What's New
3/12/2012
What's New changes
When the Legislative Web Site "What's New" email list was launched
years ago, there were fewer ways to connect online with various
legislative offices. Now the electronic options keep growing, and
the general legislative "What's New" list is being retired.
There are email lists from committees, commissions, and various
offices. Many have RSS feeds and Twitter accounts.You can track bills with
the MyBills service. There are electronic notification services for
schedules and House information publications. Information is more
targeted.
Here is the page that will lead you to many of the electronic
notifications from legislative offices.
http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/elists.aspx
Do you want to follow news at the Capitol? Two offices are key.
The House Public Information Service Office offers several choices:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/subscribesw.asp
Senate Media Services provides video coverage on its site, and
further through Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/media/index.php
Thank you for your interest in our services. If you have any
questions, you can ask the Legislative Reference Library:
http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/comments.aspx
2/15/2012
LCCMR 2012-2013 Request for Proposal (RFP) - Additional Information Posted
Additional information regarding the LCCMR 2012-2013 Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Environment
and Natural Resources Trust Fund has been posted.
12/12/2011
LCCMR 2012-2013 Request for Proposal (RFP)
The LCCMR 2012-2013 Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Environment
and Natural Resources Trust Fund has been posted.
12/12/2011
New Laws Effective January 1, 2012
House Public Information highlights some
of the new laws that take effect Jan. 1, 2012. Summaries of all laws passed by the 2011 Legislature
during its regular session are available online from
nonpartisan House Public Information Services.
9/6/2011
At the Great Minnesota Get-Together, A Record Number
Got Together with Legislative Opinion Polls
HOUSE State
Fair Opinion Poll results, SENATE State
Fair Opinion Poll results
Fairgoers flocked to the House and Senate booths
to fill out the State Fair opinion polls on legislative
topics. Scott Magnuson from Senate Information told
Mary Lahammer on an Almanac segment that the
high turnout for the opinion poll in a non-election
year was unusual (see the first segment on the September
2 show). House Public Information noted in a video press
release that fairgoers filled out a record 11,000
House State Fair polls.
For those who would like to visit earlier years
of the opinion polls, the House has them online back
to 1997. The Senate page includes polls back
to 2004. Here are some additional Senate State
Fair polls from the Library's collection:1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 (joint), 1994 (joint), 1996 (joint), 1997 (on
the House page; it was a joint poll), 1999, 2001, 2003.
8/1/2011
Inside the House Chamber
The House of Representatives Public Information Office has posted a
new YouTube page for "Inside the House Chamber," an 11-part series
highlighting the history, beauty, design and functionality of the
Minnesota House of Representatives Chamber.
The videos are fun to watch, and would serve as a great introduction
before coming to the Capitol for a tour on a hot summer day.
6/23/2011
New Laws 2011
All but one of the major appropriation bills that would have taken effect July 1, 2011, were vetoed by the governor.
However, several bills passed during the 2011 legislative session will
take effect on that date. The asterisk following
the bill number denotes the language that became law. By early July, summaries of all laws passed by the 2011 Legislature
during its regular session will be available online from
nonpartisan House Public Information Services.
6/2/2011
Minnesota Issues Guide: State
Government Shutdowns
As the possibility of a state government shutdown
is discussed, people are interested in what happened
before and during the government shutdown in 2005.
The Legislative
Reference Library has compiled documents
about the 2005 shutdown online and
created a Minnesota
Issues Guide: State Government Shutdowns.
4/1/2011
Historical Redistricting Materials Online
The redistricting process is heating up. There's
been interest in what happened last time, in 2001.
To help with this research, library staff scanned
all the minutes from the House
Redistricting Committee and the Senate
Redistricting Committee from the 2001 legislative
session. The audio was available only on audiocassette,
so we had them converted to digital format. Using
these materials used to require a visit to the Legislative
Reference Library; we hope the online files will
provide needed background to anyone who needs it,
wherever they are.
