“Legalize it,” Peter Tosh sang in 1976, “And don’t criticize it.” He also promised to “advertise it,” but he said nothing about taxing it. But then, he probably hadn’t been to…
The Monday deadline for Minnesota’s legislators to pass a budget came and went without a budget being passed. We did get an agreement on spending targets for the upcoming two…
Back in 2023, that “historic” “trifecta” voted to spend $200 million on the Northern Lights Express (NLX), a passenger train service running between Minneapolis and Duluth. I doubted that this…
As you know by now, Gov. Tim Walz and three of the four legislative leaders announced at a press conference Thursday morning that an agreement was reached on the overall…
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz unveiled a budget agreement in the capitol reception room, as Democratic representatives and senators protested noisily outside, chanting and pounding on the doors. The uproar stemmed…
Yesterday, amid chaotic scenes at the Capitol, Governor Walz, Senate Democrats, and Republicans and Democrats from the House, announced an agreement on spending targets for the upcoming two biennia, a…
In defense of critical ethnic studies that is coming to all K-12 public classrooms, Minnesota Democratic legislators posit it as simply an opportunity to ensure students are taught about racial/ethnic…
“You’re killing our community!” In a bizarre scene at the state capitol this morning, protestors, including sitting DFL members of the state legislature, attempted to break into the Governor’s reception…
I’ve been writing for a while about the forces driving increased residential property taxes in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Now, with state government finances in a mess following the DFL…
An old video has surfaced of a Feeding Our Future defendant testifying in favor of an unrelated nonprofit seeking a multi-million-dollar state government grant. They got the money, of course.…
The setting Minnesota’s legislators have until next Monday to finalized a budget for the 2026-2027 biennium, and there is still a lot of work to do. The setting is the…
There is one week left in the regular legislative session and to no one’s surprise, the parties are stuck on the big stuff. Everyone is waiting for a breakthrough on…
On Wednesday, I offered a cautious welcome for the House tax bill. Faced with ballooning state government budget deficits as a result of an explosion in spending since 2023, the…
I’ve written before about our local DFLers fondness for trumpeting some of the various rankings of states compiled as clickbait by various bloggers and passed off as “studies.” “Data is…
Yesterday, Republican and DFL leads on the House taxes panel unveiled their proposed tax bill. It deserves a cautious welcome and shows how divided government is paying off this session. WCCO…
The four-year graduation rate for Minnesota’s class of 2024 is the highest to date at 84.2 percent, according to newly released data from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Yet,…
The state House of Representatives Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight committee met again this morning to take up the subject of Medicaid fraud in Minnesota. It was the tenth…
I’m considering opening a lock and key business in Hudson, Wisconsin this summer. Because unless the Minnesota legislature acts, almost all keys and key fobs will be illegal beginning July…
All progress on the state budget came to a grinding halt this week when House Democrats broke an agreement with Republicans to move budget bills to the floor once they…
The DFL deficit In February 2023, Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) forecast a state government budget surplus of $17 billion for the 2024-2025 biennium. In the subsequent “historic” session, the DFL trifecta…
State and local taxes and spending WCCO: Minnesota Legislature to return from break Monday with budget battle ahead Austin Daily Herald: Sen. Gene Dornink: Financial pressures mounting KROC: Minnesota Tax…
A lot has been written about the polarization of American politics in the era of Pres. Donald Trump. The left suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome, or TDS, and the right…
State lawmakers have a duty to taxpayers to set responsible budgets. The normalization of spending increases and tax hikes as the panacea for every societal concern that has characterized the…
It is refreshing to see that the Senate has advanced an energy omnibus bill, SF 2393, which faces some budget realities and energy realities at the same time. The bill…