The Legislature has spent much of this week passing elements of a new two-year state budget. 

They're working off a base of the current $52 billion budget and looking to add the $17.5 billion surplus to it. The House and Senate plans do not line up perfectly, and conference committees will have to work out the differences. 

MPR News guest host Brian Bakst talks about the state budget under construction at the Capitol with two leading DFL lawmakers who have their eyes on the big picture and a Republican who says the pace of spending is unsustainable.  

Later in the hour, a recap of the governor’s State of the State speech and look at the busy week ahead.  

Guests:  

• Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville 

• Rep. Liz Olson, DFL-Duluth 

• Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch   

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News. 

• Peter Callaghan is a state government reporter for the MinnPost. 

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

Washington has been in recess for the past couple weeks, allowing members like U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar to travel back to Minnesota.  

In that time, she has met with President Biden to champion the bipartisan Infrastructure Act and visited the town of Winona as residents prepare for spring flooding.    

MPR News guest host Brian Bakst talks to Sen. Klobuchar about bipartisan efforts to pass the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, judicial ethics concerns at the Supreme Court and the looming debt ceiling.  

Later in the program, a conversation on a paid family and medical leave proposal. 

The bill would guarantee almost every Minnesota worker time off around the birth or adoption of a child to tend to a family member’s serious illness or cope with their own health emergency. 

But there’s a big price tag to get it off the ground within a few years — more than $660 million in startup money that would be taken from the state’s surplus. The program would later rely on a new payroll tax on both employers and employees to cover the partial wage replacement benefits. 

Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, author of the paid family and medical leave bill, and Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, who has offered alternative approaches to paid leave in the past, explain where they currently stand on the issue before the Legislature votes on the bill in the upcoming weeks.  

And political reporters from MPR and Axios break down the biggest news from the Capitol this week.     

Guests: 

• U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar  

• Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina 

• Sen. Julia E. Coleman, R-Waconia 

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News 

• Torey Van Oot is a reporter for Axios Twin Cities  

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon are three months into their new four-year terms and they're already busy.  

Just yesterday, Ellison asked Gov. Walz to allow him to take over the prosecution of a Hennepin County criminal case and the governor agreed. It's a decision the Hennepin County attorney called deeply troubling.

MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to Ellison about the Hennepin County criminal case, a proposed Sanford-Fairview health care merger, the state’s lawsuit against Juul Labs and the work of his office’s criminal division.  

And Simon has been working with the Legislature on changes to election laws, including automatic voter registration, pre-registering 16 and 17-year-olds and allowing more early voting. He joins the program to explain what the purposed election legislation would do and why he thinks it's needed.  

Later in the hour, presidential historian Timothy Naftali talks about the criminal charges filed against former President Donald Trump and how the situation compares to past presidents and former presidents.  

Guests:  

• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison  

• Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon  

• Timothy Naftali is a presidential historian and founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and associate professor of history and public policy at New York University.

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

Minnesota lawmakers are moving forward with a public safety bill that funds big parts of the state’s criminal justice system.  

MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to Rep. Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, and Rep. Paul Novotny, R-Elk River, about the public safety budget bill released earlier this week. The bill, HF2890, also includes a host of policy provisions, including a “red flag” measure designed to reduce gun violence.  

Later in the hour, Sen. Sandra Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, explains the latest developments with the capital investment bill — also known as the bonding bill — and how the DFL plans to move forward with or without Republican support.

And MPR’s political reporters break down the biggest news from the Capitol from this week.  

Guests:  

• Rep. Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview  

• Rep. Paul Novotny, R-Elk River 

• Sen. Sandra Pappas, DFL-St. Paul 

• Brian Bakst is a politics reporter for MPR News   

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News 

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Two Democrats from northern Minnesota are key members of the DFL's slim majority and they’re facing tough votes on controversial issues including gun control, taxes and abortion. 

MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, and Sen. Robert Kupec, DFL-Moorhead about how they're weighing what their constituents are telling them and the agenda DFL leaders are promoting at the Capitol.

Later in the hour, we get the GOP reaction to a new two-year budget outline proposed by DFL leaders earlier in the week. MPR political reporters stop by to unpack the latest news from the Capitol.

And Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, DFL-St. Paul, shares her life story about growing in the Twin Cities, her music career and how it all connects with her passion for activism and politics. 

Guests: 

• Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown 

• Sen. Robert Kupec, DFL-Moorhead

• Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake 

• Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, DFL-St. Paul 

• Brian Bakst is a politics reporter for MPR News  

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News

  Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.

  Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.  

For years, Minnesota lawmakers have been working to legalize marijuana. The latest bill is still up for debate, but can a small DFL majority make it happen or will this bill go up in smoke? 

MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, about the movement to legalize marijuana and we’ll also hear from Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, on why she’s one of the lawmakers speaking out against legalizing adult-use cannabis. 

Later in the hour, Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, and Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, explain how their bill for universal school breakfast and lunch will benefit students across Minnesota.  

And MPR News political reporters unpack the latest news from the Capitol this week.    

Guests: 

• Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids  

• Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove

• Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis

• Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights

• Brian Bakst is a politics reporter for MPR News  

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.   

House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, have used their slim DFL majorities to break a logjam over progressive legislation.

MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to three of the most powerful women in state government about what's happened at the Capitol so far this year and what's next on their agenda.

Speaker Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Dziedzic talk about Minnesota's massive budget surplus and their plans for the upcoming weeks. And Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, has made history herself as the first Black woman to lead the House Republican caucus. We'll get the GOP take on what's been happening this session and her strategy for the weeks ahead.

Later in the hour, MPR News political reporters unpack the biggest stories from the State Capitol this week.   

Guests: 

• Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park

• House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring

• Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter for MPR News

• Brian Bakst is a politics reporter for MPR News

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.   

The Minnesota State Legislature gaveled into its 93rd session two months ago, and lawmakers have quickly gotten to business. 

MPR News political editor Mike Mulcahy gets the latest news from the Capitol with political reporters Dana Ferguson and Peter Callaghan. And Minnesota Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, talks about the GOP agenda for the remainder of the session.

Later in the program, a conversation with Gov. Tim Walz about the state’s budget surplus and his top priorities for the legislative session.

Guests: 

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 

• State Sen. Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks

• Dana Ferguson is a politics reporter covering the Minnesota Capitol and elections for MPR News. 

• Peter Callaghan is a state government reporter for the MinnPost.

  Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.

  Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

With the DFL poised to take control of the Minnesota Senate and keep control of the House and governor’s office, some Democratic priorities may become law in 2023. Mike Mulcahy talks abortion, marijuana, paid family leave, sports betting and more with newly selected Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic (DFL-Minneapolis) and Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park).

Mike also talks with newly reelected DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon and political analysts Todd Rapp and Chas Anderson.

In a 3rd Congressional District debate, incumbent Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) debates his Republican challenger, Tom Weiler. Mike Mulcahy moderates a debate about what Congress can do about abortion, inflation, public safety, social security and more.

Later in the hour, Mike talks to Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) and Sen. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) about next week’s election.