Minnesotans United for All Families leader Richard Carlbom provided the figure to The Associated Press ahead of a mid-June deadline to report lobbying during the just-completed legislative session. About $400,000 to $500,000 was spent on TV ads, he said.

Minnesotans United likely will rank at or near the top of 2013 legislative lobbying, if historical spending is any guide. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Xcel Energy are the only entities to recently surpass the $2 million mark in a single year, and some of that includes lobbying state utilities regulators.

The Minnesotans United money fueled a personal lobbying effort, phone banks and television commercials. The group used 14 lobbyists.

In contrast, the main opposition group, Minnesotans for Marriage, had three registered lobbyists.

Gay marriage advocates went from narrowly defeating a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage last fall to winning the new law in mid-May.

“In order to be successful in the legislative effort, we couldn’t let it feel like there was any letup at all,” Carlbom said of the heavy spending.

The turnabout was sudden, but not entirely surprising given the Democratic takeover of both legislative chambers.

With majorities sympathetic to their cause, supporters of gay marriage saw the legislation pass with room to spare. In the House, it passed 75-59 with four Republicans joining all but two Democrats. Days later, the Senate approved the bill 37-30 with one Republican in favor and three Democrats joining the opposing side.

Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill in front of a crowd of thousands. Minnesota was the first Midwestern state to enact gay marriage through legislative vote and the 12th state overall to allow it. Couples can begin to wed on Aug. 1.

Minnesota United has now shifted gears. In has set up a political action fund that group leaders say will be used to help legislators who voted for gay marriage in their next campaigns.

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ST. PAUL (WCCO) – There are few other places in the historic Minnesota State Capitol where beer drinking should be more welcome: The basement cafeteria, styled as a German Rathskeller. Now, for the first time in almost 100 years, alcohol may be available on certain occasions.

The walls of the Rathskeller are unexpectedly colorful, featuring forest animals, patriotic symbols and drinking slogans — in original German.

Now, State Rep. Phyllis Kahn is trying to revive another century-old tradition here, alcohol, which may have been commonly sold in the original Capitol.

Kahn is the author of a new law allowing the public to rent the Rathskeller for special events, like weddings, receptions and permit the sale of beer and wine.

“This is a terrific area that ought to be used more than it is,” Kahn said.

The Rathskeller was restored to its original design in 1999: Resurrecting a curious past of political persecution.

It was 1917, during a war-time wave of anti-German hysteria, the Rathskeller was whitewashed literally.

Painted over on the orders of Minnesota’s Commission on Public Safety, which was a state group with sweeping powers to investigate German immigrants and left-leaning union members.

The Capitol rathskeller is not available for rental yet.

A $109 million dollar Capitol renovation is underway that could take several years. When it’s finished, it could be in demand.

The Capitol cafeteria changes are included in the Legacy Bill, which Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign by this weekend.

Opponents initially pinned their hopes on a statewide moratorium.

In the end, they settled for a requirement that the state issue permits for new mines located within a mile of trout streams after studying the impacts on water quality. They also got the state more involved in the environmental review and regulatory process, and in providing optional aid to local governments that want help. And they won authority for local governments to extend their moratoriums against new projects.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO/AP) — Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has signed an education package that boosts spending on schools and scales back high-stakes testing.

Dayton and Democratic legislators on Wednesday celebrated the $15.7 billion bill, which is about $485 million more than the state spends now.

Supporters of this bill say it will make life easier for working parents.

A centerpiece is a state commitment to pay for all-day kindergarten programs, eliminating the practice of fee-based programs by the 2014-15 school year.

The new law also adds to the per-pupil formula that determines the amount of state aid schools get. In signing the bill, Dayton said “more money for education doesn’t absolutely guarantee success but less money for education absolutely guarantees failure.”

The bill was approved with very little support from Republicans. It received only five GOP votes in the House and four in the Senate.

Republicans say paying for the education bill with higher taxes isn’t the solution.

“When this budget takes effect, it will be harder for every family and every hardworking taxpayer in this state to make ends meet, send their kids to college and prepare for retirement,” Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, said. “That’s overreach.”

The legislation also reduces the emphasis on graduation exams for high school students, giving them more options to prove their aptitude.

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Officials say the average cost of the new tax for 54,400 filers is just shy of $7,200. But that figure can be misleading because the super-rich will pay dramatically more than those barely touched by the new rate.

The median tab for those affected is $1,904, according to a Minnesota Department of Revenue analysis. That means half of the people will pay more than that and half will pay less.

The 9.85 percent rate applies to taxable income above $250,000 for married filers and $150,000 for singles. It takes effect for this tax year.

The new top tax rate will put Minnesota’s upper bracket in the nation’s top five.

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The final batch was formally delivered Wednesday. That step starts a window for him to sign or veto bills. One budget bill, an economic development finance package, reached his desk Tuesday.

Governors have three full days to consider bills. The full budget and everything else must be decided on by Saturday night at the latest.

Because Dayton and the legislative majorities are both Democratic, the presumption is the budget will be signed. But there is a chance Dayton could eliminate some spending provisions with his line-item veto authority.

Dayton declined to say Wednesday if he would scuttle parts of an environmental finance bill, as some outdoors groups want.

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Here’s where they differ: Whether the work product of Democratic rule will leave the state better or worse for it.

The two-year, $38.3 billion budget solves a deficit while departing from the patch-and-squeeze approach that had become the norm. Taxes will be higher for some, but so will spending on schools everywhere. A long-running policy debate over state marriage law is over, though the reality of gay marriage won’t set in for months.

The post-session spin from both sides could have been — and probably was — written before the Legislature convened in January.

“When people asked me last fall what would happen if we had a DFL Legislature and a DFL governor I said one word, ‘Progress,’” Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday. “That’s what we brought about in the last five months: Progress for education in Minnesota, progress for fairer property taxes, progress for a more progressive income tax to make our overall tax less regressive, progress for jobs now and for the future.

“I’m proud of the progress we made,” he added.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, had a far different take.

“If I were to use one word to describe this session, I think ‘overreach’ is the word I would use,” Daudt said. “All of the things we thought they would do, they did.”

He said the more than $2.1 billion in tax increases will affect more people than suggested by Democrats’ “tax-the-rich” refrain. He also said labor unions were too readily accommodated, particularly with a bill giving a path to unionization for home child care providers and home health care workers.

