Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota House are taking aim at a state agency that invests in the Iron Range and whose structure was called into question earlier this year.
Minnesota's Legislature has crossed the largest hurdle to finishing the state's budget. Lawmakers met in a special session that stretched from Friday morning into Saturday as they raced to complete the budget before a July 1 deadline.
Makeshift House and Senate chambers have been arranged for an impending special session. Now all state leaders need are final budget bills for lawmakers to vote on.
Students at Minnesota's public colleges may have to brace for a tuition bump. Tuition freezes at the state's two postsecondary systems got bipartisan support the last time lawmakers set a budget. But legislators' appetites seem to have waned a bit this year.
Top Minnesota lawmakers say they're developing contingency plans that would allow state agencies to more easily access emergency response dollars if the spread of avian influenza intensifies.