ST. PAUL, Minn. — Two state agencies may soon run out of money to fix Minnesota’s new driver registration platform. Minnesota’s Information Technology Services and the Department of Public Safety are tasked with fixing MNLARS. The computer system has struggled with bugs and errors since its launch last summer. The agencies told lawmakers in a report this week that the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Mark Dayton has kept his promise and vetoed a bill that would have aligned Minnesota’s state tax code with federal changes passed last year. The Democratic governor rejected the bill passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature with about 20 grade-school students standing behind him at a St. Paul school. Dayton said the bill tilted toward the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed a Republican-backed ultrasound abortion bill. It would have required Minnesota physicians to tell pregnant women they have the option of viewing an ultrasound before having an abortion. The bill passed the Legislature largely on party lines last week. Dayton said he objected to interfering with the doctor-patient relationship. Republican leaders say…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Mark Dayton says he won’t sign a bill squaring Minnesota’s tax code to sweeping federal changes if Republican lawmakers don’t include emergency funding for schools. Passing a so-called tax conformity bill to avoid confusion and some tax increases for people has been a major focus this year. But Dayton says schools need additional money as…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Just like they started the session, Minnesota’s Legislature is entering the homestretch with a long to-do list. But now they have just over a week to finish it. Republicans who control the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton are at odds on how to restructure Minnesota’s tax code, how to change health care programs and whether to…
ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — Governor Mark Dayton is visiting schools in Minnesota as he works to drum up support for his emergency school aid plan. He stopped by schools in Rosemount and Rochester to talk about the need for the Legislature to pass nearly $138 million in one-time school aid. Dayton says at least 26 school districts in the Metropolitan Area…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s 7th Judicial District has four new judges. Governor Mark Dayton has appointed Moorhead attorney Amber Gustafson and Becker County Attorney Tammy Merkins. They’ll fill the Clay County judgeship vacancies left by the retirements of Steven Cahill and Galen Vaa. Douglas Clark, an attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, will be chambered in Wadena and replaces Sally…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s elections chief is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security to protect the state’s balloting process from attack. It comes as concern grows about Russian targeting of America’s election infrastructure. Senate Intelligence Committee leaders recently said efforts to protect elections from Russian cyberattacks in 2016 didn’t go far enough, and they recommended new safeguards…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Touting Minnesota’s ranking as “Best Run State”, Governor Mark Dayton delivered his final “State of the State”. He began his address by introducing his 5-year-old grandson, Hugo, and with a joke about walking out by himself after the speech. Last year, he collapsed in the middle of the address as he battled prostate cancer. Dayton talked…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Clay County Attorney Brian Melton is not in the running to serve as a Seventh Judicial District judge in Minnesota. Melton’s name was not included in the list of six candidates sent to Governor Dayton by the Commission on Judicial Selection. They include Michelle Clark, Douglas Clark, Amber Gustafson, Tammy Merkins, Kevin Miller and Jade Rosenfeldt….