Anticipating the GOP criticism, Democrats insisted voters wanted an end to Capitol gridlock when they put one party in charge. And they say they delivered.

“Any movement, an inch off the status quo, would have been considered an overreach by some,” said House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, a St. Paul Democrat. “That’s not good enough for Minnesota. We need to move forward in the state of Minnesota and that’s what we’ve done.”

That’s not to say everything was smooth. Some bills, chiefly an increase to the minimum wage, fell by the wayside amid Democratic infighting. Transportation funding advocates were disappointed by the lack of any major road-and-transit financing.

And surprisingly, lawmakers needed every last second to finish their work.

“Just because Democrats are in control of everything that doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be bumps in the road, and there were,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk. “But I feel very good about the way we were able to iron those out and get to a timely conclusion.”

For both parties, the end of session starts a full-throttle push to market the outcome.

Asked what the session’s hallmark would be, Assistant Senate Minority Leader Dave Thompson replied simply: “Tax, tax, tax.”

The challenge for Democrats will be moving the conversation away from the big tax number to connect it to where that money is going. Almost one-third of it will plug the projected deficit, another third will fuel preschool through college programs and much of the rest is steered toward local governments and homeowner tax relief.

The new taxes won’t directly hit everyone. Smokers get saddled with another $1.60 per-pack charge. Businesses are facing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, which could be passed down the line.

More than half of the new tax revenue — $1.1 billion — is supposed to come from higher taxes on income above $150,000 for singles and $250,000 for married filers.

Freshman Rep. Joe Radinovich, a Crosby Democrat who is expected to have a stiff re-election challenge, estimated there were fewer than 300 families in his district that would feel the bite.

“When you say $150,000 or $250,000, the people in my district know it’s not them,” Radinovich said. More people back home, he said, will benefit from enhanced property tax relief measures that wouldn’t happen without the extra state revenue.

Voters get to render their verdict in 2014, when the governor’s office and the House are on the ballot. Dayton insists he will run again and Democrats will be defending a narrow five-seat majority without the help of a presidential election year turnout.

That’s still a long way off, and lawmakers will spend a few more months in St. Paul next year before beginning their campaigns in earnest.

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But the budgeting process shared the stage with a range of high-profile policy issues, from gay marriage to guns and others. The Democrats who ran this year’s session met some of their goals, but not all. The big debates, and how they turned out:

— GAY MARRIAGE: The successful push to legalize gay marriage is likely to be what most Minnesotans remember about the 2013 session. Nearly unthinkable only months ago, gay couples in the state are now looking to Aug. 1 as the day they can start to get married under state law. While it captured a lot of headlines, lawmakers actually needed little time to get the bill through the legislative process: a pair of committee hearings on the same day in March, and House and Senate votes in May that made Minnesota only the 12th U.S. state to legalize gay marriage. But intense lobbying occurred behind the scenes, with pro-gay marriage group Minnesotans United investing heavily in the legislative push after successfully leading last year’s campaign to defeat a constitutional gay marriage ban on the ballot. Gay marriage supporters credit that ban’s defeat with laying the groundwork for their rapid reversal of fortune.

— MINIMUM WAGE: An increase in the state’s $6.15-an-hour minimum wage was a major priority for many Democrats at the start of the session, but it fell victim to disputes between House and Senate Democrats. While the House wanted to boost the wage to $9.50 an hour by 2015, the Senate settled on a more modest increase to $7.50. Despite a last-minute effort to revive the issue, it became a casualty of the session’s final time crunch. Both House Speaker Paul Thissen and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said on Tuesday that it would be a top priority when lawmakers return to the Capitol in February 2014.

— HEALTH CARE: Lawmakers quickly tackled the task of creating the state component of the new federal health care law, and by mid-March had passed legislation creating an online health care marketplace known as MNsure that is meant to help 300,000 uninsured Minnesotans obtain health coverage. The site will let the uninsured, small business owners and people on existing government health plans shop and compare different coverage plans, with some of those shoppers eligible for government subsidies to help pay for it. The plan is for the site to be open for enrollment starting on Oct. 1.

— GUNS: Another disappointment for some Democrats. A series of mass shootings last year, particularly the elementary school shooting in Connecticut in December, emboldened gun control supporters to push for new limits on access to weapons in the state. But the political strength of the National Rifle Association, which boasts among its allies not just Republicans but many Democrats from more rural areas, quickly neutralized any push to ban certain types of weapons or ammunition. Some Democrats continued to push for an expansion of background checks for gun buyers — mainly to extend them to purchases made at gun shows — but even that failed in the face of divides between urban and rural Democrats.

— SILICA SAND MINING: Some lawmakers started the session hoping for a moratorium on the controversial practice of frack sand mining, which has been spreading in southeastern Minnesota. Instead they got a compromise: companies that hope to mine silica sand, which is used to extract oil and natural gas in North Dakota and elsewhere, will have to obtain a new Department of Natural Resources permit if it’s done in certain sensitive areas.

— UNIONS: Some of the loudest cries of the session from minority Republicans were over the bill to allow union organizing drives among in-home, licensed child care providers and among personal care attendants to the elderly and disabled. The prospect of unionized, independent child care providers in particular set off Republicans who charged Democrats were paying off political support from unions. Democrats, who passed the bill anyway on the session’s last day, said it only allows a union organizing drive and that the providers would vote on whether to unionize. Democrats also passed a bill requiring a study of nurse staffing levels at Minnesota hospitals, a compromise with nurses’ unions who wanted lawmakers to set mandatory staffing levels.

— CAPITOL RENOVATION: More money to pay for an ongoing renovation of Minnesota’s domed Capitol was salvaged in the closing hours of the session after getting caught up in the politics of construction project funding. The Legislature approved $109 million in bonds to keep the work going on the Capitol, which state officials say is badly crumbling and in need of major repairs.

— SCHOOL BULLYING: A bill to require school districts to draw up anti-bullying policies and submit them to the Department of Education for approval was another casualty of the dwindling clock. The House passed the bill, but senators ran out of time as they rushed toward adjournment when Republicans vowed to stage an hours-long debate against it. While backers say such policies are needed to protect the academic performance and self-worth of targeted students, opponents said local school boards should set policies themselves and that some students were at risk of being labeled bullies for expressing personal religious views. The bill’s supporters vow they’ll try again next year.

