State lawmakers on Minnesota’s Green Jobs Task Force will meet on Friday to discuss efforts to create, attract, and retain jobs in the renewable energy sector.

The task force will host a public hearing at Great River Energy headquarters at 9 a.m. to discuss a forthcoming market analysis that will help identify job growth potential in the renewable energy sector.

Co-chaired by Rep. Jeremy Kalin, DFL–Chisago County, and Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL–St. Paul, the Green Jobs Task Force is a bipartisan coalition of legislators, private businesses, state agencies and interested citizens. The group’s efforts focus on five key topics: renewable energy, biofuels, greenhouse gas reduction, clean water and energy efficiency.

Minnesota officials are weighing in following news of the state’s projected $4.8 billion deficit for the 2010-2011 biennium.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman:

“This is an unprecedented moment for our State. Our reaction to this crisis will determine Minnesota’s path for a generation. We must seize this moment to restructure and rethink how we deliver services. …

“We are all going to have to make tough choices in the months ahead. Following the lead of Minnesota’s cities, it is now the State’s turn to rethink service delivery – and I urge all parties to treat this not as an opportunity to diminish what we do but enhance what makes Minnesota a great place to live. Passing the buck won’t work, and we can’t afford to turn our backs on any federal stimulus that will put Minnesota families back to work.”

Eric J. Magnuson, Chief Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court:

“Today's state budget forecast underscores the most important task ahead for legislators –  funding core government functions with limited resources. …

“Of great concern to me is the fact that during economic downturns, court business goes up as conflicts and crime tend[s] to increase.  The Minnesota Judicial Branch is already at a tipping point, operating short nine percent of our staff need and having cut services dramatically throughout the state.  The very last thing we can afford during a time of unprecedented national and state financial crises is a further cut in funding to the court system.  The consequences for public safety, our constitutional obligations, and the people we serve are too great.”

Jim Monroe, Executive Director, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE):

“The solution to the state’s financial crisis can’t continue to be to carve state services to the bone. We tried that before and it didn’t work. Cutting state services does not work in the long term. We pay more in the long run when we have to correct the harm that is done by unwise cuts. …

“This time, they need to look at a permanent solution to the state’s roller-coaster revenue stream. We need to help Minnesotans get and keep jobs, and help those families having a difficult time making the ends meet.”

Reported by Charley Shaw, at the Minnesota Capitol

“The economy … has body-slammed our state’s budget.”

That’s how Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson put it Thursday morning during a dour press conference at the Capitol announcing a double whammy – that the projected deficit for the 2010-2011 biennium is now $4.8 billion and the deficit in the current budget that ends June 30 is $426 million.

Tom Stinson, state economist described the ugly situation this way: “It could be the worst [overall] economy since World War II.”

The $4.8 billion general fund deficit figure is the highest in state history, though at 13.1 percent ($4.8 billion out of a $36.7 billion budget) it doesn’t represent the highest deficit as a percentage of the state’s general fund.

The dreaded word “unallotment” has reappeared again.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican in his second term, reportedly said Tuesday in a conference call from Philadelphia that he might use his power of unallotment, in which he would cut spending from the state’s current budget, because he expects state revenues will fall short of expenses by the end of the budget year.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Minneapolis Club where Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner was holding a campaign fundraiser for her run for Governor of Minnesota.

Protesters are demanding that Gaertner drop 18 felony cases stemming from the Republican National Convention held in St. Paul last September, stating that the charges are political, with the purpose of justifying the police reaction to dissent at the RNC.

(Video by Bill Klotz)

It isn't too much of a surprise that the number of challenged ballots has shot up much higher than the official gap between U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Al Franken. Thus, it looks like everything is going to come down to what the State Canvassing Board decides. Tomorrow they are set to deal with the controversy over absentee ballots.

For thoughtful remarks from non-partisan observers in the field, be sure to check out Citizens for Election Integrity MN's recount blog. Their work is a joint effort of CEI-MN, League of Women Voters Minnesota and Common Cause Minnesota. More about their efforts. Interestingly, at this time it's reported that Becker County is missing 48 ballots across three precincts.

