The proposal to place a question on the 2012 ballot that would alter the Minnesota Constitution to ban same-sex marriage passed the Senate on Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 38 to 27. The measure is waiting its final committee hearing in the House before that chamber votes on it. More…
Sen. Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen earned praise for the Log Cabin Republicans on Friday after she was the lone Republican to vote to table a bill that adds a constitutional ban on gay marriage to the 2012 ballot. The motion to table was brought by Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook. Ortman More…
Along party lines, the House Civil Law Committee passed a bill Monday to put a constitutional amendment that would restrict marriage in Minnesota to one man and one woman before voters. In a hearing in which religious leaders far outnumbered legal testifiers, emotions ran high as the father of a More…
According to DFL Reps. Marion Greene of Minneapolis and Erin Murphy of St. Paul, Republicans have pulled a repeal of pay equity from the omnibus state government operations bill. The controversial provision, termed the Local Government Pay Equity Act, would have eliminated a mechanism that ensures equal pay for women More…
Republicans in the Minnesota Senate introduced three bills on Tuesday that aim to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters in 2012. Minnesota law already outlaws same-sex marriage. State Democrats say the bill is a distraction from the economic crisis — and a state budget that the GOP More…
Republican lawmakers and anti–abortion rights group Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life are pushing a ban on abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and after conception, citing a medical and scientific “consensus” that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks. But according to statements and research from leaders in the medical and More…
Sen. Al Franken is the sponsor of legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate late last week that would give binational same-sex couples the same rights as married couples for immigration purposes. The Uniting American Families Act is authored by Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont and is sponsored by 18 other More…
Democratic members of Congress balked at being called socialists during a debate on Friday over the Republicans’ proposed budget and the Progressive Caucus’ proposed budget. Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama accused the progressives in Congress of being socialists who are putting America “at risk.” Rep. Keith Ellison asked that More…
Republicans in the Minnesota House are pushing legislation that would ban the Affordable Care Act from being implemented in the state under the grounds that it violates the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The bill calls the law “unconstitutional,” declares it “void” in Minnesota and directs all state agencies More…
Rep. Tim Walz offered an amendment on Friday that would prevent members of Congress from getting paid in the event of a government shutdown. The measure, which was to be attached to the Government Shutdown Prevention Act, failed along party lines. Democrats had hoped to use the move as a More…
rss