government

The drastic across-the-board sequestration cuts to the federal budget are coming home to roost in unexpected ways. Case in point is the harm to the nation’s economic growth that may result from cuts to agencies that support scientific research. According to James Kakalios,...

ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Legislature decided to renovate the state Capitol building, help communities fight floods, give veterans a new facility and provide disaster assistance Monday night as it ended its 2013 session. Some votes were pending press time, but legislative leaders...

ST. PAUL — The keystone of Minnesota Democrats’ budget plans, $2 billion in tax increases, was headed for final legislative passage while late Sunday a public works bill remained in doubt as time runs out in the 2013 legislative session. The tax increases are for plugging a...

ST. PAUL — Another year, another defeat for Sunday liquor sales. The Minnesota House voted 106-21 Wednesday to retain state law forbidding Sunday liquor store hours. The issue arises regularly in the Legislature, always failing by a large amount. The vote came on an amendment...

After a couple centuries of government support, the Protestant mores that have dominated American culture are disappearing from the public square. A majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, abortion and legalizing marijuana, not to mention other activities and values that...

Minnesota is doing better than most neighboring states, Gov. Mark Dayton told legislators and Minnesotans last Wednesday night in his third State of the State address. And it is doing better than two years ago, he added. "Minnesota's job growth in 2012 was the 12th best among all...

The Minnesota Department of Revenue announced that human error has resulted in the double-issuing of 14,000 electronic tax refunds. The refunds were first issued to taxpayer bank accounts Friday, and inadvertently issued again Monday. The error was identified and payment was reversed...

With Gov. Tim Pawlenty's announcement of local government aid cuts last week the City of New York Mills found out how much next year's budget will be affected. New York Mills will lose $24,437 in 2009, which drops the LGA from $385,676 to $361,239. The city will also see a cut of...

With another reduction in Local Government Aid from the state expected in 2009, the New York Mills City Council is busy trying to trim this year's budget. The council met Tuesday for its regular monthly meeting and discussed ways to trim what little fat is left in the city budget....

Minnesota's local governments receive 30 percent of their revenue from the state, so when the state budget is sick, local governments sniffle. Now, with a massive state budget deficit, the affliction is much worse than a cold. Many say legislators must resort to major surgery to...

Area legislators were certainly not optimistic during meetings in the region Thursday and Friday. One of the primary topics, of course, was money. There were questions from the public about how to not spend it...and how to make cuts to budgets that have already been formulated...

Honestly, Mr. Hoglund, I don't know when I have run into a whinier liberal than you. Shouldn't you be living in California or somewhere? The levy failed because, frankly, it was asking too much for too long a period of time with no specific slots on where or how it was to be spent...