— VIKINGS STADIUM: It was the first legislative session in years without a stadium request from one of the state’s pro sports team, but lawmakers were still forced to revisit the Vikings stadium funding package they approved a year ago. That’s after tax revenue from an expansion of electronic gambling, which was supposed to fund the state’s $348 million share of the $975 million project, badly lagged behind projections. In the end, lawmakers approved skimming a portion of the new cigarette tax, along with money from eliminating some tax preferences for corporations, to provide money to bolster the gambling revenue.

— DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR IMMIGRANTS: The Senate passed a bill that would let immigrants without proper documentation get a Minnesota driver’s license. Backers said it would make the state’s roads safer by ensuring that immigrants often on the road already would have to submit to road tests and obtain automobile insurance. The bill also passed a House committee, but never came up for vote in the full House despite several days of protests at the Capitol by immigrants’ rights activists in the final days of the session.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Top Minnesota lawmakers purposely delayed the start of a new sales tax on warehousing services until next April in case they need to revise or undo it before then.

The storage service tax, which doesn’t apply to mini-storage rentals, became a point of dispute in the session’s final days. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said Tuesday that lawmakers will review the tax and its unintended consequences when they return to the Capitol in February.

A new tax on equipment repairs has also stirred up farm country lawmakers. A late fix to exempt farm equipment repairs didn’t get made, but leaders pledged to do that early next year.

The service sales taxes are far more limited than what Gov. Mark Dayton proposed earlier in the year. Aside from warehousing, there are new taxes on commercial equipment repair and telecommunications services. All told, they are expected to generate $315 million in the next two years, money that will be used to provide local governments a sales tax exemption.

The Department of Revenue expects to provide specific details about what is covered by the sales tax expansion before June 1. Most of the service taxes take effect in July.

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Dayton and the lawmakers held a Tuesday news conference at the Capitol, just a few hours after the session wrapped at midnight.

They say they delivered on promises to raise income taxes on the wealthy in order to fund spending increases for schools, to freeze tuition at state colleges and to offer relief to property taxpayers.

Republican leaders are flying around the state to offer criticisms of the Democratic approach.

They say the tax hikes will burden Minnesota business owners, and have also complained about DFL moves to grant union organizing authority to some in-home day-care workers and personal care attendants to the elderly and disabled.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers worked right up to the end Monday before adjourning a session that produced $2.1 billion in tax hikes and a historic vote on gay marriage.

The gavel fell after a frenetic final push to wrap up major issues.

A lock on power by Democrats guaranteed they would get most of their wish list. In a $38.3 billion budget, lawmakers raised taxes on top earners, eliminated some corporate tax write-offs and increased the cigarette tax. That erased a $627 million deficit but also brings in enough money to boost funding for schools and dole out property tax relief.

Lawmakers also made Minnesota the 12th state to legalize gay marriage. But efforts to tighten gun restrictions in the wake of the Newtown shootings failed. An increase in the minimum wage fizzled when the two chambers couldn’t agree on how much to raise it. That falls to the 2014 agenda.

The session began — and ended — with Democrats sensitive to worries they would overreach with their agenda after controlling all aspects of government for the first time since 1990.

“We set an ambitious agenda but I think it’s one that Minnesotans actually want to see. It is a great agenda for middle class Minnesotans, for investing in education,” said House Speaker Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis. “It looks like overreaching maybe because the last 10 years have been underperforming.”

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, said his party would make the case to voters that the new taxes will cripple the economy and that labor unions were given too much power to sway state policy.

“They didn’t restrain themselves, and ultimately they will probably be judged poorly on that,” Daudt said of his Democratic counterparts.

Just minutes before midnight, the tax bill passed the Senate 36-30, with three Democrats voting against. The vote was also tight in the House earlier in the day.

It’s the first state-level tax increase approved by lawmakers since the gas tax went up five years ago. Some 54,400 taxpayers would pay a higher income tax, averaging $7,200 more per year, according to legislative researchers. The new 9.85 percent upper income tax level is 2 points higher than the current top tier. Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration pointed out that the average household income that would be subjected to the new tax was $617,000.

The tax on a pack of cigarettes goes up $1.60. Corporations lose some tax preferences. And some businesses see more transactions subjected to the sales tax, including a tax on warehousing that some farm groups are pledging to try to repeal before it takes effect in April 2014.

Minority Republicans said the entirety of the tax increases would hurt businesses and residents.

“This tax bill will make us a high-tax island. Members, that’s a fact,” said Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen.

Sen. Rod Skoe, a Clearbrook Democrat who helped craft the plan, disputed the gloomy assessment.

“Taxes are important, but it’s not the most important thing,” he said.

The bill contains $570 million in new credits and local government exemptions that backers frame as property tax relief. Some money flows into aid programs that give breaks directly to homeowners. Dayton plans to sign it and the entire budget.

Republicans also howled about a bill that could lead to unionization of home-based day cares and home health care workers, labeling it political payback for labor interests that are a key Democratic constituency.

It passed the House with no votes to spare after many hours of debate. A group of union supporters in the gallery broke into loud cheers and hooting. That prompted angry shouts from House Republicans, including Rep. Pat Garofalo of Farmington, who shouted: “Let ‘em applaud, they own the place!”

The room finally quieted after Thissen pounded his gavel several times.

Even within one-party rule, the traditional session logjam played out. And that scuttled two early session priorities of Democrats — the minimum wage increase and a bill to stiffen school bullying policies. Republicans claimed victory in deferring final decisions on those, but even they acknowledged the measures will resurface soon enough.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said the minimum wage discussion will go on in the interim in hopes of getting a deal that both business and labor interests can support. For now, the state’s minimum wage stands at $6.15, one of the lowest in the country.

The most compelling battle of the session was fought over gay marriage. After beating back an amendment in November that would have banned it, same-sex marriage supporters transformed their network into a push to legalize it. They ultimately did so in votes that proved surprisingly easy. Dayton signed the legislation last week in a ceremony on the Capitol’s south lawn attended by thousands.

High-level negotiations resulted in a small construction borrowing package built around a $109 million installment for the state Capitol renovation, money needed to keep the work going.

