Minnesota Legislature

Airport privatization set to take off at Legislature; MAC-Delta deal grounded

As we reported last week, the bathroom stall made famous by former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig may not be for sale, but it looks like the airport it’s in soon could be. An effort to privatize the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is ready for takeoff in the new session of the state Legislature. At the same [...]

Senate Democrats rebuff proposed postage stamp reduction

How many postage stamps does it take to run a state Senate office? That was the sticky issue debated today during the opening Senate session of 2009. Noting the emergence of email as a tool to communicate with constituents, along with the state’s looming $4.8 billion deficit, Sen. Amy Koch (pictured) proposed that the number of stamps allocated to each legislator be reduced from 5,500 to 3,500. “This is not a big cost savings,” the Republican from Buffalo acknowledged, “but I did a little math and it’s over $56,000.”

Minnesota’s Capitol not an active front in ‘War on Christmas’

Washington state’s capitol has been beset with proliferating religious displays this holiday season — some of which are being taken as shots across the bow in the annual “War on Christmas” promoted on Fox News. “Fox and Friends” co-host and former Miss America Gretchen Carlson has been especially exercised about it, citing her Minnesota roots [...]

Recount’s might’ve-been-savior is herself a recount survivor

Had state Sen. Kathy Sheran’s bill to reform absentee voting dodged Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto pen last year, it might have spared Minnesota at least some of the agony of the current statewide recount. Sheran has denied foreknowledge that the outcome of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race this year would hang on absentee ballots. Now she tells the Minnesota Independent that her reform effort also wasn’t inspired by a recount involving a contested absentee ballot in her first race 24 years ago. That story is told in government meeting minutes that are — amazingly — available online going back more than 50 years at the City of Mankato Web site. But proximity to the state’s most dramatic recounts seems to run in the family for Sheran, whose father was a longtime justice on the state Supreme Court.

All in: Handicapping the 2010 DFL gubernatorial field

When union workers at Regina Medical Center in Hastings walked off the job for two days last month to highlight a contract dispute, their cause drew a few noteworthy supporters. On day one the workers were joined by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark (pictured) and House Speaker Margaret Anderson-Kelliher. The next day Rep. Paul Thissen and former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton helped rally support for their cause. While the Democratic pols were no doubt sincere in their support for the workers, their presence was conspicuous for another reason: each are on the (not-so-short) list of potential 2010 gubernatorial candidates.

2010 governor’s race: Pawlenty, Rybak gain rivals — not counting each other

Already by Tuesday, two men had tiptoed onto Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s turf this week. The city’s revitalization chief, Bob Miller, says he’ll run for the mayor’s job next year, the Southwest Journal reports. And on Monday Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a move on the green-jobs territory that Rybak — joined by another guv-wanna-be, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — has spent years staking out. Meanwhile, as Pawlenty gears up for a potential presidential bid in 2012, a different Minneapolis official threw his hat in the ring for governor: State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL).

University of Minnesota imposes hiring freeze

The U of M puts the brakes on hiring.

On an afternoon already ruined by the worst kind of freezing sleet, University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks announced a system-wide hiring freeze for all non-essential positions. Bruininks told university faculty and staff by e-mail that the “pause” in hiring is in anticipation of poor state budget [...]

Gay and lesbian equality advocates see gains in Minnesota

Tuesday’s election brought advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality a few steps closer to making gains in the Minnesota Legislature while Minnesota sent a less supportive delegation to Congress. While there is much for them to celebrate, advocates say the path to equality is still an uphill battle. “Change” is on the lips of everyone post election, but what kind of change can LGBT Minnesotans expect at the local and national level?

Reversal of fortune: Three state House candidates avenge 2006 defeats

This year there were at least nine state House contests that were rematches from 2006. In three instances, challengers successfully avenged their previous defeats.

The Schultz Report: Why didn’t Obama have any coattails in Minnesota?

In our first post-election installment of the Schultz Report, David Schultz talks about the mixed bag that last night brought for Minnesota Democrats–handing a 10-point margin to Barack Obama on one hand, but failing to net any congressional pickups and falling short of the five-seat increase needed to give the party a 2/3 majority in the Minnesota House.

“For all of those [down-ticket Minnesota] races,” notes Schultz, “you have Democrats coming in on average about 10 points behind where Obama was.” What gives?