Recent content from Lori Sturdevant
![“Why has growth [of workers] stopped? Baby boomer retirements, for one thing. A slowdown in international immigration for another. But a disconcerti](https://chorus.stimg.co/24615959/merlin_70334468.jpg?h=120&w=180&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Calling all workers was session's Job One
The growth of workers in Minnesota has stopped, and that needs to be addressed.
Fixed-price gas tax leaves state roads in bad shape
Inflation is speeding ahead while our funding is idling.
On Social Security taxes, Minnesota seniors need a talking to
And legislators should be willing to do the talking.
Potholes and taxes in St. Paul
A few decades of disregard on several levels explains the current 1% sales tax proposal.
All U needs is love — at the Capitol
The University of Minnesota is crucial to our state's health, and it would be wise for the governor to show it.
Minnesota's voting reforms are 50 years in the making
They'll be labeled "extreme," but those who have been paying attention know better.
Capping a clean energy career with a breakthrough
Michael Noble has now seen major climate legislation signed into law, but he's not done advocating for our future.
'We need more Dave Durenbergers'
That's I what often heard voters say to the late senator. They're right.
DFL may go big, and that wouldn't be bad
Some policy moves are worth making, even if they come at a political price.
One Minnesota dream meets two-Minnesota reality
This election, red got redder and blue got bluer, and we'll suffer because of that.
Same-day voter registration works in Minnesota
It helps more people vote, and is considered less prone to fraud than pre-registration. Why would we want to take that away?
Abolishing state income taxes could be a costly mistake
Balancing that budget loss would require enormous spending cuts, increases in other taxes, or both.
The swing districts of 2022
A Lake Minnetonka-area state Senate race could turn on the abortion issue.
The Minnesota muddle
Citizens have come to accept state government dysfunction as normal, and that's not good.
Gas costs, climate crisis fuel a dilemma
Legislators must know we're running out of time to make meaningful policy changes.
In post-Roe Minnesota, abortion could be a potent political issue
Under state court precedent, it would be difficult to outlaw abortion in our state. But it's not unthinkable.
Minnesota, the Midwest are central in combating climate change
For progress to occur, representative democracy will have to work better in these parts than it has in several decades.
City Question 2: The nuanced message of a 'no' vote
Former Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton has a good sense of what will motivate voters and what parallels to draw.
Expo could be just what Minnesota's battered reputation needs
My hunch is that the state benefits when the world is given a glimpse of what this place does right.
No good commissioner goes unpunished
Confirmation as a blood sport makes government service ever less appealing to top talent.
Approaching 100, 'Citizen Swain' takes on climate change
Tom Swain's eagerness to take on big issues has led to the creation of the new Swain Climate Policy Series at the University of Minnesota.
The politics of obstruction, Minnesota-style
Like the much-debated U.S. Senate filibuster, Minnesota's requirement of a supermajority to pass bonding bills is under scrutiny, and should be.
Finally, women's value to workforce is acknowledged
It's beyond time for the state to provide more support for child care.
Voter ID is back to haunt Minnesota democracy
The rejection of a constitutional amendment in 2012 should have been persuasive to proponents of this bad idea, but it wasn't.
The sorry state of 'One Minnesota' needs attention from Walz
He'll need broad support in order to lead effectively, and in November 2022.
Minnesota voters still cross party lines
Recent trends toward partisan allegiance work against good government. Thankfully, some ticket-splitters remain with us.
Packing the court to save it? A Minnesota judicial moderate ponders
When word came that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died, one name popped out of my mental source file: retired Minnesota Supreme Court…
REVIEW: 'Fix What You Can,' by Mindy Greiling
NONFICTION: A former legislator shares the compelling story of her son's schizophrenia.
If we wait any longer to take climate change seriously, it will be too late
Yet the Republican-led state Senate isn't taking the threat seriously.
Voters show every sign of turning out in force this year
Even if unprecedented numbers stay home while doing it.
In the fight for racial equity, why did the spark catch here, now?
The demography of our city and state, and how it's changed, can bring some insight to the big question many of us are asking.
Minnesota's higher education is facing a crisis
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual way of rebalancing budgets will put our colleges and universities at risk.
Minnesotans eager to vote as always — but not in the old way
It's up to legislators to tap the federal funding, update certain rules and bring clarity.
Telework's moment of true arrival is bound to make ripples in Minnesota
The change we've been forced to make is likely to stick to some degree. And that has implications for Minnesota road funding.
How it turned out for Minnesota to have a primary
Minnesota is not done figuring out how to do things best in total.