“This building has no lobbyist to shill for it,” said Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, before a 121-10 House vote. “It has us and we must not let it down.”

Lawmakers passed smaller but still important policy bills as time ticked down. Minnesota will join many other states in allowing people to vote absentee without having to declare a reason. And a campaign finance bill raises the size of contributions that Minnesota candidates can accept from individuals.

A 43-26 vote early Monday sent a proposed constitutional amendment to the 2016 ballot that asks voters if an independent council should set legislator pay; that decision now rests with lawmakers, who haven’t touched salaries since 1999 for fear of a political backlash.

Lawmakers don’t convene their election-year session until February.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A few final debates echoed through the state Capitol Monday, as lawmakers haggled over tax increases and union organizing in a session that’s already seen a big spike in spending on schools and a landmark law legalizing gay marriage.

A session that started in January ended in a rush toward the finish line: a midnight deadline to adjourn for the year. It was the finale of four months of Democratic control of the Legislature, and members seized the chance to set a $38.3 billion budget that increases spending on schools, colleges and other programs and helps pay for it with $2.1 billion in tax increases primarily on the wealthy and smokers.

Republicans forecast a rough ride ahead, with businesses and the well-off looking beyond Minnesota to avoid new taxes.

“This tax bill will make us a high-tax island. Members, that’s a fact,” said Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen.

Sen. Rod Skoe, a Clearbrook Democrat who helped craft the plan, disputed the gloomy assessment.

“Taxes are important, but it’s not the most important thing,” he said.

In the House, Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, Lenczewski, who helped write the bill, framed it as a responsible approach to erasing a $627 million deficit and fashioning a two-year budget that includes the targeted spending increases.

The House passed the bill in the wee hours Monday morning, and the Senate was expected to follow suit Monday night.

It’s the first state-level tax increase approved by lawmakers since the gas tax went up five years ago. Some 54,400 taxpayers would pay a higher income tax, averaging $7,200 more per year, according to legislative researchers. The new 9.85 percent upper income tax level is 2 points higher than the current top tier. The tax on a pack of cigarettes goes up $1.60. Corporations lose some tax preferences. And some businesses see more transactions subjected to the sales tax.

The bill contains $570 million in new credits and local government exemptions that backers frame as property tax relief. Some money flows into aid programs that give breaks directly to homeowners.

Upon Senate passage, the bill heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, who is on board.

The House also voted to send Dayton a bill to allow union organizing drives among two groups of workers: in-home daycare providers and personal care attendants to the elderly and disabled. The legislation injected the contentious divide between Republicans and Democratic-allied labor unions into the session’s final days. The 10-hour debate was strung out over more than two days, as Republicans blasted what they called a union power grab and Democrats defended it as giving workers an option to unite over common issues.

“We are not forming a union here today,” said Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing. “We are authorizing people the right to vote about whether they want to enter a collective bargaining unit.”

The House passed the bill by one vote, 68-66, with five Democrats defecting. Its passage prompted an eruption of cheers in the House gallery, which provoked angry shouts from several Republican lawmakers.

“This looks like union payback. What a blight on the process,” said Rep. Kathy Lohmer, R-Lake Elmo. “This isn’t what people want.”

Another labor-backed bill to raise the state’s minimum wage was alive in the session’s final hours, but barely. A House-Senate conference committee convened briefly on the bill, which now stands at $6.15 per hour, but took no action.

The wage hike was a top Democratic priority at the start of session, but stalled after House and Senate members couldn’t agree how big it should be. The House approved a bill raising the minimum in three stages until it reaches $9.50 by 2015. The Senate’s bill topped out at $7.75. If they agree on a number, legislative negotiators also must decide if the wage will rise by an inflationary amount in future years.

Smaller policy bills flew through under the wire, including an election bill that authorizes no-excuse absentee voting and a campaign finance bill to increase the size of contributions that Minnesota candidates can accept from individuals.

High-level negotiations resulted in a small construction borrowing package built around a $109 million installment for the state Capitol renovation, money needed to keep work going on the 107-year-old seat of government.

“This building has no lobbyist to shill for it,” said Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, before a 121-10 House vote. “It has us and we must not let it down.”

Aside from the Capitol project is an $18.9 million award for a new Minneapolis Veterans Home building that will get a big federal match. There is also $20 million for flood mitigation projects. It sailed through on lopsided votes.

A 43-26 vote early Monday sent a proposed constitutional amendment to the 2016 ballot that asks voters if an independent council should set legislator pay; that decision now rests with lawmakers, who haven’t touched salaries since 1999 for fear of a political backlash.

Once lawmakers adjourn, they won’t return for their election-year session until late February.

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A borrowing proposal that came together on the Legislature’s final day includes $109 million for the next phase of a renovation to the deteriorating building. The money was needed this year to keep underway construction from halting. A new parking ramp will be authorized, but paid for with fees from users.

The package is the result of high-level negotiations involving majority Democrats and minority Republicans, testament to the supermajority it requires for passage. It cleared both chambers with votes to spare and is on to Gov. Mark Dayton.

Aside from the Capitol project is an $18.9 million award for a new Minneapolis Veterans Home building that will garner a big federal match. There is also $20 million for flood mitigation projects.

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The Legislature passed a bill Monday that includes a provision that directs the city of St. Paul to issue and on-sale wine and malt liquor license to the Capitol cafeteria. The bill now goes to Gov. Mark Dayton.

The Capitol’s basement cafeteria is a German-style rathskeller cafe. It was restored to its original design in 2000. It even has a painted slogan on the ceiling, in German, that urges visitors to enjoy an adult beverage.

The boozy provision is part of a package that distributes sales tax money from the state’s so-called Legacy amendment to parks and to arts and cultural programs.

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The change is included in a larger election policy bill the House and Senate passed on Monday with wide bipartisan support.

Current state law requires voters to attest one of a handful of justifications in order to obtain an absentee ballot, although enforcement has been lax. The bill lifts those limits entirely and opens up the absentee option to anyone.

Democrats had pushed a wider expansion of early voting at the polls, but Republicans opposed those changes. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton made it clear he would only support election-law changes that have support from members in both parties.

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Outside downtown office buildings, many smokers didn’t want to talk about the possibility of a tax that will push a lot of cigarette packs into the $8 range.

