Social service providers are looking for ways to cope with funding cuts in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget. The governor's spending plan eliminates health insurance coverage for many people who are working, but poor. Some services will merge, and health care premiums for those who are covered will increase. (02/20/2003)

There's another spat brewing over Minnesota's first light rail line. Supporters of the 11.5-mile transit service from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America in Bloomington had been counting on state funds to operate it. However, in his budget proposal, Gov. Pawlenty proposes the state pay less than half of the operating cost. (02/20/2003)

County officials and jailers told lawmakers they don't want or have room for the short-term prisoners Gov. Tim Pawlenty hopes to send their way. In his new budget, Pawlenty would deal with a quick-growing prison population by double-bunking some and having those with less than six months to serve do so in local jails. (02/20/2003)

State officials say they don't know how more than 1,000 families are faring after being dropped from the Minnesota welfare system last July. Anti-poverty activists and social service providers say they believe the cutoffs are a major setback for those families. (02/20/2003)

One day after the release of Gov. Pawlenty's budget, some people affected by the governor's proposed cuts are calling for tax increases. The governor and many Republican lawmakers say they're committed to balancing the budget without raising taxes. The debate over the state's level of taxes and spending is only beginning. (02/19/2003)

A panel of educators, parents and business leaders met Wednesday to begin deciding what the state's public school students need to know in reading and math. Members of the Minnesota Academic Standards Committee appear willing to borrow ideas heavily from other states as they try to meet their late March deadline. (02/19/2003)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is accusing local government officials of scare-mongering in order to preserve their state funding. As part of a $4.2 billion deficit-reduction package, Pawlenty suggested cutting aid to cities and counties by more than 20 percent. The governor says said local officials are exaggerating the impact those reductions might have. But supporters of the state aid say Pawlenty isn't telling the complete story. (02/19/2003)

As a potential war looms and Minnesota's budget faces a huge deficit, Sen. Mark Dayton talks with Gary Eichten about current events, and what Minnesotans need to focus on in times of financial trouble. ( 02/19/2003)

In a report called <i>Tough Choices Today for a Better Future Tomorrow,</i> Pawlenty proposed a 2004-2005 budget of more than $28 billion, an increase of 3.8% -- or $1 billion more than the current two-year budget that ends in June. Pawlenty committed himself to no tax increases during his gubernatorial campaign and stood by that pledge even after a new economic forecast suggested the deficit was nearly double what was expected. He said the deficit offered a chance to rethink the way Minnesota government is funded. Overall, elementary and secondary education is one of the few areas that would see spending increases, but the impact on individual districts will vary and some may see decreases. Criminal justice also would get a slight bump in spending. Nearly everything else takes a hit. ( 02/19/2003)

Is public higher education too expensive to be called public? A recent study finds that higher education tuition nationally has increased an average of 10 percent in one year, and Minnesota is above the average. ( 02/19/2003)

Governor Tim Pawlenty is proposing the largest budget in Minnesota history which seeks to wipe out a $4.2 billion dollar deficit without raising taxes. ( 02/19/2003)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has released a budget proposal that erases a projected $4.2 billion deficit without raising taxes. Gov. Pawlenty's budget would increase state spending by about a billion dollars in the next two years. But it makes deep cuts in the projected growth of health and human service programs, and cuts aid to local governments and higher education. (02/19/2003)

Local government officials across the state say they're concerned that Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget proposals will lead to cuts in public safety or property tax increases or both. As part of Pawlenty's plan to erase a $4.2 billion deficit projected over the next two years, the governor has suggested cutting state aid to cities and counties. Administration officials say it's a simple matter of spreading the budget burden evenly. (02/19/2003)

Governor Pawlenty has largely kept his pledge to shield elementary and secondary classrooms from the cuts needed to balance the state budget. He says his proposed spending plan for the next two years actually includes a slight increase in the per student funding formula for public schools. The state's public higher education institutions, however, face a 15-percent decrease in state funding. (02/18/2003)

Gov. Pawlenty's budget plan allows for some growth in health and human services spending, but that growth is far short of projections for fiscal years 2004 and 2005. Pawlenty says the state can afford to cut back on its social programs and still be on a par with other states in the upper Midwest. Advocates for the poor, however, say Pawlenty's budget proposal will harm the poor and working class. (02/18/2003)