capitol.

Rep. Ryan Winkler plans to introduce constitutional amendment legislation that would prevent future legislatures from issuing so-called appropriation bonds to solve budget deficits.

The tobacco bond proposal that three former state finance commissioners lashed out against yesterday [previous PIM item] has undergone a quiet cosmetic makeover since it ...

The tobacco bond proposal that three former state finance commissioners lashed out against yesterday [previous PIM item] has undergone a quiet cosmetic makeover since it ...

The tobacco bond proposal that three former state finance commissioners lashed out against yesterday [previous PIM item] has undergone a quiet cosmetic makeover since it ...

Here’s a footnote concerning the governor’s proposed tobacco appropriation bonds [earlier PIM post]: We heard from a DFL legislator the other day that these bonds, ...

Nearly a billion dollars in projected revenues for the coming biennium are riding on GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to sell off future proceeds from ...

Nearly a billion dollars in projected revenues for the coming biennium are riding on GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to sell off future proceeds from ...