Dan Jones says the tax may be the push he needs

“It’s a tax on something that you don’t need… I’m ok with it actually,” Jones said. “Who knows, maybe it will finally give me the motivation I need to stop doing it.”

Nicole Peterson says she would cut back.

“I won’t quit over it, but I’ll definitely smoke less,” Peterson said.

And that is exactly what Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehllnger likes to hear.

“I think the increase of the tobacco tax by $1.60 per pack is one of the biggest public health benefits from this legislative session,” Ehllnger said.

Commissioner Ehllnger says data from other states show tax hikes make a difference

“Among adults, if you raise it 10 percent – about two percent will quit smoking,” he said. “That’s a huge impact.”

The state says it has built the expected drop in smokers into their revenue projections. The current tobacco tax pulls in $423 million, and the state is predicting the higher tax would pull in $618 million a year.

Dan Jones is hoping it’s a tax he won’t be paying.

“Eight dollars a pack versus six, I’d probably quit – which is probably a good thing for me,” Jones said.

Right now almost 20 percent of Minnesotans are smokers, which is approximately 625,000 people. The state estimates the tax will result in more than 36,000 of those smokers quitting

The state also estimates the new tax would keep up to 50,000 Minnesota kids from ever starting to smoke.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota House has passed a bill that allows a union drive among home day care providers and personal care attendants after about 10 hours of debate strung out over more than two days.

The final vote was 68-66. A handful of Democrats voted no along with all the House Republicans, who waged an intense floor fight against the day care unionization drive. The issue drew demonstrators to the Capitol from both sides of the issue.

The Senate already passed the bill, so it’s on its way to Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton who is likely to sign.

It’s part of an effort by two service worker unions to organize personal care workers. The bill sets up possible unionization votes among child-care providers who get state subsidies, and separately among care attendants to the elderly and disabled.

Republicans call the bill a power grab by unions.

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The Senate voted Monday against the continued service of Judge George Perez. Gov. Mark Dayton, who reappointed Perez, asked senators to reject his confirmation after the state’s Board of Judicial Standards recently ruled that Perez repeatedly violated its code of conduct.

The Board found that Perez delayed cases and then falsified records to hide those delays. Perez had been serving on the Tax Court since former Gov. Arne Carlson appointed him in 1997.

The Senate’s vote clears the way for Dayton to appoint a replacement.

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The state Senate voted 43-23 early Monday to put the proposed amendment on the statewide ballot. It follows a tighter House vote on the identical measure. Governors don’t have input on constitutional amendments.

If adopted by voters, it would create a special council to determine lawmaker pay. Sponsors say it removes an inherent conflict of interest and takes a politically charged matter out of the Capitol.

Legislators haven’t seen a pay raise since 1999, and some worry that the $31,000 salary is become a barrier for some prospective candidates given the time demands of the office.

The pay council would set new salary rates once every two years.

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At the request of Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration, the Legislature is temporarily rerouting money from a new cigarette tax and from a corporate tax to backfill a lagging stadium fund.

The fix is part of a giant tax plan on course for final legislative approval. The House signed off early Monday.

Last year, lawmakers authorized a new form of gambling to cover debt on the state’s $398 million stadium share. But those games have failed to take off as hoped, leaving some worried as a summer bond sale approaches.

Republicans say Dayton is breaking a promise that the stadium wouldn’t be paid with general treasury dollars. Dayton has said he’s making sure the stadium project doesn’t fail.

Construction begins this fall.

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A House-Senate conference committee is set to meet Monday morning for the first — and maybe only — time. Both chambers are run by Democrats.

What was considered a priority earlier in the year has been stalled in the session’s final days. That’s because the House approved a bill raising it in three stages until the hourly minimum reaches $9.50 by 2015; the Senate’s bill topped out at $7.75.

If they agree on a number, legislative negotiators also must decide if the wage will rise by an inflationary amount in future years.

The House bill also makes changes to laws governing overtime and unpaid leave for new parents.  The Senate’s plan doesn’t.

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – More hearings are scheduled in Washington this week as Members of Congress continue investigating the IRS targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups.

The scandal is unfolding as the White House is struggling with other revelations that threaten to derail the President’s agenda for a second term.

Watch Esme Murphy’s Talking Points above!

You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Matt Brickman every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

The Senate passed the bill Sunday by a vote of 41-26. The House signed off on the bill hours earlier in a 2 a.m. vote. Dayton is expected to sign it.

The $15.7 billion budget bill amounts to more than 40 percent of total state spending in the next two years. It increases per-student payments to districts by $78 next year and another $80 the year after that. It also funds all-day kindergarten statewide and has more money for early learning grants for lower-income families.

The new spending in the bill is funded in large part by tax increases the Democratic-led Legislature is likely to pass Sunday or Monday.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — 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.

By late afternoon, lawmakers had sent seven of nine major budget bills to Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. That included a $15.7 billion education funding package, which the House approved about 2 a.m. and the Senate about 14 hours later. It boosts state aid to schools over the next two years and puts new resources into providing all-day kindergarten statewide.

Still on tap for later Sunday was a House debate and probable late-night vote on the tax bill, a package containing $2 billion in tax increases on smokers, corporations and people with six-figure incomes.

The Legislature’s Democratic majorities were racing to beat a deadline of midnight Monday to adjourn the regular session. But a tidy wrap-up was derailed by debate over a Democratic bill that gives unions power to organize certain private daycare workers and home care attendants for the elderly and disabled, which drew demonstrators to the Capitol and intense opposition by Republicans.

The House debated the bill from about 2 to 7 a.m. Sunday, then recessed and debated it another three hours in the afternoon without taking a final vote. Republicans queued up more than 100 amendments to fight the measure, which they argued was driven by a connected political interest.

Labor unions gave big to Democrats in the last election, but party leaders insisted the bill was meant to give workers a louder collective voice if they decided to unionize. The bill’s supporters said daycare providers who want to be left out of union could simply opt to not take children whose families get state subsidies for care, a prerequisite for union eligibility.

“If you don’t want to participate in this opportunity for collective bargaining, your choice is simple: Don’t take the government money,” Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township, said during the afternoon debate. “It’s easy.”

Republican critics said that could affect existing relationships between childcare providers opposed to unions but who serve low-income families.

