Mar 29, 2018
Word out of Washington DC is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is planning to introduce The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 and include it in the Farm Bill. On Monday he held a press conference with Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles to announce that...
Mar 28, 2018
Yesterday, the Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee passed SF3325 on a party line vote of 5-4. Each opponent on the committee deferred to local control, but the problem is election law is set by the legislature and not a locality. Voting...
Mar 28, 2018
You can hear the podcast of The Sue Jeffers Show from Saturday with guest Checks & Balances Publisher Shawn Towle discussing a range of topics from Ranked Choice Voting to the race for Governor....
Mar 23, 2018
It is clear the existing governmental legacy systems are outdated. It is also evident whenever an attempt is made to replace rather than once again retrofit these legacy systems it will likely result in an epic failure. Truly these systems need a wholesale change and...
Mar 23, 2018
Students from a number of Southwest Minneapolis Schools came to the State Capitol and staged a Die-In in front of the House Chamber while it was in session. They remained mostly silent and immobile on the floor where some had small paper signs with slogans like,...
Mar 23, 2018
On Monday, the Senate will be taking up the State Employee Contract and Pensions. We understand there is a deal on this issue including with House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-31A, Crown), but as we stated in the previous article on MNLARS we expect there will be drama in...
Mar 23, 2018
Former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) sent out the following email to past supporters and he highlights a number of ideas and asks for people to declare their support by Sunday. We expect this means there is some type of announcement set for next week. He calls into...
Mar 21, 2018
We will argue, next to a specific campaign, Checks & Balances is the best place to find out where things stand in an endorsement contest. The reason is clear, campaigns like to spin, i.e. Jim Niland. We then talk to the campaigns, take their information into...
Mar 21, 2018
US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) along with US Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are putting pressure on Chairman US Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to take action and call Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg before the committee. Zuckerberg...
Mar 21, 2018
There is a reoccurring theme being discussed in DFL quarters and it is whether or not the US Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) campaign is being run out of Washington DC by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). This is akin to Central Casting writing formulaic...
