American Experiment on Governance
Governance Reports
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How the Met Council Misplans the Twin Cities
How the Met Council Misplans the Twin Cities by Randal O’Toole. From the Spring 2017, Issue 7 of Thinking Minnesota....
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The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment
The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment This report is designed to give lawmakers and citizens basic information about how the Met Council compares to other large, metro area bodies bot...
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Governance Articles
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St. Paul should stop using ‘fees’ to fund street maintenance
Minnesota’s Constitution imposes some important limitations on a city’s tax power. For several years, the city of St. Paul has imposed a right-of-way assessment on all property owners to fund road...
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Editorial counterpoint: Why fight over light rail when there’s bus rapid transit?
Why fight over light rail when there's bus rapid transit? BRT is cheaper than LRT. It could actually ease congestion and, if it fails, it's less down the drain....
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Minnesota needs a Brexit from the Met Council and regionalism: Dakota County makes a move
Allow me to juxtapose two news stories. The first is a local story, a small rebellion so obscure you might not have noticed it, which signals an important shift in regional partnerships. The other is ...
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Governance Posts
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“Happy Constitution Day, if You Can Keep It: The long-term survival of the Founders’ design depends on people, not parchment.”
The Center is celebrating the Constitution today by hosting Mark and Rebecca and their legal victory in June (Janus v. Afscme) at a luncheon in Minneapolis; they fought for and won the right of public...
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DFL Blames Republicans For Their Own Policy
Over the past week a number of residents in Republican-represented districts received mailers from the DFL accusing Republicans of voting “to give legislators a 45 percent pay raise," according t...
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Why Are Taxpayer Dollars Going to Legal Services for Illegal Immigrants?
Starting September 1st, $275,000 of taxpayer dollars will be available for expiring permanent residents and illegal immigrants fighting deportation in Hennepin County, according to the Star Tribune. T...
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State “IT” Services: Legislative Auditor Releases Report Detailing Serious Mismanagement, Disregard for Legal Requirements
Our state government is not good at managing simple IT functions; our confidential data is not secure, we are paying for services that we are not receiving in a timely or cost-efficient manner, and co...
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Is Downtown Minneapolis Doing Better than the City Council’s Makeup Might Suggest?
It long has been a political fact of life in Minneapolis that conservatives and Republicans are nowhere to be found on the city council, school board, or among the city’s legislative delegation. A...
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Governance Media
Howard Root: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Fed’s Hit-List (5.12.17, 50 min.) (50 min.)
Howard Root: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Fed’s Hit-List (5.12.17, 50 min.)...
The Twin Cities Met Council: A Comparative Assessment (Narrated PowerPoint) (09:33)
This presentation is designed to give lawmakers and citizens basic information about how the Met Council compares to other large, metro area bodies both in terms of governance structure and scope of a...