Progress of the State

The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennial redistricting, members run for one two-year term and two four-year terms each decade. They are elected for four-year terms in years ending in 2 and 6, and for two-year terms in years ending in 0. Representatives are elected for two-year terms from 134 single-member districts formed by dividing the 67 senate districts in half. It is the only state legislature in the country to be split, with the Republicans controlling the state Senate and the Democrats controlling the state House. Both houses of the Legislature meet between January and the first Monday following the third Saturday in May each year, not to exceed 120 legislative days per biennium. Floor sessions are held in the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul.

The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital city of Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the office of the Attorney General and the office of the Governor. The building also includes a chamber for the Minnesota Supreme Court, although court activities usually take place in the neighboring Minnesota Judicial Center. There have been three State Capitol buildings. The present building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and completed in 1905. Its Beaux-Arts/American Renaissance design was influenced by the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and by McKim, Mead & White's Rhode Island State House. From 2013 to 2017 the building underwent an extensive restoration. This included replacing existing infrastructure; adding new mechanical systems; replacing or repairing tens of thousands of pieces of marble on the exterior; cleaning historic paintings, murals, and sculptures; and adding safety and accessibility features. The building is set in a landscaped campus with the Capitol Mall on its south front, Leif Erikson Park on its west, and Judicial Plaza to its east. Various monuments and memorials are located in these green spaces.

The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Paul. Offices for members and staff, as well as most committee hearings, are located in the nearby State Office Building.

The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are held in the west wing of the State Capitol in Saint Paul. Committee hearings, as well as offices for senators and staff, are located north of the State Capitol in the Minnesota Senate Building. Each member of the Minnesota Senate represents approximately 80,000 constituents.

A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was installed on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1931. The 10-foot statue was created by Italian American Carlo Brioschi. In June 2020 American Indian Movement activists toppled the statue as part of the series of protests following the murder of George Floyd.

The Minnesota State Capitol Mall includes eighteen acres of green space. Over the years, monuments, and memorials, have been added to the mall. The mall has been called Minnesota's Front lawn and is a place where the public has gathered for celebrations, to party, to demonstrate and protest, and to grieve. The mall is overseen by the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB), a small state agency consisting of twelve members, with responsibilities to preserve and enhance the dignity, beauty, and architectural integrity of the capitol, the buildings adjacent to it, the capitol grounds, and the capitol area.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983.

The Minnesota Woman Suffrage Memorial, located in the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, commemorates 25 women whose achievements were important to the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA).

The Minnesota State Law Library is a law library operated by the judicial branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is currently housed in the ground level of the Minnesota Judicial Center, which was built in 1915. An expansion of the building was completed in 1990. The Minnesota Judicial Center is adjacent to the State Capitol in St. Paul. As cited in the Minnesota Constitution, the State Law Librarian is appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court. In its long history, the library has benefitted from the contributions of 25 State Librarians/State Law Librarians, who have come from many walks of life. Doctors, journalists, teachers, legislators, mayors, and in recent years, attorneys have held the office. Some of the more colorful State Law Librarians have been Gen. Samuel P. Jennison, who later served in the Civil War. Louisa Goodwin, widowed by the Civil War, served as the nation's first female state librarian. Captain DeWitt Smith and Melissa Smith were the first husband and wife to hold the same state office in Minnesota. William Henry Harrison Taylor was a grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States. Margaret S. Andrews was the last person to be referred to as State Librarian and the first to be called State Law Librarian.

The Minnesota Judicial Center, adjacent to the State Capitol, houses the state's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, as well as the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals and the state law library. Its address is 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd., Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Minnesota Historical Society Building, as it was built for that institution. In 1992, the society moved to a new building nearby, the Minnesota History Center.The neoclassical front of the building has eight two-story Ionic columns of granite. Above them are Roman numerals representing the establishment of the Minnesota Historical Society in 1849 and the year the building was completed, 1917. It was dedicated on May 11, 1918, the sixtieth anniversary of statehood.

Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in the Thomas-Dale neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The brick church, built from 1909 to 1915, is atypically designed in Beaux-Arts style by Buechner & Orth to harmonize with the nearby Minnesota State Capitol. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest part of the building, the north side, was built in 1909. The main church building, facing University Avenue, was constructed in 1915 of yellow brick.The building's principal facade is symmetrical and features a Classical pediment supported by Ionic columns and pilasters, flanked by bell towers. An office wing, which currently houses the Saint Paul Area Synod of the ELCA, was constructed in 1962–63. The congregation was formally organized in 1868 as the Scandinavian Lutheran Church Society. Later that year, it was changed from "Society" to "Congregation". In 1869, it was renamed the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Services were initially held in members' homes, in the Ramsey County Courthouse, and in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, a German congregation at East 9th and Rosabel Street. In 1870, the congregation erected its own building at the southwest corner of L'Orient and Mt. Airy Streets. The sandy soil at that site required regular maintenance to keep the building from sliding down the hill, and in 1875, the structure was moved to 13th and Canada Streets. In 1904, Rev. S.T. Reque began a 37-year tenure as pastor, and in 1909, the current site at Park Street and University Avenue was purchased. The architect, Buechner & Orth, chose an architectural style compatible with the neighboring Minnesota State Capitol. The basement of the new structure was finished for use as a worship space on Christmas Eve 1911. The upper church was dedicated on December 5, 1915. A few years later, the congregation's name was changed to "Christ Lutheran Church". In 1962, the congregation added the words "on Capitol Hill" to the name to highlight its proximity to the state's seat of civil government. Baptized membership peaked in 1944 at 1198 persons. The Pastor from 1939–1952, Rev. Joseph Simonson, served as chaplain of the Minnesota Senate for 10 years before being appointed by President Eisenhower as Ambassador to Ethiopia. This led by a visit from Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie to Christ Lutheran Church in June 1954. The emperor presented the congregation with a processional cross identical to one presented to the National Cathedral. In the 1980s, the church's neighborhood experienced an influx of immigrants and refugees from Southeast Asia and Africa. The congregation responded to these demographic changes by establishing a Southeast Asian Ministry to address the needs of this new population.