Today the Minnesota State House and Senate begin the long anticipated hearings as part of a special session to pass disaster flood relief legislation — following the high waters that devastated communities in southern Minnesota earlier this fall. The UpTake will bring you live coverage from both chambers at the State Capitol. The Senate’s Finance committee will review the bill at 8 a.m., followed by the Capital Investment committee at 9:30 and the Tax committee at 10:30. Meanwhile, the state House will begin hearings at 9 a.m., chaired by Rep. Lyndon Carlson. Disaster relief for areas of southern Minnesota hit by flooding is the focus, but other issues may arise. Tonight, a debate for Minnesota’s sixth congressional seat will be held in Monticello, with or without incumbent Michele Bachmann. According to a Monticello Chamber of Commerce release, both DFL candidate Tarryl Clark and Independent Bob Anderson will be there.
On Friday TheUpTake offered live coverage, interviews and analysis of the gubernatorial debates at the University of Minnesota. Watch the debates, and subsequent question-and-answer session with U-M students, here. Republican Tom Emmer refused to answer the barrage of questions on social issues that students asked him. But the GOP candidate was the victim of Independence Party candidate Tom Horner’s distortion of Emmer’s past statements on immigration. We’ll have plenty more Minnesota political debates later this week, and then President Obama’s appearance Saturday on the U-M campus, so stay tuned.