The Sunday Take

On this week's edition, Blois digs in to a conversation of the worsening relationship between elected officials and the media.  To help with the discussion, our host chats with Park Street PR CEO Brian McClung and Star Tribune political reporter Rochelle Olson.

On this Easter Sunday, Blois takes some time to chat with a couple of first-time state legislators. Longtime political staffer Danny Nadeau explains how different it is to actually be in one of the elected seats over at the State House. State Sen. Grant Hauschild discusses his journey from being a city councilman to taking a seat at the Capitol.

Even though the State Legislature has the week off, that doesn't mean any rest for the world of politics.  Blois welcomes the following guests on this week's show: U of M Humprhey School professor Larry Jacobs explains the school's newly-released study on the effectiveness of Ranked Choice voting. MinnPost reporter Peter Callaghan checks in to discuss several topics, including ongoing revenue, any...

On this episode of the Take, Blois once again focuses on the state's budget surplus.  This time around, he asks guests from the State House's Ways & Means Committee to guide us down the pathways that each political party hopes to spend the surplus.  Committee chair Liz Olson gives the DFL viewpoint, while committee Lead Republican Pat Garofalo offers the GOP plan.

This week, Blois turns his focus to higher education across the state.  Roger Moe, chair of the Board of Trustees for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and longtime State Rep. Gene Pelowski help us dig into where Minnesota stands when it comes to funding higher education and what could be done in the future to improve its needs.

This week, Blois focuses on the state of health care across the state and what its future might look like.  He discusses this topic with the following guests: Minnesota Council of Health Plans president/CEO Lucas Nesse takes us through the basics of health care, including how it works, how regulations help, and what newer lawmakers need to know about it. Joe Schindler, VP of Finance, Policy, &...

Blois wonders what the state will ultimately decide to do with the budget surplus.  He also invites the following guests on the program: Darrick Moe, CEO of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association, discusses how the organization is employing co-ops to providing a different energy source to Outstate areas. Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions, explains what a carbon pipeline is and the reason...

On this edition, Blois takes a deep dive into what the state's budget could tell us when the latest forecast is released on Monday.  Then, former Commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget Tom Hanson joins our host to give his thoughts on that same forecast.

Along with his weekly take, Blois sits down with the following guests for this week's episode: State Rep. Jeff Witte describes how he hopes to use his law enforcement experience to help in legislation around gun safety issues, specifically when it comes to school shootings. State Rep. Dave Pinto explains how his career as a criminal prosecutor has molded his views on the best way to approach the g...

Blois gives his weekly take over several current topics.  He also chats with the following guests: State Sen. Rob Farnsworth discusses the business impact of the recent court decision regarding protection of the Boundary Waters, more specifically, Huber Engineered Woods' decision to not build a mill plant in the area. MN DFL Chair Ken Martin joins the show to talk about getting elected to a sevent...

This week on Sunday Take, WCCO Political Analyst Blois Olson checks in on the state of the Iron Range. He speaks to State Representative Spencer Igo (R-Wabana Township), and Ida Rukavina, commissioner of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation. 

Blois tells us about the importance of corn growers across the state.  He also sits down with the following guests: WCCO Radio host Sheletta Brundidge previews the Black Entrepreneurs Day she will be hosting at the State Capitol (on February 3rd). MinnPost reporter Peter Callaghan looks into the early session at the Legislature and how the budget surplus is effecting lawmaking. New MN Education Co...

During this week's edition, Blois wonders about the future of the state's economy and government.  He also chats with the following guests: COPAL MN campaign manager Ryan Perez discusses the group's effort to allow anyone living in the state, regardless of citizenship or legal resident status, the ability to obtain a state driver's license. Stage Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen describes his recent...

Blois gives his thoughts on the start to the 2023 State Legislature session.  After that, he gets more perspective from the following guests: State Senators Jim Abeler (R, District 35) and John Hoffman (DFL, District 34) discuss their shared causes that they hope will get more attention by this Legislature (long-tem care, human services, etc.), as well as their friendship on and off the Senate flo...

This week, Blois' conversations hover over the metro loop.  He sits down with Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul mayor Melvin Carter to discuss the challenges each faces in this new year and what they hope to work on for their respective cities.

As the new State Legislature prepares to start the 2023 session, Blois takes a moment to revisit a couple recent interviews regarding what we should expect from the State House.  We listen back on the conversations with Majority Leader Melissa Hortman and new Minority Leader Lisa Demuth.

Ahead of the Christmas holiday, Blois continues to work on the political trail.  After giving his thoughts on the state budget surplus debate, he chat with the following guests: Twin Cities Business Magazine editor Ali Kaplan tries to forecast what the city of Minneapolis may do to revitalize downtown retail shopping. We get introduced to new State House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth.  The represent...

This week, Blois turns his focus to the debate on how the state will allocate its large budget surplus.  He discusses multiple angles of decisions surrounding a state budget with State Budget Director Ahna Minge and State Senator Carla Nelson.

After breaking down the elections results last week, Blois digs a bit into what initiatives could be brought up in next year's legislative session.  Then, our host dives into the issue of mining in Northern Minnesota.  He gets reaction to the issue from Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. CEO Lourenco Goncalves and author Jim L. Bowyer.

Blois goes through the impact of the Midterm results, inviting new State Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson and Speaker of the State House Melissa Hortman to give perspectives from their sides of the political aisle.

Blois takes a few moments to break down the anatomy of a "Wave" election.  After that, he sits down with the following guests: Wall Street Journal reporter John McCormick describes the issues and Senate races that are having an impact on this cycle. Former WCCO news reporter and current TPT Almanac co-host Eric Eskola dives into the statewide races that we need to watch come election night.

This week, Blois takes the show to ask questions of Dr. Scott Jensen, the challenger for MN Governor.  They discuss Jensen's campaign, his potential Cabinet, and what he does to wind down.

Blois gives us his five most important items to look out for going in the November 8th election.  Then, he welcomes the following guests: Sen. Amy Klobuchar gives us the reasoning behind the Electoral Count Act and the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. Twin Cities Public Television reporter Mary Lahammer describes a new reflection regarding the recent controversial comments surrounding...

Blois hones his focus on the Twin Cities suburbs this week.  After going through some of the numbers to give some indication of where the midterms could go, he welcomes the following guests to the program: Kathleen Fowke discusses her candidacy for the State Senate in District 45, including the issues she believes are top of mind for the voters. State Senator Steve Cwodzinski (District 48) talks a...