The consequences of raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes, as the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton have now agreed to do, are no simple matter to sort out. This much is acknowledged by all.

In announcing their omnibus tax proposal this week, House Democrats sounded like they were back on the campaign trail. The bill is in one sense an expensive I.O.U. to last fall’s voters.

Like any expanded gambling proposal, the push for a high-end casino nestled on the troubled downtown Minneapolis Block E site faces a host of obstacles in passing through a historically reluctant Legislature.

Members of the Capitol lobbying corps could have been excused for thinking they were in the wrong building at the start of the 2011 legislative session. A new administration and 60 new legislators took office in St. Paul, and a new complement of Republican leaders and chairs took the place of DFLers in both legislative chambers. The Capitol building itself was just about the only thing that resembled the state of affairs from the prior year.

Myron Frans didn't ease into his new role in the Minnesota political world. Within days of starting his job as Gov. Mark Dayton's head of Revenue on April 6, Frans and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter penned a contentious letter to Republican leaders. It warned them that their budgets were at least $1.2 billion shy of solving the state's $5 billion budget deficit, and were based on unsound fiscal notes and estimates.

The end of the Pawlenty administration and the change in political control at the state Legislature are already transforming the lobbying world at the state Capitol.

Minnesota revenue commissioner Ward Einess is leaving office on December 3 to start his own lobbying shop. Einess also served in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration as acting director of the Department of Employment and Economic Development and as a senior policy adviser.

Lawmakers are looking for ways to make up for $408 million in anticipated federal money that won't arrive before the end of the legislative session.

Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue Ward Einess will testify this afternoon in favor of a bill that would require his agency to conduct a study of Minnesota and Wisconsin residents who would benefit from a reinstated income tax reciprocity agreement between the two states.

From election law battles to the state budget deficit, there's a host of bogeys waiting for lawmakers in St. Paul when the 2010 legislative session starts on Feb. 4. But the most formidable specter haunting the Capitol halls will be politics itself.