These legislative materials add to the large amount
of redistricting information already
available on the Web. Good places to start online
research are the Library's guides, Redistricting
2010, Redistricting
2000, Redistricting
1990, and the files and maps
linked from the Geographic Information System Office's
Redistricting
2010 page.
3/11/2011
Minnesota Statutes Online Back to 1941
The Office of the Revisor of Statutes has scanned and published statutes going all the way back to 1941. Visit the Minnesota Statutes Archive to see
historical statutes.
2/9/2011
A New Library Database: Executive Branch Reorganization Orders
The Library has added a new database to our set
of "Historical
Information About Minnesota State Government,"
Executive Branch
Reorganization Orders. These are sometimes referred to as Governors Reorganization Orders.
Since executive branch reorganization
authority was established in 1969, (Laws of Minnesota 1969, Chapter
1129, Article IX) there have been 196 orders.
2/1/2011
Minnesota court rules are available!
Minnesota court rules are now available on the Revisor's website. Enhanced programming by the Revisor's office has added internal links, search capability, and
topical indexes. The court rules are also on the website of the
judicial branch, using the same database as the Revisor's office.
This collaboration between the Revisor's office and the judicial branch
has increased government efficiency while adding access points and new
features for the public.
1/25/2011
Constitutional Amendements: What Passed in the Past?
The Library has published an enhanced list of State
Constitutional Amendments Considered, with links
to the original ballot language. The list can be
sorted by year, and by whether the amendments were
accepted or rejected. Librarians can provide additional
background on any of the proposed amendments, enacted
or not.
1/20/2011
More Ways to Keep Up: New Library RSS Feeds
Governor Dayton issued his third
executive order on Friday, January 14, assigning emergency responsibilities
to state agencies.
The Library tracks executive orders and adds them
to Minnesota
Executive Orders, 1968 to Present, a database
covering orders back to Governor Levander's
administration. For those who track executive orders
on a regular basis, we've added an RSS
feed of alerts
to new orders. We receive a copy of each order within
hours of issuance, so the time lag should be short.
We also added an RSS
feed for the Library's collection of SONARs,
Statements
of Need and Reasonableness. During
the agency rulemaking process a SONAR is often
required (Minn. Statute 14.131)
to provide background on the proposed rule for
decision makers and citizens. For example, the
most recent SONAR we received is by Minnesota
Management & Budget (MMB), "M.S.
14.131 Review of Proposed Rules 1515 Governing
Wolf Predation of Livestock."
MMB was asked to address the fiscal impact
of Department of Agriculture rules governing the
process of compensating livestock producers for
losses due to gray wolf predation.
SONARs are available via the websites of many agencies,
but the
Library's
electronic SONAR archive is an agency-wide
collection. It ensures that the documents are widely
accessible via the Web and will be available for
future researchers. The archive dates back to 2006.
Both databases are listed on the Library's page,
Historical
Information about Minnesota State Government
.
A list of all the Library's RSS feeds are found
on
Legislative
Library RSS Feeds
page. Here's a list of all
of the
Legislative
Electronic Notification Services
.
1/6/2011
The Legislature Makes A Move Towards M-government
The new mobile version of the Legislature's main page was made available on December 28 and in just about a week there had already been
863 page views of the Legislature's home page on mobile devices. To put that in perspective, that's about 6% of the total views for that page. It will be interesting
to see how the percentage grows as people depend more on their mobile devices.
The Legislature's main page and the combined schedules are up. In the House,
the main page has a mobile version. Many of the House pages people rely on for quick information have also been
converted - sort of a mobile "red book," including member pages, Session Daily articles, and committee pages. Do you have comments
about mobile pages or a wish list for those that should be converted? Send comments.
12/20/2010
Unconstitutional Statutes
The Revisor's Office has published a list of unconstitutional statutes. The table lists
"sections, subdivisions, paragraphs, and clauses that have been declared unconstitutional by Minnesota or federal courts, the reason for the invalidity, and the citation to the case in which it was found unconstitutional."
