Transparency advocates say the group appears to be prepping a lawsuit challenging the state’s already weakened disclosure rules.
Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen is listed as a member of a controversial corporate and state legislative collaboration called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), according to recently leaked documents. The group includes thousands of members of state legislatures and representatives of corporations who draft legislation that is then introduced at the state level without acknowledgement that it was written with the help of corporations it might benefit.
Rep. Ryan Winkler offered an amendment in the Government Operations and Elections Commmittee on Wednesday that would have allowed local governments to offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples, but Republican members opposed the measure. A 1995 court case struck down the ability of local governments to offer domestic partner benefits, and instead communities across the state have enacted domestic partner registries that currently cover 1 million Minnesota residents.
Republicans in the Minnesota House have included an amendment to the health and human services omnibus bill that would ban the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the state of Minnesota because legislators believe it to be in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. On Wednesday night, Republicans argued that “Obamacare” would “eviscerate” state sovereignty, while DFLers made comparisons to the Confederacy and the arguments used by secessionists during the Civil War. One legislator even proposed changing the state song to “Dixie.”
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.
Minnesota Republicans have offered four identical bills that would ban state funding for abortion services in both the House and Senate. The DFL and reproductive rights groups are taking them to task for focusing heavily on social issues and curtailing the ability of low income women to receive an abortion. Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, predicted that the bills were likely an attempt to challenge a Minnesota Supreme Court decision that upheld the right of Minnesotans on public assistance to receive abortion services.
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake and Sen. Warren Limmer of Maple Grove unveiled the Republican plan to overhaul the state’s voting system at a press conference on Wednesday. Among the proposed changes are the elimination of vouching, implementation of a photo identification system, a ban on health care workers assisting voters in the booth, and massive changes to the recount process. Most of the changes reflect complaints by the conservative group Minnesota Majority, which Kiffmeyer ran several years ago.
DFL Rep. Ryan Winkler of Golden Valley sent a letter to Majority Leader Matt Dean on Thursday pressing for a hearing on an amendment that would direct the Minnesota House to pass a budget bill before it can deal with constitutional amendments such as one banning marriage rights for same-sex couples. Republicans had promised to put the deficit ahead of divisive social issues but religious conservatives have already begun a campaign to get them on the ballot.
On the first day of the legislative session, the Republican majority in the Minnesota House voted down an amendment to the rules that would put fixing the state budget deficit before any constitutional amendments. The rule, offered by Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis), was referred to the Rules Committee for further consideration by a vote of 74 to 60. DFL Rep. Ryan Winkler of Golden Valley criticized the vote as an indication that the Republican majority may prioritize delving into divisive social issues over fixing the budget deficit.
Around the local Twitterverse, the buzz is about Target’s name appearing among funders behind the conservative group MN Forward’s new pro-Tom Emmer TV commercials. Plus, Rep. Michele Bachmann gets House approval for her…
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