As the 86th Minnesota Legislature commences its last lap, most members think the session is likelier to end with a whimper than a bang. Barring the unexpected — the undoing of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s $2.7 billion in unallotments by the Minnesota Supreme Court, or a holdup in the federal passage of additional FMAP health care dollars — all that’s really left is the resolution of another $155 million in health and human services cuts. But there's a House DFL leadership contest lurking behind the gubernatorial race to which everyone is now turning their attention.

State House and Senate DFL leaders on Monday plan to pass budget and tax incentives legislation in what is shaping up to be a sprint to the Easter/Passover recess.

If there’s anything to the notion that all politics is personal, then it’s not hard to see how Erin Murphy wound up in the Minnesota Legislature. Murphy, the DFL state representative from St. Paul, is a nurse by profession. She comes from what she describes as a “big Irish Catholic family” that lionized John F. Kennedy.

After two hours-plus of floor debate this afternoon, House Democrats failed to peel off a single Republican vote to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of General Assistance Medical Care legislation. House DFLers came up three votes shy of the two-thirds majority required to enact the bill without Pawlenty's signature.

At first blush, it would seem that Democrats should have little difficulty overriding Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of General Assistance Medical Care legislation. The bill passed both legislative chambers, after all, by overwhelming margins. The House backed the revamped health-care program -- which provides coverage to poor, single adults -- by a 125-9 margin. The Senate then ratified the decision by a 47-16 margin.

Finance Commissioner Tom Hanson had the unenviable task earlier this week of defending Gov. Pawlenty's plan to close the state's budget deficit to a gathering of the Balanced Budget Subcommittee of the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy.

Let the budget games begin. Gov. Tim Pawlenty released a plan to eliminate the state's looming $1.2 billion deficit on Monday. The largest element of the governor's plan: $387 million in anticipated federal health-care dollars.

The Capitol was packed for Governor Pawlenty's final State of the State address.

During Monday’s floor debate, House Republicans jumped out in front of DFLers who are fast-tracking a nearly $1 billion capital projects bill.

House Republicans this afternoon jumped out in front of DFLers who are fast-tracking a nearly $1 billion capital projects bill. They ultimately failed to force a vote on a bill that phases out Minnesota's corporate income tax.