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The issues, what happened and what didn't

May 23, 2015 at 11:56PM
Scaffolding around the Capitol dome. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com , Tuesday, May 19, 2015 Crews wasted no time clearing out furniture and artwork from the Minnesota State Capitol just hours after it was vacated by lawmakers who ended their session at midnight Monday. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com , Tuesday, May 19, 2015 ORG XMIT: MIN1505191553030792
Scaffolding around the Capitol dome. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The issues and what happened (and didn't)

Budget PASS

Taxes: DFL scuttled the GOP plan for $2 billion in tax cuts, but there's $1 billion left over to fight about next time.

The big picture: Minnesota will spend $41.65 billion during the next two years, up 4.85 percent from the previous two.

Drivers: Education and health care, well more than half the state budget, continue to drive costs.

Transportation FAIL

Nothing doing: Both sides had big multibillion dollar plans, with the DFL pushing a gas tax increase and the GOP wanting to take from the general fund. They couldn't agree.

Nothing? They did increase the fine for a second offense for texting while driving to $225 and mandated plans to better time city traffic light signals. Gr8!

Environment UNRESOLVED

Buffers: Dayton and the Republican House compromised on a plan for buffers to protect the state's waterways from pollutants, but Dayton vetoed the overall bill over other objections.

Citizens be gone: The Pollution Control Agency Citizens' Board was eliminated, one of many provisions Dayton objected to.

Sunday Liquor FAIL

Sunday sales: The Sunday sellers got more votes this time and they think they have momentum, but the powerful coalition of liquor stores and cities beat them back again.

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Growlers and bloodies: But if you're desperate, you can now buy a growler of beer on Sunday from a taproom, or start your Sunday right with a bloody mary at 8 a.m. instead of 10.

Education UNRESOLVED

Universal Pre-K: Unresolved. Dayton is demanding it. The Republican House and DFL Senate declined. To be settled in the upcoming special session.

Teacher seniority: Despite lots of noise on last-in, first-out rules for teacher layoffs, the teachers union beat it back, though anything can be a bargaining chip in a special session. criminal justice PASS

Protecting privacy: Legislators agreed cops can store location data from license plate readers for 60 days.

No on voting: A bipartisan push for felon voting rights died, but supporters believe they have momentum for next year.

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Suppressed: Lawmakers legalized firearm "silencers" like the device above, used as a demonstration during testimony.

Health care overhaul FAIL

MinnesotaCare: The public health insurance program for 90,000 working poor survived a challenge by Republicans.

MNsure too: A task force will decide what to do with the two programs.

Good news: Spinal cord injuries got some research funding.

Miscellany PASS

Fire retardant no more: After bagpiping in the Capitol hallways, firefighters helped pass the toughest flame retardant ban in the nation because they say the chemicals are unsafe and ineffective.

Shocked! Shocked! The Legislature stopped the State Lottery from selling tickets online, at gas station pumps and ATMs.

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A MNsure event dubbed "Bowling for Health Insurance," designed to get uninsured to sign up, was held at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, Minn. on Tuesday, February 3, 2015.
A MNsure event dubbed “Bowling for Health Insurance” at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, Minn. on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. (Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
In this Sept. 20, 2011 photo, Joseph Dea, of West Hollywood, Calif., pauses as he texts while driving in a car in Brunswick, Maine, in this posed photo. The texting ban is prominent among the scores of laws taking effect Wednesday, Sept. 28, the 90th day after the close of the 2011 regular session. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach) ORG XMIT: MIN2015052220494857
Joseph Dea, of West Hollywood, Calif., pauses as he texts while driving in a car in Brunswick, Maine, in this posed photo. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
A grass buffer strip in Redwood County. A bill introduced in the Legislature would require buffer strips on most waterways. Photo courtsey Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. ORG XMIT: MIN1503101329552021 ORG XMIT: MIN1503181631087264
A grass buffer strip in Redwood County. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Growlers line the shelf above the bar. ] Restaurant review: Freehouse, the North Loop brewpub by the Blue Plate Restaurant Co. BRIAN PETERSON ï brian.peterson@startribune.com Minneapolis, MN 3/28/2014 ORG XMIT: MIN1403281633540431
Growlers line the shelf above the bar. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius read "Time for School, Mouse!" to the Pre K class. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Friday, March 20, 2015 Governor Mark Dayton, Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, and area legislators will visit a preschool classroom at Newport Elementary School. Senator Katie Sieben, Senator Susan Kent, and Representative Dan Schoen, visited with preschool students, teachers, and parents, and discuss the impact of their proposal to send every Minnesota fou
Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius read “Time for School, Mouse!” to a pre-K class. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
JENNIFER SIMONSON ï jsimonson@startribune.com Minneapolis, MN - 8/29/08 - Interviewing/photographing people purchasing lottery tickets at Rainbow Foods in the Quarry shopping center. IN THIS PHOTO: ] Scratch-off lottery tickets at the Quarry Rainbow Foods. ORG XMIT: MIN2015052221020059
Scratch-off lottery tickets at the Quarry Rainbow Foods. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Knox Williams, representing the American Suppressor Association testified with a suppressior in the desk in front of him. Supporters for gun owners rights groups and anti-gun forces attended a hearing at the State Capitol for a bill that would allow suppressors or silencers on guns in Minnesota. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Thursday, March 12, 2015 ORG XMIT: MIN1503121610063089
Supporters for gun owners rights groups and anti-gun forces attended a hearing at the State Capitol for a bill that would allow suppressors or silencers on guns in Minnesota. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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