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The Minnesota State Legislature convenes regular session

The Minnesota legislative session began Jan. 6, 2009 with many issues – the biggest of which is the budget deficit. Minnesota is facing its largest budget deficit ever.

The Minnesota Management and Budget Office (formerly the Department of Finance) released its November forecast that shows:

  • Minnesota is facing a current budget deficit of $426 million for the remainder of this biennium, which ends June 30, 2009.
  • A $4.85 billion shortfall for the 2010-2011 biennium, not including inflation. (This is a $5.28 billion total shortfall between now and June 2011.)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the state Legislature will have difficult decisions to make during the 2009 legislative session in order to fill the budget gap.

Energy industry-related legislative issues for the 2009 session:

  • Jobs
  • Climate change
  • Feed-in tariff (FIT)
  • Nuclear energy

Great River Energy will closely follow any legislative activity related to these and other industry-related issues on behalf of its 28 member cooperatives.

Position statements

Great River Energy has several position statements available to inform stakeholders on key issues.

Follow each link to view Great River Energy’s position on the topic:

Online Minnesota Legislative Resources

Online North Dakota Legislative Resources