State Senate

The Minnesota State Senate has approved a two-year pay freeze for employees in Minnesota public and charter schools. Local State Senators John Pederson of St. Cloud and Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville both voted in favor of the bill.

A $900 million package of budget cuts that passed the House is expected to get a vote in the Senate on Thursday. Senate approval would send the bill Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, who has criticized the legislation as a piecemeal approach to Minnesota's $6.2 billion deficit.

he state Senate's ethics panel has dismissed a complaint against a Republican senator whose office sent an e-mail saying he wouldn't meet with his election rival's supporters. The four members of the Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct voted unanimously Wednesday to dismiss the complaint.

The state Senate's Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct will review a complaint by several Democratic senators over a Republican colleague's e-mail saying he wouldn't meet with his election rival's supporters. The committee meets Wednesday to review the complaint, which accuses Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson of breaking Senate rules and endangering the Senate's reputation.

Republicans who control the Minnesota Senate are having military veterans lead the Pledge of Allegiance each Monday. The Senate Republican Caucus announced the plan on Monday, when an Army veteran who enlisted 60 years ago this week led the Pledge.

Minnesota senators have pressed through a bill to slice $930 million from a much-larger state budget deficit. Senator John Pederson of St. Cloud co-authored the bill.