Hennepin County has provided unexpectedly rough results for Team Franken; Larry Jacobs from the U of M's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance told the PioPress that "The Franken campaign is going to win or lose based on what happens with the absentees."

FiveThirtyEight.com has been the statistician's go-to website during the campaign season and its proprietor, Nate Silver, earned a lot of credibility by projecting the results of the presidential election quite accurately. On Sunday, he projected that Franken would win the recount by 27 votes, mainly based on the notion that challenged ballots would mostly break for the DFLer. Despite the increasing rate of challenges, yesterday Silver thought his models still showed a Franken win. His guide to the four major types of challenges was kind of fun.

Always up for the oppo research challenge, Michael Brodkorb at Minnesota Democrats Exposed razzed Silver as a "former Daily Kos contributor."

As we wait around for the virtual tie to get resolved, one potential solution, Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), has been getting positive buzz from around the spectrum: liberal Strib writer Nick Coleman and former GOP U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger agree that IRV would make this problem go away. Coleman points out we've only elected one governor with an absolute majority in the last five elections. Durenberger points out that election campaigns would be pitched more to the center than the party bases, which would make races more amiable and competitive. FairVote Minnesota is promoting the implementation of IRV.

The Strib and PioPress have fun interactive recount Web apps.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) joked with the PioPress editorial board that she will "get all the inauguration tickets" if the count is unresolved. Of course, the GOPers have been trying out an anti-Washington message by hinting that those sneaky Senate Democrats will try to take the seat by fiat.

The Minnesota Historical Society has put up a video about the 1963 recount, drawn from the KSTP-TV Archive, featuring the major players of the day, and explanations from Acquisitions Librarian Patrick Coleman (Yes, he's the mayor's and Stribber's brother, and PIM can report he knows exactly where all the best stuff is hidden in the vaults).

There are much smaller recounts happening in Senate District 16 and House District 16A; In 16A, it looks like DFLer Gail Kulick Jackson of Milaca will still be the victor over GOP Rep. Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton). In Senate District 16, it appears DFLer Lisa Fobbe of Princeton will still be the victor over Republican Alison Krueger of Big Lake. They were competing for GOP Sen. Betsy Wergin's seat, as she got appointed to the Public Utilities Commission.

The Secretary of State has posted unofficial results for House District 12B (PDF).

Of course, other Midwestern locales have their own recounts: an Iowa Senate seat in Waterloo went for Democrat Jeff Danielson by 22 votes, giving the Dems 32 Senate seats to the Republicans' 18, a net Dem gain of two (they picked up two or three in the House) . Danielson also got elected as Senate president pro tem, so it's a good day for him! Democratic State Reps Dolores Mertz of Ottosen and Wes Whitead of Sioux City also squeaked by, as statewide turnout reached 72%, not too bad considering they spend longer in the formal election cycle than any other state! Iowa Republicans are complaining that Dems took a huge advantage through absentee ballots.

More U.S. Senate recount headlines:

• Recount mixup prompts dispute in Ramsey County, Star Tribune
• Mounting recount challenges delay finish, St. Cloud Times
• Saga of one absentee vote is a hint that many twists are still in store, Pioneer Press
• Former Franken worker helped with ballot recount, AP
• Senate recount: Ballot confusion arises, Bemidji Pioneer
• Tension rises as recount enters 2nd week, AP
• Next key step in Coleman-Franken Senate recount happens Wednesday, MinnPost
• Vote tallies in county were close to the mark, Alexandria Echo Press
• Q&A with the Lizard People voter, News Cut - MPR

Best of the Blogs and Think Tank Thoughts:

• Franken to Ritchie: 'Ballots have gone missing' — so find them, Minnesota Independent
• Breaking recount news, Let Freedom Ring
• Klobuchar sees bright spot in prolonged recount, The Political Animal

A DFL legislator will introduce legislation in January aimed at making it easier to prosecute state employees who misuse public money.

The bill comes in the wake of two high-profile cases in which prosecutors declined to press charges against former employees of the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for what most acknowledge were cases of misappropriating state dollars.

"Scamming the state of Minnesota is always bad, but it's even worse in an economic downturn like this one," Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, said at a St. Paul press conference hosted by the legislation's author, Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley.