Minnesota State House

Notes From 2014's Election Night

Voting in South Minneapolis

Minnesota's DFL stood strong against a storm of GOP victories that swept the country Tuesday. There will be no change in the levels of blue and red that our state will send to Washington D.C., with only a personnel shift: Tom Emmer rather than Michelle Bachmann; but as the proverb goes, the devil is in the details: and this election had plenty of details.  
McFadden Fails to Pull within Single Digits
One of the least surprising results of the night was the decisive defeat of Mike McFadden (GOP) by incumbent Senator Al Franken (DFL). McFadden's...

Interview with Minnesota Governor Candidate Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson Explains his Views to Erik Bergs

Minnesota Connected was recently given the chance to interview the gubernatorial governor candidate Jeff Johnson (GOP) -- the interview took place hours before his first debate with Mark Dayton (DFL) in Rochester (available to view here). Our conversation focused on a variety of policy issues, but we found a number of non-political tangents to wander down as well. Minnesota Connected: Obviously the...

Looming Budget Issues for Minnesota?

st. paul capitol - matthew deery For the fourth straight month Minnesota has taken a significantly lower amount of tax revenue than expected. Back in February, budget officials announced a projected $1.23 billion surplus for the fiscal year 2014-2015. This forecast, which helps to inform lawmakers on tax and spending issues, is not quite holding true to form; though officials urge caution in drawing conclusions for how it will surface in the budget. Just four months into the fiscal year and the state is approaching $100...

Minnesota State Senate's Party Lines Blur as Liquor Laws Take Center Stage

Growler Sales State Senate

On Monday the Teamsters Union nabbed an important win in their push-back against a popular provision to allow for Sunday growler sales in the Minnesota State Senate's liquor bill. All hope (for beer-lovers) seemed lost as the provision was officially stripped in the Senate Tax Committee. It appeared destined to become yet another...

What's in a Name? 'Invasive' Carp Explained

Invasive Carp Being Netted

Columbus Day hasn't been the only thing due for a Minnesotanly-correct makeover this past week. This time it's happening in the capitol building. On Monday John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin) netted approval from the state Senate on a measure to change the name of 'Asian Carp' to 'Invasive Carp.' Hoffman explained the ambiguity of the name back in March:
Caucasians brought them to America...  Should we call them `Caucasian carp?' They have...

Teamsters Lobby Gets DFL Leaders to Quietly Kill Sunday Growler Sales From Liquor Bill

Teamsters Lobby Gets DFL Leaders to Quietly Kill Sunday Growler Sales from Liquor Bill

Most of the time I have to settle for covering stories that involve beer or politics, but once in a blue moon these two cosmic bodies (that I spend way too much time thinking about) align into something distinctly interesting. Yet somehow an under-reported sleeper of a story involving such things almost missed my attention. Unfortunately the scoop isn't good: in short, the influential...