The minimum wage increase is on the front page but the real news is happening in the House tax committee. The chair of the committee, Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Shoreview, unveiled a bill this week that would redefine the relationship between the state and its largest cities. MPR's Michael Khoo takes a look at the bill:

If the House tax bill becomes law, it could mean $18 million a year less for Minneapolis, $9 million for St. Paul, and just under $700,000 for Duluth. Minneapolis and St. Paul would have the option of recovering that money -- and more -- by raising their own local sales taxes by a half cent. Even that remedy, however, would be subject to voter approval at a referendum. St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly told tax committee members that the proposal would be "disastrous."

"The citizens of St. Paul have already stepped up to the challenge of this struggling economy. And I will not ask our families and our neighborhoods to do more. What I ask you to do is to find new ways to support the needs of Minnesota cities. But not on the backs of the people of St. Paul or Minneapolis or Duluth," he said.

The tax bill also makes future property tax increases subject to referendum if enough property owners object. City officials testified that seeking voter approval would inject new uncertainties into the budgeting process and make city governments unmanageable. But tax chair Phil Krinkie says voters have a right to weigh in. And he says they should reject arguments that state cuts are forcing local property taxes up.

"It's just the opposite. The state is spending a considerable amount of money to bring property taxes down!"

The House bill also goes along with Gov. Tim Pawlenty's plan to cut the renter's property tax credit. The Senate tax committee hasn't finished its tax bill, but Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, tells Khoo it will include either an income tax or sales tax increase to pay for increased spending on education.

Speaking of education, the House is expected to debate its version of the K-12 budget bill today. The bill would increase per pupil spending by 3 percent each of the next two years. Republicans have begun running a TV ad (that looks a lot like a campaign ad) calling on people to contact their legislators and tell them they like the GOP approach to the K-12 budget better than the DFL approach.

And the Twins have won the first vote on the latest version of a stadium plan. The Hennepin County Board voted 4-3 to send the plan to the Legislature. This is from the Star Tribune:

More than 50 citizens spoke at a public hearing that began in the early afternoon and then spilled into the evening. As expected, much of Tuesday's debate centered on the plan's most controversial aspect -- a provision that would exempt the stadium plan from a referendum...

As the hearing began, former Minnesota Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek walked to the microphone accompanied by two Twins officials, who poured onto a table hundreds of cards signed by fans supporting a replacement for the 23-year-old Metrodome. "I love playing in there, but I hate watching in there as a fan," Hrbek told a packed hearing room.

But for every supporter, there was an equally opinionated opponent. "Why are you afraid of a referendum? Do you not trust us, the voters?" asked John Knight, a Minnetonka attorney. "I'm not some kind of radical here. I'm a Republican."

And finally, the effort that began well over a year ago to get tough on sex offenders is finally coming to a conclusion at the Capitol. But there are a few big wrinkles to iron out before it's done, as noted by MPR's Laura McCallum:

The Senate bill calls for open-ended sentences with the possibility of life in prison for the most dangerous sex offenders. That puts the DFL-controlled Senate at odds with the Republican-led House and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who support life in prison without the possibility of parole for the most violent offenders.

The sponsor of the Senate version, Minneapolis DFLer Jane Ranum, says the Senate approach gives prosecutors the tools they need to lock up the worst of the worst.

"The people who try these cases on a daily basis, the prosecutors tell us, 'give us flexibility, give us indeterminate life, but let us then figure out - because because no sex offender is identical to another sex offender,'" Ranum says.

The Senate voted 64-to-1 for the bill. The lone "no" vote, Republican Brian LeClair of Woodbury, says the bill doesn't go far enough to protect the public from sexual predators. He says the most violent offenders should never be given the opportunity to hurt a second victim.

Sen. Dave Kleis, R-St. Cloud, voted for the bill to move it along, but says indeterminate sentences aren't tough enough.

"Every time there's flexibility, there's an incident when somebody's let out and they commit a heinous crime, we come back here and try to make another fix. We've got to finally fix this system and the only way we're going to do that is life without release," according to Kleis.

And of course the unanswered question with that approach is how much are taxpayers willing to spend to lock people up forever?