May 22, 2016
The legislature is winding down and the end will be as we always have anticipated as an abject failure. The Republican controlled House did not provide a Bonding Bill or a Transportation package and so our crumbling infrastructure will continue its decline. There may...
May 19, 2016
Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-31A, Crown) said, “I think may get a tax target today.” as he had just left Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk’s (DFL-03, Cook) office. Coincidentally, we witnessed the Speaker come in through a door accessible...
May 19, 2016
Senator Carla Nelson (R-26, Rochester) was the sole vote in favor of the $1.5 million Bonding Bill and this generally means, when you vote for the bill you are eligible for the conference committee. This was in effect initially, the majority put Nelson on the Capital...
May 17, 2016
Yesterday, Governor Mark Dayton (DFL-MN) proposed a second transportation fix, calling it a compromise where the each side gives up something and the other side is scores something else. The Compromise Proposal included an increase in license tab fees to the tune of...
May 17, 2016
Community banking and credit unions are the offset to the big banks and one of the pioneers Union Bank & Trust is having a birthday party. Today, at 1-300 PM, 312 Central Ave SE, Minneapolis, this institution, backed by its union customer base is commemorating a...
May 5, 2016
With eighteen days left in the 2016 legislative session, the endpoint looks murky at best. Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-31A, Crown) always ready with the one-liners, which are most often pure platitudes, said on Monday, “We’re going to eat our vegetables...
Apr 27, 2016
Last week, we contacted House Tax Committee Chairman Greg Davids (R-28B, Preston) and reached him as he was on the road headed to his endorsing convention. When we explained the reason for the call and our desire to learn more about the Republican Majority’s Tax...
Apr 27, 2016
Minnesota’s Implied Consent law is before the US Supreme Court along with a North Dakota Law challenging the same issue as a violation of the 4th Amendment against warrantless searches. In the case of the MN position on whether Implied Consent is violates a person...
Apr 27, 2016
Some may have thought it to be a strange maneuver when House Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-15A, St Cloud) combined various bills into one. If Rep. Mark Olson (R-Big Lake) were still in the House, we know he would have had his objections. The combining...
Apr 27, 2016
Message for the Speaker. Capitol watchers may not remember, but there is a Bonding Bill currently at the Speakers desk. Last legislative session the Senate changed HF 748 from a Disaster Relief Bill into a Bonding Bill with a delete all amendment, but the message from...
