Here are some ideas for using the Minnesota legislative website and other sites to find information on important issues facing the Minnesota Legislature.
Committee Information
House committees and Senate committees have web pages that give updates on issues.
Bills
Status information and the full text of bills introduced in the Minnesota Legislature are available within hours of introduction. You can search for bills by bill number, author, chief author, statutory citation, topic, committee, bill action, and by keyword in the bill's description.
Bill Summaries
Staff from the House Research Department, the nonpartisan research and legal services office for the House of Representatives, summarize significant and/or lengthy bills on their Bill Summaries page.
They provide summaries of bills that are enacted on their Act Summaries page.
Staff from Senate Counsel and Research, the nonpartisan research and legal services office for the Minnesota Senate, summarize selected bills on their Bill Summaries page.
They provide summaries of bills that are enacted on their Act Summaries page.
Public Information Offices
Additionally, you can contact the Senate Information Office, Room 231 State Capitol at 651-296-0504 or House Public Information Services in Room 175, State Office Building at 651-296-2146 to learn who represents you in both the Senate and the House.
Journals
See the House Journals and the Senate Journals for the daily record of a legislative session.
Statutes and Session Laws
Current and past statutes and session laws can be found on the Revisor of Statutes page Statutes, Laws, and Rules.
Minnesota Legislative History Guide
The Legislative History guide provides instructions on following a specific bill through the legislative process.
Research Reports
The House Research department and the Senate Counsel, Research, and Fiscal Analysis Office have a variety of reports and tools to aid in legislative research.
Fiscal reports include the Fiscal Review from Senate Counsel, Research, and Fiscal Analysis, Money Matters from the House Fiscal Analysis Department, and fiscal notes from the Legislative Budget Office.
The Office of the Legislative Auditor Program Evaluation Division evaluates state government programs and agencies and helps to ensure accountability for the expenditure of public funds. Studies are conducted at the request of the Legislature, but all reports are available to the public.
Additional reports are available in the LRL catalog.
Legislative Reference Library Resources
The Library collection includes public policy reports and a comprehensive collection of state documents. Search it via the LRL catalog. The full text of many reports is available online.
Library staff prepare guides to information on selected legislative issues. The Minnesota Issues Guides list important reports and articles, sometimes give timelines, and give contacts for further information.
The Library is also where you'll find news, magazines, books, and historical data about the legislature, including Minnesota Legislators Past & Present.
Executive Branch information
Minnesota.gov links to state agency websites, which may include statistics and reports on major issues, including education, crime, and the environment. It also links to the Governor's website. The Legislative Reference Library's Historical Information About Minnesota State Government contains information about vetoes, executive orders, agencies, and more.