In 2023, Rochester voters approved a half-cent local sales tax extension designed to raise $205 million that would go toward an economic development fund, street reconstruction, flood control and water quality. But the largest amount, $65 million, would go toward a regional sports and recreation complex.
After its approval, the city commissioned a study to hash out details of the sports complex plan. And the price tag almost doubled, coming in at $120 million.
Reasons cited for the increase included previously underestimating the cost of land acquisition and inflation. The Rochester City Council voted to scrap the indoor recreation component of the project and focus on outdoor fields and courts, overriding a mayoral veto to put that measure in place.
Rep. Kim Hicks (DFL-Rochester) campaigned for the sales tax increase in 2023, but now wants the funding eliminated. That’s why she’s sponsoring HF4194, which would mandate that Rochester not collect funds for the sports and recreation complex after June 30, 2026.
A $14.4 million supplemental public safety package is one stop away from a House vote.
The funding requests would be appropriated in Fiscal Year 2027 for projects and progra...
Gov. Tim Walz will not be running the state in 2027 and, depending on results of the November election, Attorney General Keith Ellison may be out of his office as well.
Howe...
Lawmakers have generally supported projects vetted by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. But questions about one project are sufficient to stall a bill that would approp...
An account created last year to help scam victims become financially whole could receive some changes to provide funds to more people.
The Consumer Protection Restitution Ac...
For veterans living in rural areas of Minnesota getting mental health treatment can often be far more arduous than those in the more populated areas.
They often must make a...
What do private suites at sports events and shelters for women and girls fleeing sex trafficking have in common? One could end up funding the other.
That’s the goal of HF473...
Surprise! It’s an omnibus bill.
The House Energy Finance and Policy Committee had seven bills on its agenda Tuesday, with each of them presumably under consideration for pos...
Although this is not a budget year, lawmakers are still crafting smaller, supplemental budget bills to possibly dole out some extra cash to state departments and agencies.
T...
Nathan Flansburg is the superintendent of PACT Charter School in Ramsey. He laments that schools are no longer about simply getting an education.
“Schools are now expected t...
The projected surplus for Fiscal Years 2026-27 is now higher than it was in the November estimate, and no deficit is projected for the next biennium.
“Minnesota’s budge...
Legislative leaders on Tuesday officially set the timeline for getting bills through the committee process during the upcoming 2026 session.
Here are the three deadlines for...