Ted Blank named St. Paul District 10 administrator

By Kristal Leebrick, Park Bugle

Ted Blank

Ted Blank has been named District 10 Como Community Council’s administrator and coordinator, the main staff position in the district.

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DFL priorities hinge on $2.6 billion tax bill that passes House

By Lee Ann Schutz Wahi, Session Daily

Rep. Ann Lenczewski presents the omnibus tax bill on the House floor April 24. (Photo by Andrew VonBank)

The House DFL has a lot riding on the omnibus tax bill – it’s the link to funding their session priorities and fulfilling campaign promises.

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Protection of government collected private data addressed

By Lee Ann Schutz Wahi, Session Daily

Look no further than the shift from storing information on a computer hard-drive to the cloud, and you’ll understand the importance of data practices. However, lines can blur over what information is considered public.

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Broad coalition calls for major transportation investment

By Staff, Minneapolis Labor Review

Building Trades union members helped fill the State Capitol rotunda for a April 17 rally calling for increased state investment in transportation infrastructure, including mass transit. The crowd included John D. Townsend, White Bear Lake, member of Piledrivers Local 1847 (left, holding sign) and Theodore Day, Columbia Heights, also a member of Piledrivers Local 1847 (right, holding sign).

A statewide coalition of business leaders, organized labor, local government officials and transportation advocates — Transportation For A Stronger Economy — filled the State Capitol rotunda April 17 for a rally calling for this year’s legislative session to pass and fund a balanced, comprehensive and statewide transportation plan, one that builds roads and mass transit.

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House passes omnibus K-12 education budget

By Sarah Lemagie, Session Daily

Rep. Paul Marquart talks with House Majority Leader Erin Murphy during debate on the omnibus education finance bill April 23. (Photo by Paul Battaglia)

The House has passed a funding plan for Minnesota schools that features full state funding for voluntary all-day kindergarten.

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Higher education budget bills focus on making college affordable

By Caitlin Biegler, Minnesota Budget Bites

By 2018, Minnesota’s employers are expected to require one of the most highly educated workforces in the nation, with 70 percent of jobs needing some education beyond high school. The House and Senate help prepare us to meet those needs by investing in higher education in their omnibus higher education bills.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Local government aid and the three-legged stool, part two

By Jeff Van Wychen, Minnesota 2020

As noted in part one of this post, funding for the city Local Government Aid (LGA) program has been cut dramatically since 2002. As a result, the property tax leg of the Minnesota’s three-legged revenue stool has grown—that is to say, Minnesota’s dependence on the property tax for funding public services has increased. To reverse this trend, Governor Dayton’s tax proposal and the House and Senate omnibus tax bills each contain an $80 million (19 percent) increase in the LGA appropriation in 2014 to restore a portion of prior year cuts.

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Minnesota 2020

Omnibus health and human services finance bill passes House with several bipartisan amendments

By Susan Hegarty, Session Daily

Rep. Tom Huntley, chair of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee, speaks to the media in the House gallery April 22 to give a preview of the omnibus health and human services finance bill. (Photo by Andrew VonBank)

Health care workers who have experienced reduced pay and benefits in recent years because of state deficits could receive 2-3 percent pay increases.

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University of Minnesota creates new program to allay sequester cuts

By Rebecca Harrington, The Minnesota Daily

The dust has settled after sweeping budget cuts known as the sequester went into effect last month, and federal agencies have responded with how they’re going to implement them.

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Additional money OK’d for sex offender treatment, school safety center

By Mike Cook, Session Daily

Rep. Michael Beard, left, and Rep. Michael Paymar discuss an amendment to the omnibus public safety finance and policy bill during debate April 19. (Photo by Paul Battaglia)

A conference committee will likely be needed to merge a pair of omnibus public safety finance and policy bills into one.

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