March 16, 1999 - Minnesota lawmakers are considering comprehensive campaign finance reform for the first time in five years. Legislation headed to the House floor is designed to plug loopholes in Minnesota law, but critics say it will allow more corporate money to influence politics. And some legislators say it's time to stop tweaking the system, and move to publicly-funded campaigns as other states have done.
March 16, 1999 - Former US Attorney David Lillehaug today became the first candidate to formally announce plans to challenge Senator Rod Grams in the year 2000. Grams is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican Senators seeking re-election next year, and the list of potential D-F-L and Reform Party contenders is growing rapidly.
March 15, 1999 - Legislation moving through the Minnesota House would require doctors to report when minor girls have abortions without telling their parents. Supporters say the state - and parents - should know when girls have abortions, but opponents say the bill would intimidate girls in rural areas, who fear being identified.
March 9, 1999 - Two months into the legislative session, lawmakers are hearing from their constituents about competing tax rebate plans and permanent tax cuts. DFL Representative Ann Lenczewski of Bloomington, who serves on the House tax committee, says the public is having a hard time making sense of the tax debate. The freshman lawmaker recently held her first town meeting to hear what her constituents think.
March 9, 1999 - So is there a deal... or isn't there? DFL Senate Majority leader Roger Moe says he and Governor Ventura have reached agreement on a one-point-three billion dollar sales tax rebate. But there's still a major sticking point between the Governor and Senate Democrats - and house Republicans are nowhere near signing on to the deal.
March 2, 1999 - Governor Ventura delivers his first State of the State today, less than two months after taking office. Republicans in the Minnesota House are also new to leadership, and have been taking their message to greater Minnesota since the session began. Republican leaders say their focus on tax cuts, education and government reform is resonating with voters, although their vision of a leaner state budget doesn't please advocates of certain programs. They traveled to Owatonna yesterday, and Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum went along.
February 26, 1999 - A push to pass tougher financial disclosure laws for state legislators and lobbyists may be dead this session. An ethics expert from Rutgers University says such laws rarely produce valuable information for the public, and infringe on the privacy of citizen legislators. A House committee killed a disclosure bill this week, and it faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
February 26, 1999 - St. Paul business leaders welcomed Governor Ventura into their midst today. Ventura offended some St. Paul residents and Irish-Americans this week by joking on the David Letterman show that drunk Irishmen must have designed the streets in St. Paul. But Mayor Norm Coleman calls Ventura a huge asset to the city.
February 22, 1999 - Some Minnesota lawmakers are shying away from changing the gift ban, a law that prohibits them from accepting gifts, or even cups of coffee, from lobbyists. Public opposition to loosening the ban is making some legislators nervous, and a Senate committee today delayed action on any changes until three Senators can work out a compromise.
February 18, 1999 - Republicans and Democrats in the Minnesota House have agreed to use money from the state's tobacco settlement to pay for subsidized health care. In a unique show of bi-partisanship, lawmakers from both parties support a plan to eliminate the so-called "sick tax", and use tobacco money to fund Minnesota Care.