Sen. Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen earned praise for the Log Cabin Republicans on Friday after she was the lone Republican to vote to table a bill that adds a constitutional ban on gay marriage to the 2012 ballot. The motion to table was brought by Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook. Ortman had previously spoke in favor of rights for same-sex couples.
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.
Republicans in the Minnesota Senate introduced three bills on Tuesday that aim to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters in 2012. Minnesota law already outlaws same-sex marriage. State Democrats say the bill is a distraction from the economic crisis — and a state budget that the GOP has yet to pass.
The watchdog group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State sent a letter to Minnesota Senate leadership Monday warning the chamber that Pastor Dennis Campbell’s prayer last week was unconstitutional. Addressed to Senate President Michelle Fischbach, Majority Leader Amy Koch and Minority Leader Tom Bakk, the letter also urged the leaders to either refrain from allowing prayers in the Senate or to ensure that if it continues to do so it does in a way that respects other traditions.
Republican legislative leadership unveiled its budget targets on Thursday. Most government departments would see a cut under the budget proposals from the last two years, while a few, such as education and health and human services, would see a modest increase from the last biennium. Democrats immediately blasted the proposal, which will spend $34 billion in the 2012–2013 biennium — $3 billion less than the budget proposed by Gov. Mark Dayton.
Senate Republicans sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton Thursday stating that all 37 members of the GOP caucus have taken a “no-tax pledge” in response to the governor’s proposed budget which would increases taxes for the wealthiest Minnesotans. Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk responded with a letter of his own questioning the pledge and its implications, while Dayton told the GOP to stop “the game-playing” and come up with a budget of their own.
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.
Rasmussen Reports released some of the first polling numbers on Minnesota’s gubernatorial race on Thursday, finding that for the most part Minnesotans are undecided about who they like for governor. And with a diluted field for the DFL, no…
A straw poll results from Tuesday night’s political caucuses continue to trickle in, gubernatorial candidates RT Rybak and Margaret Anderson Kelliher are taking the top spot in the DFL, while Marty Seifert is garnering a large number of votes on the Republican side. Early results for the Independence Party show Tom Horner taking the lead, but voting for that straw poll will continue online until Feb. 28.
The Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition released a questionnaire on Monday polling candidates for governor on their stance on single-payer health care (pdf). All DFLers and one Republican responded. The majority support a single-payer health plan in Minnesota.
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