“These union dues will be coming out of the pockets of low-income families,” said Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville. “They’re going to have less value for their dollar in buying child care.”

An equally fiery debate was likely over the tax bill, which negotiators finalized after midnight Saturday. It raises Minnesota’s tax rates for the first time in years, but in a targeted way. Smokers would pay $1.60 more per pack of cigarettes and for cigars. The top 2 percent of wage earners would pay 2 percentage points more on a slice of their income once it reaches $250,000 for couples and $150,000 for singles. Corporations would get fewer tax write-offs. And some businesses would pay sales tax on transactions they didn’t have to before.

But the sprawling bill also contained hope of property tax breaks. Cities and counties won’t have to pay sales taxes on purchases for the first time in decades. In exchange for more state money, cities and counties would be required to tamp down property taxes. A one-year levy limit would be imposed. Except in rare cases, new local levies will be held to 3 percent or less. Many cities could have to freeze their tax rates.

A bill providing money to operate several state agencies was last to come together Sunday. The bill includes raises for agency managers and statewide elected officials, with the governor being permitted to adjust commissioners’ salaries. Negotiators jettisoned corresponding pay increases for lawmakers, but that issue could still rear its head in a Senate debate over a constitutional amendment to create an independent commission to set legislator salaries.

Other high-profile issues were in flux as the session dwindled. Top lawmakers searched for a way to assemble a slimmed-down construction projects bill that would include renovation funding for the state Capitol, after the House defeated an $800 million bill Friday that Republicans said was too large. GOP support is necessary because the bill requires three-fifths majorities to pass, beyond what Democratic House and Senate majorities can muster alone.

A pared-back measure could be limited to the $109 million for the Capitol makeover, some disaster recovery assistance, matching money for a new Minneapolis Veterans home building and other projects deemed critical. Rep. Alice Hausman, the St. Paul Democrat who assembled the failed bill, said she’d vote against a replacement package.

“I support this Capitol project, but someone help me understand why it’s more important than anything else,” Hausman said.

Thunderstorms that passed through St. Paul late Sunday afternoon underlined the urgency of the project for some lawmakers, when heavy rains caused flooding in a newly refurbished area near the building’s cafeteria while the House and Senate met three levels up.

“Due to the current condition of our Capitol, the rain is coming through and flooding the tunnel,” Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, said on the House floor.

Another question mark was a bill to boost the minimum wage. House Democrats were pressing to lift the floor wage to $9.50 by 2015, but the Senate passed legislation topping out at $7.75.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said he was hopeful the chambers could find middle ground, but indicated his members would only move so far.

“I don’t see a path in the Senate to get above $8 per hour,” Bakk said.

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The Senate Taxes Committee voted Sunday to reject the confirmation of Judge George Perez. Dayton wants the full Senate to follow suit.

The state’s Board of Judicial Standards released a ruling on May 10 finding that Perez repeatedly violated its code of conduct. It found he delayed cases and falsified records to cover those delays. The board recommended Perez be suspended for nine months.

Former Gov. Arne Carlson appointed Perez to the tax court in 1997. Dayton reappointed him prior to the Judicial Board’s ruling. A Senate vote to reject Perez would remove him from the court.

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Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk hoped to meet Sunday with House Speaker Paul Thissen, Senate Minority Leader David Hann and House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt about a plan that could pass before Monday night’s adjournment.

On Friday, the House defeated an $800 million construction projects bill. Republicans argued it was too large.

A pared-back bill could be limited to the $109 million for the Capitol makeover, some disaster recovery assistance, matching money for a new Minneapolis Veterans home building and other projects deemed critical.

Republican buy-in is necessary because the bill requires three-fifths majorities to pass, beyond what Democratic House and Senate majorities can muster alone.

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The House went all night before finally recessing a little after 7 a.m. Sunday. Up for debate but still awaiting a final vote is a controversial bill that authorizes a union organizing drive for home daycare providers and care attendants to the elderly and disabled.

The House and Senate will be back in session Sunday afternoon. Both are speeding through the final, DFL-assembled budget bills. Lawmakers may vote Sunday on a package of $2 billion in income, corporate and cigarette tax increases.

The House is also likely to return to the union bill, which drew demonstrators to the Capitol Sunday and intense opposition from the Republican minority.

Lawmakers have until midnight Monday to adjourn their regular session.

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ST. PAUL (WCCO) — With the session officially ending on Monday, state lawmakers debated through the early morning hours trying to wrap up some of the most contested issues this year.

The House took up the issue of unionizing private day care providers at 2 a.m., Sunday morning. Debate lasted nearly five hours before lawmakers recessed until noon without finishing discussion on the more than 100 amendments to the bill.

This is an issue that brought many people to the Capitol, both for and against.

“That’s all the bill is giving us — the right to have a union or to choose if we want to have a union or not,” said Darleen Henry, of PCA.

Those in support feel unionizing is the only way they can bargain for better wages and benefits.

“This bill is going to give myself, and the other people that do the same kind of work I do, the opportunity to join together with one collective voice on issues,” said Lisa Thompson, a child care provider.

It’s estimated that there are 11,000 private daycare providers in Minnesota and opponents argue the majority don’t want to unionize.

“I am the only person in my business so it’s my small business and it’s not the right fit for a union model,” said Jackie Harrington, a child care provider.

They argue it should be up to an individual on how to run a business.

“It’s wrong to have 30 percent of the population of the daycare providers to make the decision for the rest. It’s wrong,” said Don Dickerson, who opposes the bill.

The Senate voted on and passed this issue earlier this week.

Another big issue that the House passed early Sunday morning, the K-12 education financing bill.

A couple key items, it allows funding for all-day kindergarten and increases the basic funding formula for schools.

It breaks down to an increase of $156 in new spending, per student.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill Sunday afternoon.

A wide-reaching tax bill finalized late Saturday includes a one-year limit on local levies. It is designed to keep rates from rising at a rapid clip for 2014 property taxes.

The cap is somewhat complicated because it bases the limit on the amount of new aid a local government gets. Except in rare cases, new local levies will be held to three percent or less,. Many cities could have to freeze their tax rates.

As part of the bill, cities and counties won’t have to pay sales taxes on purchases for the first time in decades.

The bill also includes some direct-to-homeowner relief mechanisms.

