March 26, 2001 - An experiment in welfare reform is going to reach a milestone next year. Families who started in the experiment is to convert from welfare to employment.
March 26, 2001 - Politicians are ignoring emails because there are too many emails to read through. Each politician is getting approximately 80,000 emails a year. It all started with the Clinton impeachment hearings. Citizens are using the internet for quick delivery and convenience.
March 27, 2001 - MPR’s Michael Khoo gives a summary report on Governor Jesse Ventura’s appearance on Midday. The governor staked out positions on a host of proposals now under consideration at the state Legislature. Ventura commented on loosening restrictions on carrying a handgun, alcohol sales in grocery stores, and legal sports betting.
March 27, 2001 - MPR's Laura McCallum reports that just days before the first legislative committee deadline, abortion bills are gaining strength at the Capitol. Bills to create a special "Choose Life" license plate and to create a 24-hour waiting period before a woman could get an abortion passed their first legislative hurdles, but Governor Ventura says he'll veto both bills if they land on his desk.
March 27, 2001 - Efforts to kill the Profile of Learning heat up again today (Tuesday) at the state capitol. The House Education Policy committee takes up a bill that would repeal Minnesota's complex system of high school graduation standards. But the state's education commissioner says she plans to wait another year to recommend any changes. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
March 27, 2001 - Jackie Schwietz is from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. She says that the bill sounds completely one-sided, allowing citizens to only have one viewpoint on a license plate.
March 27, 2001 - The outbreak of two livestock diseases in Europe is heightening awareness in beef producers in the US. The US Department of Agriculture has introduced stringent efforts to keep both foot and mouth disease and madcow disease out of the country. But some epidemiologists and agriculture experts say despite the precautions it's possible that cases can occur in Minnesota. In the new global economy, health experts say a virus is only a plane ride away. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
March 27, 2001 - Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone has pushed through an amendment that could prove critical to the prospects for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform package. Wellstone's provision would ban ads by special interest groups in the weeks leading up to an election. Critics on both sides of the aisle say the amendment may violate the right to free speech. And some of campaign finance reform's biggest foes voted for the amendment- hoping the constitutional questions it raises will weaken the final bill. Wellstone says his amendment is an important piece of campaign finance reform.
March 27, 2001 - A bill that would extend health insurance to virtually every uninsured child in Minnesota has cleared a state Senate committee. The proposal would offer coverage to the estimated 48-thousand children who now go without insurance. Estimates suggest the plan would cost the state between 35 and 60 million dollars annually. Jim Koppel is the Director of the Children's Defense Fund. He says the money would be well spent:
March 27, 2001 - Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life supports the bill to create a "Choose Life" license plate for vehicles. Money from the plates would assist women who made an adoption plan. Catholic charities and New Horizons have helped back this concept. The idea came from Florida.