Minnesota Independent

Tom Prichard of the Minnesota Family Council. Image: The UpTake

Backers of gay marriage ban seek to prevent disclosure about campaign spending, donors

By Andy Birkey | 06.14.11 | 12:34 pm

The groups behind a ballot measure that would put a ban on same-sex marriage in the Minnesota Constitution urged the state campaign finance board on Tuesday to retain a rule that would allow corporations to make unlimited contributions in support of the ballot measure. The Minnesota Family Council testified that it shouldn’t have to disclose any of its donors in the campaign to pass the amendment, while Minnesota for Marriage brought in attorneys from the Citizens United Supreme Court case to argue that political spending by corporations on the amendment push should be shielded from disclosure laws.

Senate passes voter ID bill

By Andy Birkey | 04.28.11 | 1:48 pm

The Minnesota Senate passed a sweeping voter identification bill Thursday that would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID card in order to vote in the state. Republicans said the measure is intended to prevent voter fraud, which they say has disenfranchised legitimate voters, while Democrats countered that it would be a travesty to democracy if even one voter was disenfranchised because they didn’t have an ID.

Ban on tax-funded stem cell research passes Senate, House

By Andy Birkey | 03.30.11 | 12:14 pm

A ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a technique used in some forms of stem cell research, passed the House and Senate floors on Tuesday evening in a pair of higher education budget bills. The bills would prohibit state or federal funding from going toward SCNT stem cell research. The two bills are headed to conference committee, where the two bodies will hash out the parts of the bills that differ. Gov. Mark Dayton indicated in a letter to legislators that he would veto a bill that contained the stem cell bans, citing them as policy issues that don’t belong in budget bills.

Dayton, legislators propose campaign finance reform

By Andy Birkey | 03.22.11 | 1:00 pm

Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislators announced a push on Tuesday to beef up Minnesota’s campaign finance disclosure laws. Specifically, the bill would require quarterly reporting for campaigns that raise more than $5,000. Current law does not require campaigns to report in off years even though campaigns are taking in funds and spending funds on political campaigning.

Bill to criminalize embryonic stem cell research passes through House, Senate committees

By Andy Birkey | 03.18.11 | 9:36 am

Committees in both the Minnesota Senate and House passed a bill that would criminalize the somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) process in embryonic stem cell research as well as prohibit the products of that research from entering the state of Minnesota. Despite expert testimony that the bill would hamper medical research in Minnesota, it passed three key committees this week.

Minnesota Capitol. Photo: Paul Weimer, Flickr

New bill aims to curb rising HIV rates

By Andy Birkey | 03.01.11 | 3:40 pm

Minnesota legislators have introduced a bill that would create Minnesota’s first public education campaign about HIV/AIDS. New HIV infections have spiked in Minnesota over the past two years, leading public health organizations to look for ways to curb the epidemic here. SF 466 would direct the Minnesota Department of Health to develop a statewide campaign that provides information both to the general public and distinct communities.

Minnesota Capitol. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

GOP unveils budget cuts, mayors and DFL offer swift response

By Andy Birkey | 01.18.11 | 4:00 pm

Minnesota Republicans unveiled their “Phase I” plan to reduce Minnesota’s $6.2 billion budget deficit by maintaining unallotment levels of government aid and higher education spending. The plan would direct state agencies to find $200 million in savings. DFL leaders and Mayors RT Rybak and Chris Coleman quickly criticized the plan as hurting the middle class while giving big breaks to corporate CEOs.

Pawlenty rejected $1 million in federal health care support

By Andy Birkey | 08.18.10 | 12:59 pm

At a meeting of the Legislature’s Health Care Access Commission, Sen. John Marty questioned Department of Commerce official John Gross about federal funding for the state’s insurance rate reviews, funds that are “virtually automatic,” so long as the state applies…

Sen. Marty hits back against NOM anti-gay marriage ad

By Andy Birkey | 06.01.10 | 8:30 am

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, criticized ads hitting metro area media outlets by the National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes homosexuality. The ads use video clips of Marty speaking in committee hearings about his efforts to legalize…

Punk rock ministry ambushes Sen. John Marty at DFL event

By Andy Birkey | 03.15.10 | 8:29 am

You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, the front group for the punk rock ministry of Bradlee Dean, took his brand of fundamentalist Christianity to a DFL gubernatorial meet-and-greet several weeks ago to confront Sen. John Marty about…