There is also a link to the case where a free electronic version has been found.
11/23/2010
Redistricting 2010 Guide Now Available
The redistricting process in Minnesota has already begun. The Legislative Coordinating Commission's Subcommittee on Redistricting met for the first time in December 2009.
The Library has created a new issue guide on the 2010 redistricting process, with lots of background documents.
10/5/2010
2010 Statutes Published Online
The Office of the Revisor of Statutes has published the 2010 statutes online.
9/7/2010
House and Senate State Fair Poll Results
This year's state fair opinion poll results from the House of Representatives poll and from the Senate poll have been posted.
8/19/2010
Legislators to Meet and Greet at the Minnesota State Fair
Fairgoers can let their opinion be known on a number of issues by participating in the annual
Minnesota State Fair Poll at the House of Representatives’ booth during the fair’s 12-day run, Aug. 26-Sept. 6. House Public Information Services has released a listing of representatives planning to attend, as of August 19, including dates,
times and the district they represent.
7/20/2010
2010 Session Laws and Tables 1 and 2 Now Online
The 2010 Session Laws have been completely published to the web
including the index and Table 1 (Session Laws Amended, Repealed, Etc.) and Table 2 (Statutes New, Amended or Repealed).
7/20/2010
New Laws Effective Aug. 1, 2010
House Public Information Services has issued a summary of selected new laws passed during the 2010 legislative session that take effect Aug. 1, 2010.
The asterisk following the bill number denotes the language that became law. Further summaries of laws passed by the 2010 Legislature are available.
7/12/2010
Drop-down Boxes by Member Name and by District
Because many users come to the Legislature's website to contact a
particular legislator, a small, but useful, improvement has been made to
the Legislature's home page. Drop-down boxes by member name lead quickly
to legislator's pages.
7/8/2010
Minnesota Rules Online Improvements: Great News! (Part Two)
The Office of the Revisor of Statutes was awarded
a
Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant to
scan the full text of Minnesota
Rules since 1982. The Minnesota
Rules Archive includes all of the biennial compiled
editions since 1983, and a scan of the 1982 volumes
published separately by the agencies (the Minnesota
Code of Agency Rules, or MCAR). This is an invaluable
set of online documents for researchers delving back
into rule changes over the years. Definitely great
news! Details can be found in a press
release from
the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
7/8/2010
Minnesota Rules Online Improvements: Great News! (Part One)
Minnesota Rules, the administrative rules promulgated by state agencies, have been online for a few years.
A recent milestone
makes finding the right rule even easier.
The Revisor's Office has added the topical
index online.
Searching the free text of rules with key words
can often turn up a daunting number of hits. For
example, if you search the rules with a word search
for "disabled," you get 149
hits. Instead, try searching the "Rules
by Topic"
index listed under Minnesota
Rules on the "Statutes,
Laws and Rules" page. Choose topics under "D"
and you will find topics listed for Disabled
Children,
Disabled
Persons, and Disabled
Veterans. Each topic
leads you to an alphabetical list of sections dealing
with the topic.
6/24/2010
New Laws Effective July 1, 2010
House Public Information Services has issued a press release outlining selected new laws passed during the 2010 legislative session that take effect July 1, 2010.
The asterisk following the bill number denotes the language that became law. A more extensive summary of selected laws passed by the 2010 Legislature is also available.
5/18/2010
House Members Retiring
House Public Information Services has published a press release announcing the names
of members retiring from the House of Representatives.
4/28/2010
New and Improved Table 2
The Revisor’s Office keeps improving its site. Recent enhancements make it easier to track changes to laws over time.
The 2009 Statutes New, Amended, and Repealed is the list popularly known as "Table 2." Many long-time researchers and attorneys will remember the old days when
they were excited at the publication of table 2 in print after each session.
