Rilyn Eischens

Minnesota’s racial disparities in health care coverage worsened in 2021, according to survey data released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Health. About 10.2% of Minnesotans of color didn’t have health insurance in 2021 — up from 7.6% in 2019, according to MDH. At the same time, the uninsured rate among non-Latino white people fell from […]

Minnesota education officials on Wednesday defended the state’s management of federal nutrition funds to lawmakers, during the third legislative hearing about nutrition program fraud alleged to have taken place early in the pandemic. Minnesota Department of Education leadership told members of the…

A Minnesota state Senate candidate who made national headlines for attending a Democratic convention while in active labor has not decided whether she will suspend her campaign or run in the primary election, according to her campaign manager. Erin Maye Quade, a former state representative, withdr…

A marijuana legalization party is calling for changes to Minnesota’s candidate ballot access law ahead of the 2022 election, a move they say would prevent deceitful or frivolous campaigns appearing on ballots. The Grassroots Legalize Cannabis Party wants all candidates for state office to be required to gather voter signatures in order to get their […]

Minnesota Republicans repeated debunked tales about schools providing litter boxes for students who identify as cats during debate over the House education budget bill Wednesday. Reps. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, and Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, shared the fictional stories in support of Drazkowski’s p…

Wide racial gaps in reading proficiency have persisted for years. In 2021, fewer than 30% of Black, Indigenous and Latino third graders were proficient in reading — nearly half the statewide rate.

Minnesota is one of 24 states unlikely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, according to an analysis by the think tank Guttmacher Institute. That could make Minnesota an island in the upper Midwest. Three neighboring states have laws on the books to automatically make most abortions illegal if federal protection for abortion […]

The Minnesota House on Wednesday approved a proposal to make hourly school workers eligible for unemployment benefits. The provision — included in the majority DFL House’s jobs bill — would allow bus drivers, cafeteria staff and paraprofessionals to apply for unemployment benefits during summer break. Labor and education unions have pushed for the change for […]

The Minnesota Senate passed on Tuesday a bill that the GOP majority describes as a “free-market solution” to ensuring more Minnesotans have access to paid family leave. The bill, introduced by Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, would allow insurance companies to offer paid family leave benefits product…

Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday signed a bill funneling $300 million from a multi-state settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors into the state’s opioid response fund. Through the fund, the settlement money will be used for opioid addiction and overdose education, prevention, treatment and recovery efforts across the state. The news comes as the federal […]