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Minnesota House

Thursday, May 9, 2013

WATCH: Livestream Video of Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Vote at MN House

The Minnesota House of Representatives takes up the bill at noon on Thursday, May 9, 2013.

Watch live here as the Minnesota House of Representatives debates and votes on a bill to make same-sex marriage legal on Thursday, May 9, 2013, starting at noon. The top video above will carry the action on the House floor via The UpTake. The lower video, from The UpTake's cameras in Minnesota Capitol corridors, is set to show crowds supporting or opposing gay marriage that may gather outside the House chamber.

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Mike Hindin

3:25 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2013

This is truly a low point for the entity "mike B" Starting rumors in order to incite violence. It Spews cowardly gossip because it didn't get what it wanted. Election matter and house votes are accurately recorded.   more ›

Monday, February 11, 2013

Latz: Gun Control Debate Adds Controversy to Commonsense Proposals

The Senate Judiciary chairman and local legislator said his five-point plan to keep guns from people who shouldn’t have them would sail through if it weren’t for the larger debate on guns.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Ron Latz (DFL-District 46) said gun control proposals like his are only generating controversy because of the larger debate about how to regulate firearms in the wake of the Newtown, CT shooting. In an interview with Senate Media Service’s Capitol Report last week, Latz pitched his five-part package as a commonsense approach that’s simply intended to keep gun from people who shouldn’t have them. “This is not an attack on gun rights,” Latz said. “That’s already well established in the Constitution and by the Supreme Court. This is simply what form of regulation we should use for a lawful but dangerous product.” Latz, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and St. Paul Rep. John Lesch (DFL-District 66B) are pushing …

Nancy E Gertner

10:29 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013

I do not have any children in school, but I have been to the funeral and burial of my friend's child that was murdered in her classroom, so I appreciate that Senator Latz is looking out for the children of Minnesota that are too young to vote, and are unlikely to contribute to his campaign for re-election. Support for background checks is reported to be around 90 percent of the population, and …   more ›

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Simon Shares Expectations and Priorities for 2013-14

The District 46B legislator reflects on what Minnesotans want and what his priorities are.

  Editor’s Note: The following update comes from Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 46B).   Dear friends,  For the first time in 22 years, one political party controls the Governorship, the House, and the Senate in Minnesota. That arrangement brings an opportunity to minimize gridlock at the Capitol, but also the need to govern in a responsible way. If the party in control does too much too fast, voters could seek a “course-correction” at the next election. But if the party in control is too timid about taking on big challenges, voters will also take note. For me, this means setting expectations and priorities for the current legislative session.   What Minnesotans Expect It seems to me that Minnesotans generally want: My Own Priorities As …

Saturday, April 14, 2012

(OPINION) House DFL: Bonding Bill Should Include Southwest LRT

"Expanded light rail service is a vital part of supporting the thousands of new jobs that will come to our area in the next twenty years," said State Rep. Steve Simon.

(The following editorial was submitted by the House DFL caucus.)   With as little as two weeks remaining in session and the Legislature wrapping up a 10-day break, members of the House DFL Caucus, along with state and local officials, and area business leaders, called today for a bipartisan bonding bill that includes funding for the Southwest Light Rail Transit Project at a press conference at Supervalu corporate headquarters in Eden Prairie. “Leaders of both parties said before session that jobs were the priority and the Southwest Light Rail project is an opportunity to ensure our actions match our words,” said House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL – Minneapolis). “This is the type of project that will benefit the businesses and people …

Friday, March 2, 2012

Local Legislators Still Weighing Latest Stadium Plan

Latz and Simon are exploring all the details of Thursday’s proposal, but Winkler says he is opposed to it.

Local legislators are still digesting the details of a $975 million Vikings stadium proposal introduced Thursday. “I would say that the reception so far in the House is cautious,” Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) wrote in an e-mail interview. “I think most legislators (like me) want to digest the details.” Under the plan, the state would pay for $398 of the project, or 41 percent, through charitable electronic pulltabs. Minneapolis would pay $150 million, or 15 percent, through Convention Center sales and hospitality taxes. And the Vikings would pay $427 million, or 44 percent. That’s a smaller team contribution than Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) would like. At a town hall Feb. 8, he said he’d prefer that the team pick up half the …

Brad Kadue

8:02 am on Saturday, March 3, 2012

Here's a relatively minor issue relative to electronic pull tabs that hasn't found it's way into the discussion - jobs. Does anybody know how many Minnesotans are employed in our state at the pull tab booths? Could we reasonably expect that the vast majority of these jobs would disappear if electronic pull tabs were approved? I commend rep. Winkler for his committed opposition to this plan. He …   more ›

Thursday, May 19, 2011

'Four Firkins Bill' Will Have to Wait Until Next Year

The legislation did not make it into the final liquor omnibus bill.

The push to allow Minnesota liquor stores to sell store-branded merchandise, which has been championed by a St. Louis Park business owner, came up short this legislative session. "The Four Firkins bill" was not a part of the final liquor omnibus bill that passed in the House Thursday afternoon. Jason Alvey, owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins, said he was disappointed to see a bill that he worked so hard to get rolling not receive the support it needed. "It's very disappointing to see that people in such positions of power can completely misunderstand the issue at hand," Alvey said. The beer store owner brought the proposal to Sen. Ron Latz and Rep. Steve Simon earlier this year, and the St. Louis Park legislators …

strangedub

1:33 pm on Friday, May 20, 2011

Once again our elected representatives have made a bad decision....and sided with the power-brokers (i.e., the distributors/wholesalers/big breweries) that want no change to the damn 3-tier system.   more ›

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

UPDATED: House Passes Omnibus Liquor Bill, Keeping 'Four Firkins' Legislation Alive

The next step will likely be a conference committee.

The Minnesota House on Tuesday afternoon passed its omnibus liquor bill, 127-5, which for now keeps the "Four Firkins bill" alive. That legislation would allow Minnesota liquor stores to sell store-branded merchandise, such as T-shirts. The House version of the bill was authored by St. Louis Park Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) earlier this year after he spoke with Jason Alvey, owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins. Alvey, who has said he simply wants to be able to better market his store by selling Four Firkins merchandise to loyal customers, was pleased by Tuesday's news. "It's good that it passed," he said. But the proposal is not yet law. A Senate version of the bill, authored by Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44…

strangedub

2:33 pm on Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Count me in...... Why this not OK already is baffling to me. Pass the darn thing!   more ›

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