Mark Dayton News

The Governor and DFL leaders say they hit all the marks this session from passing marriage equality to giving childcare providers the ability to unionize.

Rep. John Ward, DFL-Baxter, standing, speaks about the bonding bill from the floor as the House of Representatives took care of business on the last day of the legislative session Monday, May 20, 2013.

The Minnesota Child Victims Act sponsored by District 46 legislators is just a signature away from becoming law.

Minnesota lawmakers worked right up to the end Monday before adjourning a session that produced $2 billion in tax hikes and a historic vote on gay marriage.

AFSCME and SEIU members cheered Sen. Sandy Pappas and Rep. Michael Nelson, co authors of the day-care unionization bill, which passed 68-66 on Monday.

Minnesota DFL legislators scrambled to patch together the final budget measures late Monday night, charting a dramatic new course for the state.

Amy Zellmer wasted no time after the same-sex marriage bill passed the senate on Monday .

UUA, UCC presidents rally for gay marriage in R.I. Morales, Black urge Rhode Islanders to lobby their state senators after marriage equality bill passes the House.

So about that whole stadium financing thing. Turns out electronic pull tabs aren't going to be enough.

A $15.7 billion education package that will "make life easier" for working parents, according to the bill's supporters, now awaits Minnesota Gov.

DFL Majority Leader Erin Murphy talked quietly with GOP Minority Leader Kurt Daudt while debate raged over day care unionization.

Here is a surprising hypothesis: The 2012 referendum that rejected labeling marriage as being only between one man and one woman in the state Constitution was not the real referendum that propelled gay marriage toward being legalized in Minnesota.

The Suburbs' Chan Poling brings the mic in close for audience members to sing "Love is the Law" on the final song of the night at a concert celebrating Minnesota's new gay marriage law at Ecolab Plaza in St.

The final pieces of Minnesota's next two-year, $38 billion budget were falling into place Sunday as state lawmakers clocked long hours and held a succession of late-night debates at the Capitol.

Dayton wants the Senate to deny Judge George Perez another term on Minnesota's Tax Court.

With an insider's eye, Hot Dish tracks the tastiest bits of Minnesota's political scene and keep you up-to-date on those elected to serve you.

Some of this week's top stories include: Stillwater Eric Richard pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault charges Friday morning in relation to the death of Adam McCloud after an altercation last year at a bar in downtown Stillwater.

Bradley Dean "Bradlee Dean" Smith's giving the the prayer for the May 2011 opening of the Minnesota Legislative session for that summer.

The Legislature's final testy days became a showdown on the most sweeping union expansion in Minnesota in recent history.

The pay hike is included in a broader, $6 billion a year budget for health and human services programs that the House passed Friday night by a party-line vote of 73-61. It's one of the biggest chunks of state spending and includes funding for services for the poor, elderly and disabled.