Legislature

By Graham Johnson House Public Information Service Hours after the House Capital Investment Committee unveiled details of the $1.24 billion capital investment bill and shortly before the legislative deadline to complete its work, the House and Senate passed a bonding bill. It’s on its way to the governor following the 122-11 and 60-7 respective votes.…

By Tim Walker House Public Information Service The Department of Natural Resources has a wide-ranging mission that can be summarized as providing outdoor recreation opportunities by conserving, managing, and regulating the state’s natural resources for current and future generations. So, who knows how best to do that? The department doing that important work, of course.…

By Tim Walker House Public Information Service Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) sponsors a bill that would add just one line to state statute on pesticide use, whereby: “A person is prohibited from disposing a pesticide container by burning.” But some behind-the-scenes politicking has complicated a simple bill. That was revealed when Hansen, the…

By Rob Hubbard House Public Information Service Shoring up the state’s finances by raising taxes on the wealthiest among us is an idea whose time has come and gone and come again. Both the federal and state governments have gone through periods during which tax rates rose for those with the highest incomes. But Rep.…

By Winter Keefer House Public Information Service Tamera Walter is afraid she and her children will lose food access when changes to SNAP benefits included in the federal “Big Beautiful Bill” go into effect later this year. A single mother of two, Walter has Type 2 diabetes and her children have Type 1 diabetes and…

By Lisa Kaczke House Public Information Service A prohibition on virtual currency kiosks in Minnesota is on its way to the House Floor. It’s included in HF4188 that, as amended, is the omnibus commerce policy bill approved by the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee Wednesday. The ban calls for all virtual currency kiosks to be removed from…

By Tim Walker House Public Information Service A public safety policy package bill is headed to the House Floor. The final policy package bill, HF3990, contains the language of public safety bills that were previously heard by the committee and laid over for consideration to be included in the policy package bill. A dozen of those bills making…

By Lisa Kaczke House Public Information Service A disagreement over whether an agreement had been reached on a provision in a 12-bill package led to the defeat of the omnibus cannabis policy bill Wednesday. Different bills within the package are moving through committees this week as negotiations between Rep. Jessica Hanson (DFL-Burnsville) and Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine) continue, with…

By Graham Johnson House Public Information Service School was incredibly difficult for Kimberly Zitek. “My dyslexia was never identified, and like many dyslexic students, I learned ways to hide my struggles and fell through the cracks of the school system,” she told the House Education Policy Committee Wednesday. But when her daughter showed signs of…

By Graham Johnson House Public Information Service Thirty-two states send out some form of voting guide to residents that detail how to vote, where to vote, and who will be on the ballot. The House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee laid over a bill Wednesday that would make Minnesota the 33rd. Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden…