Dayton Criticism of Legislative Hearing Times

Governor Mark Dayton (D-MN) is making an issue of the amount of time legislative committees are willing to hear testimony on the proposed cuts by his commissioners and mainly from the general public. His criticism is more directed to the house where time limits of...

Candidates for Senate District 66 Finalized

The field for the Special Election Primaries in Senate District 66 is now set. Both the DFL and the Republican Parties contending to be on the ballot for April 21, 2011, Special election to fill the seat being vacated by Sen Ellen Anderson (DFL-66, St. Paul). On the...

Passing of Soliving Kao Kong

Soliving Kao Kong served as the Assistant Post Master in Minnesota House of Representative starting in 1986. He worked as a policeman for CIA in Laos and with the communist takeover was forced with his family to flee the country, eventually landing in St Paul....

DFL Senate Optimism

When you enter into DFL Senate office space you are greeted by an interesting sign. It shows the sentiments and feelings the members of the Senate minority have for their current accommodations. The signage speaks for itself, but if these legislators are only viewing...

Republican Budget Targets

Yesterday, as expected the Republican brought forward spending proposals focused solely on reductions in government spending without raising any new revenue. Since there is little common ground these proposals set the stage for protracted negotiations with...

Passing of an Icon

Edward Burdick worked in the Minnesota House for 60 years serving as Chief Clerk for 38. He passed away this morning in his sleep. He will be an icon at the Capitol because of his long service, which immortalized him in a bust, which sits outside the House chamber....

Anderson Appointed; Candidates We Know

Today’s appointment of Sen Ellen Anderson (DFL-66, St. Paul) as chair of the Public Utilities Commission has created a bit of buzz around the legislature specifically in the House. She has successfully extended her high five for state pension purposes with the...

Official Recognition of New Media by Senate

Yesterday, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee voted to present to the body its proposed rules for the 2011-12 legislative session. Contained in the new rules are new provisions, which will finally resolve the questions between press credentials for media...

Heavy-handedness or Puppet Mastery A Bit Overstated

The focus on MN Republican Party Chairman’s Tony Sutton’s efforts to steer legislature while the new Republican Legislative Majority navigates through the myriad of bills seems overly much. While people are looking for someone to blame or a scapegoat of...

House Budget Targets

We spoke with House Ways and Means Chairwoman Rep Mary Liz Holberg (R-36B, Lakeville) yesterday and inquired about the date which House Budget targets will be known. She said, “It should be about a week and a half,” which we speculate, means around the “Ides of...