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The Senate passed the Democratic-crafted bill on Saturday afternoon by a 39-28 vote along party lines. The House passed the bill late Friday. It funds medical and other assistance programs that together make up nearly a third of all projected state spending in the next two years.

The pay increases for nursing home workers is the first in four years. The bill also has a smaller, 1-percent hike for care workers for the disabled. Republicans say those workers deserve more given that Democrats are raising more than $2 billion in new tax revenue in their budget plan.

Lawmakers are busy Saturday passing budget bills as they stretch toward a late Monday deadline to adjourn the regular session.

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Republican Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois said, “On the one hand you’re arguing today that the IRS is not corrupt, but the subtext of what you’re saying is, ‘Look, we’re just incompetent.’”

There is already evidence that by searching for groups that included the names “Tea Party” or “Patriot” for special review, the IRS was, in fact, targeting conservatives.

The larger debate over whether 501C(c)(4) groups should be engaged in direct political activity at all is an important one, but at the same time is irrelevant because of the targeting that is clearly discriminatory and possibly illegal. All of that raises the issue of what else this agency, with its vast power and access to the most private information of millions of Americans, may be doing.

The fact that treasury officials were briefed about the inquiry back in June of 2012 raises more doubts about what those in the administration knew, and when they knew it. Whether the IRS probe, in fact, reveals corruption or mere widespread incompetence or both remains to be seen.

This scandal is one that seems unlikely to fade and suggests that at minimum reform of basic IRS procedures are needed.

Legislative leaders on Saturday set their return date. It’s Feb. 25.

The late start leaves a shorter window for the Legislature in 2014 because they still must finish by mid-May before heading out on the campaign trail.

Next year’s main focus will be on a construction budget and dealing with any unanticipated surplus dollars or deficit projection. They will be coming back right around time that a key economic forecast is due.

There’s a side benefit to starting late: Candidates and caucuses face fundraising restrictions during session. The schedule gives them two more months to stock up on campaign cash from lobbyists and political action committees.

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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. The Democratic-drafted bill trims spending on such programs by $50 million compared to projected demand for the services, which is a smaller reduction than DFL legislative leaders wanted but bigger than sought by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton.

It’s the first pay increase for nursing home workers in four years. The bill also has a smaller, 1-percent hike for care workers for the disabled. Republicans said that raise should be higher.

The bill awaits a final vote in the Senate.

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The bill fell five votes short of an 81-vote supermajority needed for passage, a rare area where Republicans wielded veto power in a state government controlled by Democrats. The bill involved selling long-term bonds, which subjects it to a three-fifths threshold for passage. Its failure left a major renovation of the Capitol, already well underway, in question with just over three days left in the session.

“Just one word: Tragic,” said Rep. Alice Hausman, the St. Paul Democrat who sponsored the measure. Hausman said a handful of Republicans who voted no had promised their support.

Construction bills often win backing from both parties for their ability to generate local construction jobs and spread dollars to communities around the state. In addition to getting stymied on that bill, Democratic legislative leaders also abandoned another goal of many in the party: increases in the state gas tax and the Twin Cities metro area sales tax to pay for road and transit projects, which struggled after Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton refused to support the gas tax hike.

Both the House and Senate worked into the night Friday, rushing to finish the state budget before the late Monday deadline for adjourning the regular session. The House voted 73-61 in favor of the health and human services budget late on Friday, one of the biggest chunks of state spending. The massive document, finalized in recent days by House and Senate negotiators, includes a 5-percent pay increase for nursing home workers.

The Legislature also sent Dayton a higher education budget that includes a tuition freeze at public colleges and universities, puts more money into state grants to students, and grants resident tuition to the children of immigrants who are not documented.

While that bill won some Republican backing, the construction bill spurred partisan rancor in the House. Only three Republicans voted for the bill; Hausman said she had commitments of support from eight, which would have been enough to pass the bill; she wouldn’t name who reneged.

Rep. Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, rose angrily before the vote to complain that the fate of natural disaster aid for his southern Minnesota area was tied to the legislation.

“We are being held hostage!” Hamilton said. He voted against the bill.

GOP leaders had insisted for days that they wouldn’t go along with a bill they considered too bulky.

“Time is running out and we shouldn’t be distracted with borrowing huge amounts of money right now on the state’s credit card,” said House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown.

Hausman said she wouldn’t try to revive the bill. But few major bills are truly dead in the final hours of a legislative session. Lawmakers were preparing to work through the weekend, with late and even overnight sessions possible.

The state Capitol renovation project was the largest in the construction bill, consuming $109 million. Those overseeing the building work say the money is needed this year to avoid costly delays. Dayton and a bipartisan slate of lawmakers are on record supporting the fix-up to the 107-year-old state Capitol, where safety concerns have been patched over for years.

Lawmakers could insert money for the project in budget bills that haven’t reached the floor yet.

Daudt wouldn’t rule that out. “If they want to talk about an alternate plan, I’m happy to come to the table,” he said.

Hausman said she didn’t support borrowing for the Capitol renovation project separately.

“The Capitol is a noble project, an important project. We should do it,” she said. “But why is it more important than higher education, building laboratories and classrooms for all of our kids in the state?”

The vote against the bonding bill, as it is known, could carry political risks. Several Republicans voted against a plan for wastewater treatment and flood mitigation projects in their districts, and several were under pressure from local business groups to support civic center renovations in Mankato, Rochester and St. Cloud. Some of the nearly $200 million in college campus projects are in districts represented by Republicans.

Most of them will have another shot to advance the hometown projects before the next election. Big bonding bills usually are considered in election-year sessions.

But proponents of the defeated measure said forgoing a bill this year will come at a cost. There’s no guarantee that currently low interest rates, which make construction dollars go further, will stay that way.

Rep. Lyndon Carlson, DFL-Crystal, said the projects would come at a perfect time in the state’s economic recovery.

“We have many Minnesotans in the construction industry and the various support industries who are ready, willing and able to go to work,” he said.

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The Senate passed a state higher education budget by a bipartisan, 44-22 vote on Friday that includes a $250 million spending increase. More than half the increase goes to pay for the tuition freezes at University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities campuses. The bill also includes new money to increase the number of students who get state grants to help pay for college.

