Over the decades, MPR has presented the many different perspectives of Minnesota politics and politicians. This collection is home to a multitude speeches, interviews and debates on the issues of the day. Important topics of civil rights, environment, crime, budget, legislation, and campaigns are addressed.
Click on link to these well-known figures to see audio segments directly related to them: Michele Bachmann Arne Carlson Keith Ellison Hubert Humphrey Amy Klobuchar Eugene McCarthy Walter Mondale Tim Pawlenty R.T. Rybak Jesse Ventura Paul Wellstone
March 5, 2001 - Harold Stassen, one of Minnesota's most prominent political figures, is dead. He died Sunday at a nursing home in Bloomington. He was 93 years old. Stassen was the youngest person in the nation ever elected governor. Minnesota voters first put the moderate Republican in office in 1938, when he was 31. Historians say Stassen's youth and ideas rejuvenated the national Republican party. He helped create the United Nations. Others say his crowning achievement was laying the groundwork for nuclear arms limitation. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. {{DCART 5985}}
March 5, 2001 - Harold Stassen, one of Minnesota's most prominent political figures, is dead. He died Sunday at a nursing home in Bloomington. He was 93 years old. Stassen was the youngest person in the nation ever elected governor. Minnesota voters first put the moderate Republican in office in 1938, when he was 31. Historians say Stassen's youth and ideas rejuvenated the national Republican party. He helped create the United Nations. Others say his crowning achievement was laying the groundwork for nuclear arms limitation. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports.
March 5, 2001 - MPR's Laura McCallum reports that Governor Ventura's education budget came under more fire from education groups who say it shortchanges schools. About a thousand students, parents, and educators rallied at the Capitol for more education spending.
March 6, 2001 - MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports that educators throughout Minnesota have criticized Governor Ventura's proposed budget as insufficient for public schools, but supporters of the state's Indian Education programs are not complaining. Ventura wants to double the current funding targeted to American Indian students in an attempt to lower one of the state's highest drop out rates.
March 6, 2001 - A bill that would require Minnesotans to show picture identification in order to vote had a hearing yesterday before a House elections subcommittee. The bill would also require voters to provide the last four digits of their social security number, which would allow checking against criminal records or death certificates to reduce fraudulent voting. After the election problems in Florida, many states are considering election reform. On the line now to discuss what other states are doing is Jenny Drage, a policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
March 6, 2001 - MPR’s Michael Khoo reports that Governor Jesse Ventura has announced a package of campaign finance reforms he says will level the playing field for all candidates in future elections. A tri-partisan group of lawmakers joined the governor to support his initiative, although some of them say even deeper reforms are necessary.
March 8, 2001 - Emotional testimony from victims of gun violence marked today's (THURSDAY) hearing on a concealed handgun bill. Two women whose parents were shot in front of them told their stories to lawmakers. But the two took different sides in the gun debate. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
March 9, 2001 -
March 9, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with reporter Michael Khoo about Governor Jesse Ventura’s visit in Rochester, where he met with local residents on selling his budget proposal. The most revealing stop on his tour may have been to Evergreen Place, an assisted living facility in Pine Island, just north of the city.
March 13, 2001 - Minnesota could become the first state in the country to subsidize parental leave. A bill introduced yesterday in the Senate outlines a plan that allows employers to volunteer to pay 1/3 of a new parent's wages, with the state and the employee picking up the remaining two thirds. Current law requires employers to offer unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks. St. Paul Senator Ellen Anderson is the author of the bill. She says the plan benefits employees AND employers: