It’s been nearly a year since the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act became law, and officials from the department in charge of implementing it are asking for changes to help manage issues that have come up.

GOP lawmakers use Tax Day to remind voters of DFL tax increases The Minnesota Legislature has a $3.7 billion budget surplus to work with for the next two-year budget cycle, but a possible deficit looms the two years after that. So far the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are using caution on passing any new taxes in 2024, while Republicans used tax deadline day to resume their drumbeat of criticism of billions in tax increases passed last year.

Minnesota lawmakers will near a key deadline this week before the final sprint of the legislative session.

Focus started to shift this week with members beginning to spend less time in committee meetings and more time together as a body on the House Floor. That trend should continue over the next couple of weeks as the session’s second, and final, committee deadline approaches, by when committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.

It was a short week as lawmakers began their Easter Break Wednesday evening, but many committees were able to meet at least once before taking some much-needed time away.

Gov. Tim Walz took center stage in a southern Minnesota high school auditorium Tuesday night to highlight what he viewed as policy wins from the DFL trifecta — universal school meals, guaranteed access to reproductive care and new regulations on firearms — and ask for a few more before a “window of opportunity” closes.

ST PAUL, Minn. — The end of the 2024 legislative session may be eight weeks away, but bills must clear other hurdles long before then to remain viable. On Friday two of those deadlines coincided, which explained why some committees were still meeting when they’d normally be gone.

It wasn’t a mad rush, but the pace of activity certainly picked up this week with several committees adding extra time, or extra meetings, as they worked to beat the session’s first deadline, by when the session’s major policy bills are supposed to begin moving

Gov. Tim Walz gives the State of the State address Tuesday and he won’t be doing it from the Capitol in St. Paul. He’ll be at a high school in Owatonna in southern Minnesota.

Friday’s House hearings were the first of the 2024 legislative session, but they may only be a preview of what could be a very active schedule at the same time next week.

Showing another colorful symbol without debate is the goal of an LGBTQIA community-backed idea. Sponsored by Rep. Leigh Finke (DFL-St. Paul), HF4273 would prohibit state and local governmental units, charter schools, and most postsecondary institutions from removing or banning “rainbow banners, rainbow flags, rainbow posters, or any visual display of rainbows” from the jurisdiction’s property.

Here’s a debate under way behind some of the bigger debates at the Minnesota Capitol so far: Do a slate of laws passed last year need some serious handyman attention or just some cosmetic polish? Several fix-it bills are in motion to address errors, gaps or just misunderstandings about what got passed in a chock-full 2023 session, where Democrats got much of their agenda passed and Republicans got mostly left to the side.