Minnesota House Of Representatives

The Minnesota House passed a $1 billion tax bill this evening by a 86-45 margin. All Democrats backed the measure, while every Republican opposed it. The bill would increase revenues in three ways: a new top income tax bracket for Minnesota’s wealthiest citizens, an increase in taxes on alcohol and a surcharge applied to credit card companies that levy interest rates higher than 15 percent. The $1 billion package was hashed out by legislators in a conference committee late last night.

Within hours of a Monday meeting at the state Capitol at which reporters heard that proposed restrictions on media wouldn’t go into force, state troopers descended on a reporter for taking a photo of a legislator who was offering a bill to a state House of Representatives committee.

Rep. Ron Erhardt is a man without a political party. The nine-term Edina legislator was kicked to the curb by the Republican Party after voting to overturn Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill in February. Local Republicans instead endorsed, by a lopsided 71-29 margin, challenger Keith Downey.

Erhardt was subsequently spotted at the the [...]

The DFL majority in the state Legislature pushed through a new transportation bill on Thursday. But two defectors in the House left the bill one vote shy of a veto-proof majority, which could prove critical if, as expected, the measure is rejected by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

State Reps. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, and Mary Ellen [...]