The bill also makes children of immigrants who are undocumented eligible for resident tuition rates at state colleges and universities.

Republicans who voted against the bill say the University of Minnesota hasn’t demonstrated responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

The bill awaits a final vote in the House.

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The volume foreshadows a long fight should the House brings the bill up on Saturday as planned. The Legislature has until midnight Monday to finish its session, including passage of the next state budget.

The debate on a companion Senate bill stretched 17 hours earlier in the week.

The bill is part of an effort by two service employee unions to organize in the personal care industries. It would set up a possible vote among certain providers.

Supporters say it will give providers greater leverage in bargaining for state reimbursement rates. Critics see it as a grab for union dues.

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The House passed the proposed amendment by a 69-62 vote, with all House Republicans and four Democrats opposed. If passed by the Senate, the amendment would go on the 2016 ballot.

“I don’t think we should vote on our own pay,” said House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. “I think we should take it out of our hands. I think the citizens of Minnesota will support that.”

The amendment had eight Republican co-sponsors, but they joined the rest of their GOP colleagues in opposing its passage. Republicans criticized Democrats for taking up the amendment Friday, with the session due to wrap up Monday and votes still upcoming on the bills that make up the state budget.

“We’re focused on the salaries of Minnesota legislators with three days to go, and no budget passed,” said Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. “This is legislative greed. This is legislative overreach.”

Republicans also pointed out that Democrats blasted them for passing two constitutional amendments during the 2011-12 sessions, when the GOP had the majority.

Murphy countered that the House was on track to finish its budget bills on time, too. She called changing the way legislative pay is set “an important reform.”

Earlier this session, the Senate voted 34-32 to directly raise salaries for lawmakers, the governor and other elected officials. Five Democrats joined the chambers Republicans in opposition, and the vote generated some public backlash.

Minnesota hasn’t raised pay for elected officials since the 1990s. Supporters of doing so argued that makes running for office less attractive for people who must take time off from their regular jobs to serve. Right now, the governor makes $120,000 a year and legislators earn $31,000.

The amendment, if passed by voters, would create a legislative pay council appointed by the governor and chief justice of the Supreme Court. Both would appoint one member from each of the state’s congressional districts; membership would have to be split equally between the two political parties, and could not include current or former legislators.

The pay council would set new salary rates once every two years. Currently, 19 other states set legislative pay with similar commissions.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — With time running out in this year’s session, Minnesota lawmakers appear to be close to a deal for the next state budget.

It doesn’t involve taxing clothing or any changes to the alcohol tax, but there will be some noticeable changes for some people.

Gov. Mark Dayton and other DFL leaders met until late Thursday night trying to work out a budget deal. Right now the state is facing a $627 million deficit. With the proposed tax hikes, the state could bring in $2 billion over the next two years.

The plan includes raising taxes on married couples who make more than $250,000 a year or single people who make $150,000 a year by two percentage points. The tax on tobacco will more than double. People will now pay an extra $1.60 for a pack of cigarettes.

DFLers said some of the surplus revenue will also help them pay back the millions owed to public schools.

“The purpose is to repay the $800 million that we owe the schools by the end of the next two years and that’s a commitment that the House in particular felt was important, and it does show up on the books as another $800 million in spending but it’s really a separate category from all the rest,” said Dayton. “It’s obviously not ongoing and it puts us on a solid, sound fiscal footing for the next two years and the one following.”

Republicans have not been part of the closed door negotiations. They believe the tax increases will impact more than just people who smoke and the wealthy.

Lawmakers have until midnight to wrap up the legislative session. There has also been talk this session about increasing the minimum wage. With just days left in the session it’s unlikely a bill would pass because DFLers can’t agree how much to raise it.

The Senate voted to raise it to $7.75 an hour, 50 cents above the Federal level, but DFLers in the House wanted it higher. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said yesterday that a minimum wage hike this session is highly unlikely.

The top two percent of income earners will pay two percent more on a portion of their income. The per-pack tax on cigarettes will rise by $1.60. Some corporate tax preferences will go away. But there won’t be any changes to the alcohol tax.

Gov. Mark Dayton, House Speaker Paul Thissen and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk say the agreement will pave the way for the Legislature to pass its budget before a mandatory Monday night adjournment to the session.

Combined, the taxes will generate $2 billion more for Minnesota’s two-year budget. But the leaders say there is $400 million in potential property tax relief in their plan.

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The Republican critic of the Affordable Care Act — dubbed Obamacare by foes — was to begin airing the ad Thursday night in Twin Cities market. She spent about $85,000 for the TV spot.

It shows her speaking directly into the camera, spreading what she calls “great news” about the vote. Bachmann sponsored the measure the House adopted on a 229-195 vote; it has little chance of winning Senate approval.

“Obamacare promised us lower cost and a better health care system. But the truth is just the opposite. Unaffordable, skyrocketing insurance costs and a system so complicated, well, even Democrats are calling it a train wreck,” Bachmann says in the ad. “Passing my bill to repeal Obamacare is just the first step toward lower costs and improved health care.”

The health law was enacted in 2010, but key portions of it are only now being implemented. Starting this fall, uninsured people who can’t get coverage through their jobs will be able to sign up for government-subsidized insurance that takes effect Jan. 1.

Since assuming House control in 2011, Republicans have voted 37 times to eliminate or otherwise hinder the law, actions the Democratic-controlled Senate has ignored. A legal challenge to the law resulted in the Supreme Court upholding it.

But Bachmann has consistently made it a rallying cry to her conservative base. She was in the speaker’s chair — gavel in hand — when the vote was announced.

It is unusual for congressional candidates to air ads almost 19 months prior to an election. Bachmann is coupling the ad with a special Web page, which could help the prolific campaign fundraiser draw in donations off the vote.

Bachmann narrowly won a fourth term over Democrat Jim Graves, a hotel chain founder who is running again in 2014. Bachmann has yet to say whether she will run again but is raising money to facilitate a possible campaign.

All three Minnesota Republicans voted for the repeal.

Rep. Betty McCollum, one of the five Minnesota Democrats in Congress to oppose the move, said the action was a waste of time.

“The Republican obsession with Obamacare has become an addiction to empty gestures and meaningless floor votes to repeal, defund and dismantle health benefits for tens of millions of Americans,” McCollum said.

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