Choose a statute section that was amended; for example, 2.722. The resulting screen gives a list of recent amendments
to that section of statutes, back to 1995. The table includes links to the session laws that amended the section.
An additional new feature is the ability to click on "text" links in the table to look at the language of the statute as
it appeared in previous editions of Minnesota Statutes since 1997.
3/16/2010
Combined Legislative Calendar
Why isn't there
a joint calendar for all legislative hearings and
meetings? Now there is! The new combined
calendar is available from the Legislature's
main webpage. It displays
meetings that are listed on the House and Senate
calendar pages. This includes House, Senate,
and Commissions,
Joint Committees and Task Forces and Working Groups.
With links to bills and committees and legislators embedded
in the meeting notices, the combined calendar is
a great way to check on upcoming legislative activity.
3/9/2010
Legislative Committee Deadlines
The 2010 committee deadlines listed in House Concurrent Resolution 3
and adopted by the House and the Senate are:
1st deadline - Friday, March 12, 2010, at 11:59 p.m.
2nd deadline - Friday, March 19, 2010, at 11:59 p.m.
3rd deadline - Monday, March 29, 2010, at 5:00 p.m
2/9/2010
LCCMR 2011-2012 Request for Proposal (RFP)
The LCCMR 2011-2012 Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund has been posted.
2/2/2010
Fiscal Notes
For a good review before session, see the House of Representatives Fiscal Analysis department's "Fiscal Notes," meant to "provide background information on fiscal notes and their role
in the legislative budget process. Included is information on how to request and review fiscal notes."
12/23/2009
New Laws Effective Jan. 1, 2010
Check out these selected new laws passed during the 2009 legislative session that take effect Jan. 1, 2010.
The asterisk following the bill number denotes the language that became law. A complete summary of all laws passed by the 2009 Legislature is available from House Public Information Services.
12/7/2009
Statute Searching Improves All the Time
The programmers in the Revisors Office respond quickly when an issue arises. For example, this summer a citizen asked a librarian why she
couldn't find information on fair campaign practices in Minnesota Statutes online. The reason was that the phrase "fair campaign" appeared in a
chapter heading, and not in the text of the statutes - and chapter titles weren't indexed and searched. No problem. The Revisors Office
programmers added the chapter headings and chapter titles to the indexing. Now the fair campaign practices search
works well, and in case you need it, you can also find "boom companies"!
12/2/2009
New Legislative Guide for Students
In a continuing effort to explain the legislative process to young Minnesota citizens and future voters, House Public Information Services has published Capitol Steps: From Idea to Law: A Young Person's Guide to the Legislative Process
which explains in a simple, straightforward manner how a bill moves from an idea to law. Capitol Steps is intended as a resource for junior and senior high school students and is also linked to from the Legislative
Reference Library's youth guide to the legislature.
11/23/2009
Session Laws Linked from Bill Search Results
Yet another improvement to the bill status system from the Office of the Revisor of Statutes is linking to Session Laws from the results of a bill search. If the
bill became a law, it is listed in and linked to from the "Law" column. For example, see the results for the topic search "consumer protection" for 2009.
11/17/2009
Football Stadiums and the Minnesota Vikings
Quick! In what year was the Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington demolished? The Legislative Reference Library's newest
Minnesota Issue guide, "Football Stadiums and the Minnesota Vikings"
includes a great timeline, and the answer to that question--1985. We think the football guide will prove as useful as our other sports stadium guides,
"Baseball Stadiums," "NHL Hockey in Minnesota and the Xcel Energy Center,"
"Target Center Arena and the Minnesota Timberwolves," and
"Financing Professional Sports Facilities."
9/24/2009
2009 Statutes Published Online
The Office of the Revisor of Statutes has published the 2009 statutes online.
9/18/2009
Combined Charities Annual Used Book Sale
The date has been set for the 2009 Legislative used book sale to
benefit the Combined Charities Campaign: Wednesday, October 21 and
Thursday, October 22.
