1) A key Senate committee Thursday morning will hear a proposal that would allow severely ill patients to access medical marijuana, marking the first movement ...

Sen. Vicki Jensen, Sen. Michelle Benson, Rep. Dan Schoen and Rep. Kelby Woodard.

Sen. Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna, didn’t get much of a chance to speak her piece on the final version of the tax bill. There literally wasn’t any time. The DFL majority’s omnibus tax bill passed the Senate with minutes to spare before the session’s predetermined end date of midnight on Monday, May 20.

State Rep. Karen Clark, who was the lead sponsor of legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, will receive the lifetime achievement award as part of the fourth annual Leaders in Public Policy awards, sponsored by Capitol Report and Politics in Minnesota. Clark and the other honorees will be recognized at a ceremony at the Saint Paul Hotel on July 11.

On the steps of the state Capitol, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton stood in the sleet on Thursday to encourage a crowd of hundreds to push their legislators to legalize gay marriage this session.

There’s an old adage at the Capitol that first-term legislators should be seen and not heard. St. Paul can take some getting used to, the thinking goes, and most issues debated at the Legislature are so complex that newcomers would do well to sit back quietly and learn.

Carrying rainbow flags and signs saying "Love is Love," the supporters sang and chanted "marriage equality now" on Thursday afternoon as House members entered into their scheduled floor session for the day. The headliners of the event, organized by campaign-turned-lobbying group Minnesotans United for All Families, were clergy members representing denominations and faith groups from around the state.

Myron Frans has been making the pitch for about two years now. The Minneapolis tax attorney turned revenue commissioner started his tenure in Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration out on the road, carrying with him a pair of stools to demonstrate the need for comprehensive changes to the state’s tax code.

While seniority ruled in the majority's selections for committee chairs, a number of newly elected senators will serve as committee vice-chairs.

Of the 38 seats won by DFLers in reclaiming control of the Minnesota Senate on Nov. 6, no fewer than 14 will be filled by members who were not part of the caucus in 2011-12. But in several cases, the newcomers will hardly be strangers.