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1 week ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
Every Republican member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation signed a letter seeking to end federal funds for three costly railway projects.
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1 week ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
Development of a proposed Amazon data center in Becker, Minn., has been suspended following news that legislators intend to repeal electricity tax exemptions for data centers. That repeal was a part of a budget deal negotiated this month by Gov. Walz and legislative leaders from both parties. Under the deal, companies that operate data centers will begin paying taxes on electricity, but tax exemptions on software and hardware will stay.
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2 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
German Adriano Llangari Inga, the Ecuadorian citizen who faces multiple felony charges stemming from a deadly Minneapolis crash, has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to ICE’s website, Llangari Inga is being held at the Freeborn Adult Detention Center in Albert Lea, Minn.
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2 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
Earlier this month, Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders rolled out the terms of the state’s new two-year budget agreement. Contained in the deal was a provision to close Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, one of the state’s oldest prisons. Built in 1914, MCF-Stillwater holds nearly 1,500 male inmates and is one of three “close security” prisons in Minnesota. Of the prison security levels in Minnesota, close security is ranked just below maximum security.
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3 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders in Minnesota have agreed to a two-year state budget deal that significantly reduces a looming $6 billion deficit, raises taxes only on marijuana, and is several billion dollars smaller than the state’s record $72 billion budget from 2023. The deal also brings a big change to MinnesotaCare, a state-run health care program for low income individuals. Under a compromise reached by Gov.
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3 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
Republicans and Democrats in St. Paul struck a deal on Minnesota’s next two-year budget. The deal will fund state government through June of 2027 and comes just days before this year’s legislative session ends on May 19. In recent days, Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders have been locked in negotiations over how to fund state government, how to address a looming $6 billion deficit, and what kinds of policy changes will be made.
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3 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
A group of Minneapolis City Council members are proposing a new charge on hotels and other lodging businesses that operate in the city. Introduced earlier this month, the pending ordinance would charge a 2% fee on the gross revenue of every room rental. The fee would be paid by the lodging businesses and would apply to any hotel, motel, resort, bed and breakfast or similar establishment that has 50 or more rooms.
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3 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
A group of Republican legislators are calling on Commissioner Willie Jett of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to cease implementation of new state academic standards they say conflict with an executive order (EO) signed by President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to suspend federal funding from K-12 schools that promote gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology in school curriculum or teacher training.
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4 weeks ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
With an overwhelming bipartisan vote, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation Thursday to establish a statewide Office of the Inspector General. This development comes in the final weeks of a legislative session dominated by discussions of fraud in government programs. Under SF 856, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) would be created as a part of the state’s executive branch of government and report directly to the governor.
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1 month ago | 
alphanews.org | Luke Sprinkel
A tipline designed to collect allegations of fraud in Minnesota government entities received 530 submissions in its first week, according to Republican lawmakers. On Tuesday, Republicans serving on the Fraud Prevention and State Government Oversight Committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives held a press conference to talk about the committee’s work over the last several months. The Fraud Committee, which was newly established at the beginning of this year, is chaired by Rep.