Mark your calendars to shop, and start going through your bookshelves for
donations. We want your used books, DVD movies, VHS movies and CD's. All
proceeds will go to the Combined Charities Campaign. Receipts for your donations are available.
You may drop off your items at the
Legislative Reference Library (Room 645 S.O.B.) or the Chief Clerk´s
Office (Room 211 Capitol) or in House Supply (Room G35 S.O.B.) Â Please bring in your donations by Monday, October 19th.
9/9/2009
State Fair Poll Results
This year's state fair opinion poll results from the House of Representatives poll and from the Senate poll have been posted.
7/27/2009
New Laws Effective Aug. 1, 2009
House Public Information Services has published a recap of selected new
laws passed during the 2009 legislative session that take effect Aug. 1,
2009.
7/14/2009
House Public Information Services and Legislative Reference Library on Twitter
You can now follow House Public Information Services' news posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MnHouseInfo. The Legislative Reference Library
also began contributing Twitter posts last session. The Library will tweet on a regular basis as state documents, or reports comparing states, arrive, alerting readers to interesting facts and resources.
7/1/2009
Kurt Zellers House Republican Leader
House Public Information Services has published a press release announcing Kurt
Zellers chosen to lead House Republicans.
7/1/2009
2009 Session Laws
The Revisor's Office has published the 2009 Minnesota Session Laws to the web.
6/30/2009
New Laws Effective July 1, 2009 Press Release
House Public Information Services has made the New Laws Effective July 1, 2009 press release,
a listing of selected new laws passed during the 2009 legislative session that take effect July 1, 2009, available on their site.
6/22/2009
New Laws
House Public Information Services has published the 2009 New Laws, summarizing "newly enacted laws, vetoed bills and some proposals that did not pass into law during a given legislative session." Older
issues of New Laws are also available.
6/16/2009
Unallotment Issues Guide
The Legislative Reference Library has published a guide to the unallotment process in Minnesota, including legislative history and links to current and historical documents.
5/15/2009
Veto Information
More detailed information on vetoes is now available from the Legislative Reference Library's
veto database. Improvements include
searching by year or governor, more line item veto details, and links to additional veto messages.
5/8/2009
Budget Comparison Documents
You can find budget comparison documents discussed at the Legislative Planning and Fiscal Policy meetings on their website.
See also the House budget tracking documents and the Senate budget tracking documents.
3/31/2009
Revised Laws of 1905 Online
The Office of the Revisor of Statutes has made the Revised Laws of 1905 available online from the history notes accompanying statutes.
See the history note at the bottom of Minnesota Statute 2.01 Names and Boundaries for an example.
3/17/2009
Links to Audio and Video from House Minutes
In another step in the continuing effort to make legislative information readily accessible, the House of Representatives is linking to audio and video of hearings from committee minutes. See these
K-12 Education Finance Division/Taxes minutes for an example.
Handouts are also linked to from minutes when available (near the bottom of the page).
3/4/2009
Legislative Networking Group (LNET) Wins Website Accessibility Award
The Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans has given the Minnesota Legislative Networking Group (LNET) its Website Access Award. According to Mary Hartnett,
Commission Director, "The work [LNET has] done voluntarily to improve access on the web is impressive and shows a commitment to including all citizens in the legislative process."
An award ceremony will take place at the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind Lobby Day at the capitol rotunda on March 4 at noon.
2/23/2009
SONARs
Statements of Need and Reasonableness (SONARs) back to 2006 have been published by the Legislative Reference Library.
Part of the rulemaking process, SONARs provide background on the proposed rule or amendment for decision makers and citizens. This electronic SONAR archive will ensure that the documents will be widely accessible via the Web and be available for future researchers.
2/16/2009
LCCMR 2010 Request for Proposal
For funding from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund beginning July 1, 2010, go to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) site for forms and information.
