The latest snow storm to hit the state dropped an impressive 13 inches of snow on the Metro area. But, somehow managed to fall well short of expectations. As the…
It’s a refreshing show of support for agriculture and family farmers. The planning commission in Fillmore County recently voted overwhelmingly to recommend the county board double the limit on the…
There is a tradition in the Minnesota legislature that bills dealing with election law achieve bi-partisan support. Governors Tim Pawlenty and Mark Dayton each abided by this tradition and refused…
A new trend emerged this week in the Minnesota legislature as Democrats ram through their agenda at record speed. The lack of fiscal notes.
This morning, HF2, the proposal for paid family and medical leave, sailed through its fifth House committee hearing. Perhaps one reason for its speedy passage is that it isn’t weighted…
The scandal-prone state senator has emerged in 2023 more powerful than ever. Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Minneapolis) survived a series of scandals in 2022 to win reelection in November…
American Experiment’s annual award highlights the state’s wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money.
A proposed Chinese agricultural plant that divided Grand Forks for more than a year finally got shot down Monday as the city council unanimously voted to kill the controversial project…
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips (DFL-3rd CD) and his brother are being sued by a former employee for failure to pay overtime: A former manager…
Lawyers for the failed Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange FTX are attempting to recover political contributions made to American politicians. Indicted CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was the 2nd largest donor to Democratic candidates…
The progressive policy hazards that will push Minnesota past the point of no return.
Anyone watching the House Ways and Means Committee Monday got a glimpse of the raw philosophical divide between Democrats and Republicans. It was brought to us by Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn…
The United States is one of the freest countries in the world. But in 2020 that freedom came under threat. In fact, according to Cato’s Human Freedom Index 2022 update,…
In a surprising about-face after more than a year of controversy, Grand Forks officials now say they plan to reject the Fufeng Chinese corn milling plant proposed in a location…
Collateral damage from the Feeding Our Future scandal.
Legislative term limits have found a new following in North Dakota.
Advocates of replacing our conventional up-or-down voting system want all Minnesotans to have the option of switching to a clumsy, confusing alternative called ranked choice voting. Thus far, just a…
Not so long ago, citizens could go to the polls to vote for one candidate per office and expect to learn who straight out won or lost sometime before midnight.…
Week three of the 2023 legislative session is over, and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are taking full advantage of their new power.
It was a post-9/11 reform. How soon we forget. The current prohibition on issuing Minnesota driver’s licenses to undocumented migrants dates from 2003. A number of media outlets note that…
My colleague Bill Walsh writes about the coming collision of two bills at the legislature, both dealing with driver’s licenses, in this week’s Capitol Watch. HF 4, if passed, would…
Semi-retired Star Tribune columnist Lori Sturdevant wrote recently about the just-started Minnesota legislative session under the headline: DFL may go big, and that wouldn’t be bad Some policy moves are…
In 2015, Hennepin County seized Geraldine Tyler’s Minneapolis condo “over about $2,300 of unpaid property taxes, plus $12,700 in penalties, interest and fees.” The county sold the condo for $40,000…
It’s all the rage among local elected officials in cities from Dilworth to Rochester to Fairmont and points in between. A community center funded by imposing an up to 25-year…