Reality Check « CBS Minnesota

Reality Check: Minnesota Lawmakers’ Per Diem

Minnesota lawmakers earn about $30,000 a year, and they haven’t had a pay hike since 1989. However, they’re able to raise their own salaries by taking daily expense payments called “per diem,” which is a kind of back-door pay hike out of public view.

2012/04/11

Reality Check: Truth About Insurance And Birth Control

The truth: Insurance companies operating in Minnesota are required by law to cover at least 28 separate benefits, eight types of patients and 13 different health care professions. That’s the sixth highest number of mandates in the country.

2012/03/07

Reality Check: Pull Tabs Equal Money For Stadium

Stadium supporters promise a windfall from electronic pull tabs and bingo, but there’s not a lot of evidence to support that.

2012/03/02

Reality Check: Can ‘Justified’ Shootings Increase Violence?

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton hasn’t said whether he will sign or veto a controversial bill expanding the rights of gun owners to shoot in self-defense.

2012/02/24

Reality Check: Ellen Anderson’s ‘Extreme’ Views

Twenty-four hours after the Minnesota Senate rejected Ellen Anderson as the Governor’s appointee to the Public Utilities Commission, she has accepted a job as a senior advisor to Dayton on energy and environmental issues.

2012/01/31

Reality Check: When Vikings Can Notify NFL Of Departure

The Minnesota Vikings stadium issue is a game of time clocks, countdowns and deadlines. One date is quietly coming up that lawmakers are starting to watch: The date the Vikings can notify the NFL they’re leaving.

2012/01/09

Reality Check: The Price Tag On A Vikings Stadium

Consider this: The Minnesota Vikings say they’re at the bottom of the NFL in revenue. The cost of a stadium is going up, and their 30-year Metrodome lease will expire. But the year is 2002.

2011/12/13

Reality Check: Vikes’ Contributions To New Stadium

The Minnesota Vikings continue their stadium drive at the State Capitol, telling skeptical lawmakers they’ll contribute more money to the stadium effort than almost any other team in NFL history.

2011/12/07

Reality Check: Job Claims For New Vikings Stadium

The state legislature resumes hearings on a new Minnesota Vikings stadium just as the Vikes ramp up an ad campaign that claims construction alone could bring thousands of jobs.

2011/12/05

Reality Check: Behind The Price Hike Of Property Taxes

Got your property tax bill yet? Get ready for some sticker shock.

2011/11/17

Reality Check: Unionizing Day Care

Minnesota has some of the highest child care costs in the country for center-based day cares.

2011/11/16

Reality Check: Rick Perry’s Debate Gaffe

Energy was the third department of the federal government Rick Perry could not remember during a CNBC debate Wednesday. But forget, for a moment, Rick Perry’s memory lapse. Can he even do that?

2011/11/11

Reality Check: Has Obama Come Through On Promises?

One year to the day before the 2012 election, President Obama is already being judged on his handling of the economy.

2011/11/01

Reality Check: Rolling The Dice On Gambling Revenues

There has been plenty of talk at the Minnesota State Capitol about a new Vikings stadium and now gambling is back on the table. But how much gambling money is actually available in Minnesota right now?

2011/10/31

An artist rendering of the proposed Vikings stadium in Arden Hills. (credit: Minnesota Vikings)

Reality Check: ‘Walk Away’ Clause In Vikes Stadium Deal

Governor Mark Dayton is hoping his stadium blitz at the State Capitol will end with a Vikings vote by Thanksgiving. But not before the Vikes agree to a series of conditions, including a legal promise not to walk away from the deal.

2011/10/20