Minnesota Independent

Minnesota Senate votes to put constitutional amendment on gay marriage before voters

By Andy Birkey | 05.11.11 | 3:38 pm

A proposal to place a question on the 2012 ballot that would alter the Minnesota Constitution to ban same-sex marriage passed the Senate on Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 38 to 27. The measure is waiting its final committee hearing in the House before that chamber votes on it. Virtually all of the testimony on the Senate floor was in opposition to the bill, which led one legislator to question whether supporters were ashamed to speak in support of it.

Senate committee takes up drugs, bong water

By Andy Birkey | 04.08.11 | 8:08 am

Four bills intended to beef up Minnesota’s drug laws were passed by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety committee on Thursday. The bills would change laws related to bong water and make synthetic marijuana and 2C-E illegal substances. The measures seek to address high profile controversies over the last two years, including the case of a woman who was sentenced to prison because the state Supreme Court ruled bong water to be a drug, the death of a Blaine teen in which 2C-E was suspected and the hospitalization of a Hastings teen after he smoked synthetic marijuana.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer. Image: YouTube

‘Cloning’ ban proponents muddle facts in stem cell debate

By Andy Birkey | 03.28.11 | 4:33 pm

Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, is adamant that a certain kind of stem cell research be banned. Her bill to criminalize somatic cell nuclear transfer was included in the health and human services omnibus bill currently under debate in the Senate, and she was successful in getting a weaker ban included in the higher education omnibus bill. The proposal has sparked a heated debate about whether the bill — and the testimony surrounding it — is misleading to the public on the topic of embryonic stem cell research. Republicans, however, have rejected an effort to clarify the debate.

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

DFL wants ethics hearing on Sen. Scott Newman

By Andy Birkey | 01.27.11 | 2:21 pm

Senate DFLers are seeking an ethics investigation on Republican Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson whose legislative assistant sent an email to the Minnesota Nurses Association stating that he would not meet with groups who backed his opponent, Hal Kimball. The DFLers claim that Newman violated Senate Rule 56.3, which prohibits senators from limiting access only to those who have made political contributions.