Minnesota is moving forward with standardized math and reading tests this spring, but the state will likely not use the test results to identify struggling schools, reports the Pioneer Press.…
Last year, we released a report titled ‘Minnesota’s Border Battles‘ in which we compared the economic outcomes in Minnesota counties bordering other states with the outcomes in the border counties…
The pandemic, the death of George Floyd, the trial of Derek Chauvin and now the death of Daunte Wright have put the state of Minnesota and its people under a…
The state’s top watchdog has told the Star Tribune the agency is looking into the fees charged by a New York company awarded a no-bid contract by the Walz administration…
Last week, KPVI ran a report titled: ‘Some Minnesota businesses report hiring problems, citing enhanced unemployment benefits‘: With more relaxed restrictions and the promise of warmer months ahead, businesses are…
A group of high school students called Minnesota Teen Activists has organized a state-wide school walkout today “to take a stand against racial injustice,” reports the Pioneer Press. The timing…
As the lawyers in the Derek Chauvin case prepare their closing statements this weekend, legislators across the river are preparing a second round of police accountability legislation at the Capitol.…
Senator John Marty (DFL) offered his proposed solution to the surge in catalytic converter theft that has surged in the past two years during a floor debate in the State…
Energy poverty affects millions of Americans. In this episode, Robert talks to Dana Harmon of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute about how the February snowstorm increased energy insecurity among…
State and local taxes and spending Pine Journal: Minnesota budget battles ignite; court decision kicks lawmakers into action on rape law re-write Star Tribune: Minnesota Legislature’s budget plans differ on…
The Heartland Institute’s Donald Kendal, Jim Lakely, Justin Haskins and the Center of the American Experiment’s Isaac Orr present episode 290 of the In the Tank Podcast. The guys discuss…
Lower tax rates incentivize economic activity and therefore expand the tax base. High tax rates do the opposite
Earlier this week, the Minnesota State Senate moved forward to legalize the construction of new nuclear power plants in the state by including it in an omnibus bill for further…
Rather than showing appreciation for the citizen soldiers whose lives have been upended to protect against a replay of last summer's riots, organized labor activists jeered and expelled them.
Following this week’s killing of Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center police officer, protesters exercised their First Amendment right to “peaceably” assemble. It must be rather galling for these protesters…
A Minnesota dairy producer's openness on why he had little choice but to move his operation to Colorado in order to prosper reveals much about the state's toxic business climate.
The global pandemic brought about many changes in life, some temporary and some permanent. One of the permanent changes appears to be how and where we work. Many businesses were…
The Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee has approved an education bill that prioritizes students over systems. Ask Gov. Tim Walz and lawmakers to support giving more Minnesota students an…
The General Manager of the Minnesota Valley Co-Op, Pat Carruth, issued a dire warning about the reliability of Minnesota’s electric grid in the co-op’s April newsletter. In his letter, he…
Today, Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development released unemployment numbers for March. The headline was that the our state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked down from 4.5% in February…
Minnesota is a high-tax state — this is not news. When looking at our state’s tax burden altogether, we are among the top 10 in the nation. Minnesota ranks high on…
Xcel Energy has announced its plan to spend $575 million building a 460 megawatt (MW) solar facility in Becker, Minnesota, right next to coal plants they will be prematurely retiring.…
In our new report ‘The State of Minnesota’s Economy: 2020‘, we wrote: Tax rates and, to a slightly lesser extent, their actual burdens, are, by their nature, relatively easy to…
Once again, we are reminded about how throughout the pandemic, a big emphasis was placed on feel-good actions that have little impact on COVID-19 outcomes.