Minnesota Legislature's main event this year: the housing shortage
State Rep. Alice Hausman will be found leading the charge.
Excuse the pun: This census really counts for Minnesota
Federal funding and a congressional seat are in the balance for the state.
Race in America: The conversation is not over
The way forward? Defend legal gains, but above all discuss, says a Minnesota civil-rights activist.
After nearly a century, has time arrived for ERA?
Every half-century or so, the quest to protect women's rights inches ahead.
Trump vs. Congress: A fundamental concern
Others can analyze the politics. I worry about the future of checks and balances.
Minnesotans, don't be the spoilers in 2020
This state's voters long have supported third parties, but there's too much at risk in 2020.
Trade-war objections: You won't keep 'em down, on the farms
When a Farmers Union president speaks …
How cities raise money in modern-era Minnesota
Things aren't as rough as they were, but the state-local partnership needs a tuneup.
On clean energy, 'just say no' is turning into a political no-no
It's a good way to lose elections, based on the evidence from, say, western Minnesota.
A 'just say no' status quo prevails at the State Capitol, I fear
Politics was once a means to an end. Now it's just the end.
Time to step up for the poorest of the poor
The state's MFIP program is overdue for a boost, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan can attest to both its value and its worthiness.
Could you sell a gas tax statewide?
That's the task before MnDOT's new leader, Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Who is suited to it.
Ranked choice might be right for primaries (and Klobuchar)
Amy Klobuchar is the type of candidate who might benefit from this voting method, and its use could be more than just a pipe dream.
Redistricting reform can't wait; so say its advocates
The push for a nonpartisan panel to draw political maps is needed now, before the new census breeds temptation, they argue.
How to hold onto Minnesota exceptionalism? Look to the immigrants who built, and are still building, a future here
Look to the immigrants who built — and are still building — a future here.
The near future of higher ed at the State Capitol
Let's check in with two new legislative committee leaders about the challenges they'll face.
Circumstances thrust a critical issue on the governor-elect
It's climate change. Time is short, and the White House isn't doing the job. What can a state do? Plenty.
How to make government better? You have plenty to say
And so do two leading voices on the subject who are in town. (Ranked-choice voting, anyone?)
Math doesn't add up on state Social Security tax cut
Exempting Social Security from taxes now would take an ever-bigger bite from state treasury.
Peterson, Emmer bridge the divide of geography and party
So perhaps U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson and Tom Emmer have something to show us.
Presidential prospects for the 'senator next door'
The style that's won Klobuchar so much Minnesota support can transfer — and is beginning to.
Your vote against hate this year will matter
That's a mission that events at the end of this campaign season have necessitated.
Economy is humming, but many candidates are running on fear
With low jobless rate, rising incomes, pols have a window to address tough issues.
We're in the danger zone of distrust
But there's a way out. It entails building relationships — for real, not for the sake of saying so.
Climate-news highlights gulf between congressional candidates Hagedorn and Feehan
Who are you going to believe about climate change — 91 scientists from 40 countries who draw conclusions from more than 6,000 scientific studies, or…
2018 campaign further widening our gender gap
How far apart are men and women? Watch midterm elections for a sign.
Retiring chamber leader Blazar has a message he hopes has staying power
Immigration and Minnesota: Better together.
Minnesota's business leaders want a commitment from candidates, and it's not tax cuts
Do would-be governors know the tools to solve a skilled-worker shortage?
Hyperbolic attack ads, anti-Radinovich edition
Here's what you really ought to know about the candidate.
Congressional candidate Dean Phillips wages his own kind of challenge
He stresses campaign finance reform in his bid to unseat Rep. Erik Paulsen, even as national party pols resist that tack.
New book on a favorite son holds timeless truths and tantalizing what ifs
Humphrey biography highlights importance of acting on one's principles.
Interviewing Gov. Mark Dayton at the Minnesota State Fair, year eight
He's been remarkably consistent about his policy priorities. The basics don't change, he says.
We're not in 2006 anymore, candidates and pundits
Minnesota has changed over 12 years, and the primaries showed it.
A word from Farmfest: State may soon be managing a crisis
In that context, a former ag commissioner is backing Erin Murphy for governor.
He's no longer a candidate, but Chris Coleman still stumps hard — for affordable housing
Otherwise, there's very little talk about this topic.
#MeToo has not subsided. It's on this year's ballot.
Witness Rick Nolan's troubles. Witness resentment over Al Franken's departure.
Retiring legislator continues to serve by telling the story of what beset him
Sheldon Johnson wants to get the word out about his insidious nemesis: Lyme disease.
