Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed into law a $5 per ton carbon dioxide tax yesterday. The Mayor’s office claims that the move “will significantly cut pollution, save money, and move…
We at Center of the American Experiment have long warned of looming budget squeezes in Minneapolis and St. Paul as a result of collapsing commercial property values. Simply put, declining values means declining property tax valuations, which means declining…
State and local taxes and spending Minn Post: Goldilocks report? Minnesota tax collections show economy not too cold, not too hot Star Tribune: Minneapolis to look at new taxes as…
Just weeks after Rochester implemented a ban on homeless camps on public property in March, the Brainerd City Council began considering a similar measure based on Rochester’s ordinance. Now comes…
The U.S. Supreme Court last week provided local governments the latitude many have been waiting for to help cope with the thorny issue of homelessness. The high court ruled that…
Minneapolis residents appear to be largely unaware of a petition filed May 1 by the activist group Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J). The petition proposes to amend the City Charter…
Last month I outlined why I think the current proposal from Republicans in St. Paul to bail the voters of Minneapolis out of the consequences of their decisions with a…
Last week, Uber and Lyft, true to their word, announced that they would stop operating in Minneapolis after the City Council passed an ordinance hiking driver pay. Now, WCCO reports: Minnesota House…
The current contract talks between AFSCME union workers and the city of Virginia have been rocky from the start. AFSCME Local 454 filed for mediation before the two sides even…
Minneapolis votes to restrict heavy industries, inevitably hurting those they’re claiming to help.
Earlier this year, St. Paul activists started a coalition to bring free preschool to St. Paul. The coalition, which is named SPARK — St. Paul All Ready for Kindergarten —…
One of the most visible responses to the dramatic increase in violent crime in Minneapolis has been the city’s attempt to “interrupt” crime by hiring citizen groups to patrol the…
A poll carried out for the Star Tribune, MPR News, KARE 11, FRONTLINE and the PBS series sheds some fascinating light on the ongoing debate on policing in Minneapolis. Some…
It’s no easy job attempting to recall every member of the city council in your community. There’s no manual for doing it, seeing as how it’s rarely been done before,…
Crime is surging in Minneapolis; that is not new. As a new article by the Star Tribune reveals, According to the most recent police statistics, the number of people shot…
It’s not every day the entire city council of a community faces a recall election. But that’s exactly what organizers of the Recall City Hall Committee in Red Wing hope…
Post-riot surges in crime disproportionately hurt the Black community.
On Sunday, City Council President Lisa Bender announced she would not seek re-election in 2021, according to an article in the Star Tribune. Bender was among the first City Council…
When Arik Forsman was elected to the Duluth city council he took upon himself a challenge; he was going to solve the childcare crisis. To do this, he sponsored an…
In November Bloomington residents will finally get the chance to send a message to their elected officials and city hall power brokers over the blatantly illegal 2016 decision to usurp…
Supreme Court rules that Bloomington taxpayer group was disenfranchised.
Bloomington taxpayers just proved–again–that you can fight city hall, even if it takes years and means going all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The state high court ruled…
One issue won’t be on the ballot in the Twin Cities suburb of Andover. It’s the mega-bucks proposed expansion to the city’s community center. The nearly $19 million price tag has stirred…
Five years after a group of watchdog citizens first challenged the status quo at Victoria City Hall, their bid to hold local elected officials accountable under the Minnesota Open Meeting…