2/11/2009
Legislative Television Broadcasting
For an explanation of the nationwide digital television transition's impact on legislative television broadcasting, see the House & Senate Broadcast Television Schedule.
2/5/2009
2009 Committee Deadlines
The 2009 committee deadlines have been announced.
1/15/2009
Senate Budget Discussion Website
The Senate has created a budget discussion website welcoming ideas from the public regarding the state budget.
1/9/2008
Minnesota Legislators Past & Present
Minnesota Legislators Past & Present, from the Legislative Reference Library, is the only comprehensive list of legislators who have served in the Minnesota Legislature since territorial times. You can search for legislators by session, county represented, birth place, occupation, and more.
New search features have been added to this historical resource, providing easy access to information such as legislative family connections, leadership positions, special elections, committees, and committee chairs.
Beginning in 1995, each legislator’s entry also includes links to legislation he or she authored, by session. With additional links to current members’ official web pages, official photographs and other government service, this database offers a wealth of information about Minnesota Legislators, past and present!
The database continues to be a work in progress and is by no means complete. We welcome additional information or corrections.
12/23/2008
2009-2010 Senate Committee Structure
A document outlining the 2009-2010 Senate committee structure has been published. See the Senate's Committee Information page for more information, including jurisdiction, schedules and membership.
12/23/2008
2009-2010 House Committee Structure
Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher announced the new House committee structure.
12/22/2008
Minnesota State Budget Comment Line
The Minnesota House of Representatives has set up a webpage to allow citizens to have a say in how we confront Minnesota's projected budget deficit.
12/18/2008
Session Daily News Items
Session Daily news items are now featured prominently on the House home page as well as on the House
Public Information Office site. Session Daily may be a misnomer, since
news is added even when the Legislature is not in session. There are
several recent stories on the budget shortfall.
11/7/2008
Women in the Minnesota legislature
The Office on the Economic Status of Women has published a new fact sheet on women in the Minnesota legislature.
11/6/2008
2009-2010 Election Directory
House Public Information Services has published the
2009-2010 Election Directory of the Minnesota House and Senate
and the 2009-2010 Members-elect roster. Also see the election results press release for a list of new House members-elect.
10/31/2008
New Statutes Feature
The 2008 Minnesota Statutes have a new feature that brings up additional related statute topics, with links to those topics in the statutes index. For example, searching for the specific words "pedestrian crossings" brings up MS 169.2151, Pedestrian Safety Crossings. The topics list links to Pedestrian Crossings as a topic, leading to many other statutes dealing with the issue.
The new feature will also be helpful when someone does a keyword search with a word that isn't commonly used; for instance, handicapped. One of the few sections in the search results is MS 248.061. The topics list leads the user to Disabled Persons which brings up many more sections.
This new feature is just one of many designed by programmers in the Office of the Revisor of Statutes to help users find the information they need, no matter where they begin their searches.
10/29/2008
New Legislature Home Page
Based on great ideas from staff members and citizens (and usability tests), we have redesigned the legislature's home page to be more accessible and user-friendly. We have also enhanced the accessibility of the legislative website generally.
10/28/2008
2008 Minnesota Statutes
The 2008 Minnesota Statutes are on the Web.
9/30/2008
Power Outage Notice
Geographic Information Services has created an interactive map of the Capitol area, with driving directions and parking locations.
9/2/2008
State Fair Poll
2008 state fair poll results from the House of Representatives poll and from the Senate poll have been posted.
8/14/2008
House State Fair Booth
House Public Information Services has issued a schedule of state representatives who will appear at the House State Fair booth.
7/22/2008
2008 Session Laws
The Revisor's Office has published the 2008 Session Laws to the web.
7/17/2008
Women and Poverty in Minnesota
The Office on the Economic Status of Women has published an economic brief, Women and Poverty in Minnesota.
7/1/2008
OESW 2008 Legislative Summary
The Office on the Economic Status of Women has published their 2008 Legislative Summary outlining some of the hundreds of bills the office tracked this year.