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The Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA's law school, is trying to quantify the impact of same-sex marriage in terms that everyone can understand: Money. According to the institute's latest study, a marriage equality law would give Minnesota's economy a lift to the tune of $45 million in the first three years.

See Also:
- Study says support for gay marriage in MN (43 percent) weaker than Iowa, SoDak, or Wisconsin
- Gay marriage bill passes House, Senate committees. What's next?
- Cover: When will gay marriage be legal in Minnesota?


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Image by Tatiana Craine

Of course, the per capita income data doesn't account for the possibility of unequal growth between rich and poor Minnesotans.

Minnesotans are just hot, period. But recent data indicates our state is particularly hot in the areas of job creation and personal income.

SEE ALSO: Economic recovery? What economic recovery? Mpls donut shop hiring... an unpaid intern

According to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce data, per capita personal income in the state grew from $44,560 in 2011 to $46,227 last year. That 4.41 percent increase was the sixth highest in the nation, behind only NoDak (incomes there grew a whopping 12.38 percent!), Texas (4.85 percent), Utah (4.66 percent), Washington (4.51 percent), and Montana (4.48 percent).

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bobringlaw.com

Minnesota companies are hiring at an impressive clip, though we'd imagine most of the newly employed aren't quite as attractive as this set.

What a difference a state makes.

SEE ALSO: When dating prospects look bleak, women focus on their careers, new U of M study finds

While Wisconsinites have been enduring arguably the worst job market in the country, Minnesota is adding jobs at a clip faster than any seen since Walter Mondale was challenging Ronald Reagan for the presidency.

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Scott Walker promised 250,000 jobs. How about just not losing them to begin with?

As we told you about 11 months ago, Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state from early 2011 to early '12. New data indicates Wisconsin's job market continued to stink like rotten cheese throughout the rest of the year.

UPDATE: Minnesota gained more jobs in last six months than any half-year since Reagan's heyday

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from January 2011 through December 2012, Wisconsin lost 15,900 jobs -- more than any other state in the union. In fact, only two other states -- Rhode Island and Maine -- actually had fewer jobs at the end of that time period than they did at the beginning.

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Dayton's preference would bring Minnesota in line with the federal minimum wage increase pushed by President Obama.

A bill advancing in the House would would raise the state's minimum wage from $6.15 for large employers and $5.25 for small employers all the way up to $10.55 and $9, respectively.

ANOTHER MINIMUM WAGE BILL: DFLers want to raise minimum wage 30 percent to $9.50

It sounds like that's a little ambitious for Gov. Mark Dayton, who went on the record yesterday and said he'd prefer to see the minimum wage raised to $9 or $9.50 an hour, a number similar to the $9 an hour federal minimum wage called for by President Obama during his State of the Union speech (currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25).

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"You need to have people who can support themselves and buy things," Winkler said.

Rep. Ryan Winkler, D-Golden Valley, thinks it's about time low-paid Minnesota workers get a raise -- and a big one, at that.

SEE ALSO: Mary Franson thinks City Pages blogger should blame his rent increase on Gov. Dayton

Winkler's bill to raise the state's minimum wage from $6.15 for large employers and $5.25 for small employers all the way up to $10.55 passed its first hurdle last week when it was approved in an 8-6 party-line vote by the Labor, Workplace and Regulated Industries Committee. The legislation now advances to the Jobs and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee. Senate bills that would raise the minimum wage more modestly haven't yet had hearings.

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Monroe Family Blog

Starting this weekend, public sector workers and those who depend on them will pay the price for Washington's political impasse.

Barring a last-minute deal in D.C., this Friday will mark the beginning of $1.2 trillion in federal budget cuts that will be gradually implemented over the next decade.

SEE ALSO: Minnesota's economic recovery driven by McJobs, not middle-class jobs

All states will be affected, some more than others. And it turns out Minnesota ranks toward the top of the "others" category, while our neighbor to the southwest will take it on the chin harder than anywhere else.

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Tomassoni (left) and Hortman (right) want to raise the state minimum wage above the federal level.

During his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama called for the federal minimum wage to be raised to $9 an hour. Two DFL lawmakers want to do him one better.

SEE ALSO: Tom Emmer goes after food server wages

A bill introduced in the House by Rep. Melissa Hortman, D-Brooklyn Park, and in the Senate by Sen. David Tomassoni, D-Chisholm, would raise Minnesota's minimum wage all the way up to $9.50 an hour, a more than 30 percent increase over the current federal rate of $7.25.

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Monroe Family Blog

If workers can be believed, Minnesota has been one of the county's most welcoming states for job creation since 2009.

While discussing income tax cuts approved in 1999 and 2000 during last night's State of the State speech, Gov. Dayton said: "In the decade after Minnesota's income tax reductions, our economy fared worse than the nation and most other states."

SEE ALSO: Mary Franson thinks City Pages blogger should blame his rent increase on Gov. Dayton

But a new study from Gallup suggests that as least as far as the job market goes, that claim is "horse hooey."

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How did each of these guys do guiding America out of recessions? The Mpls Fed provides some answers.

SEE ALSO:
-- Obama shouts out Warroad-based, Romney-supporting Marvin Windows [VIDEO]
-- Minnesota has regained 48 percent of jobs lost during Great Recession
-- Young women become more vain during recessions, U of M prof finds

In the words of one financial policy analyst, the Minneapolis Fed's new breakdown of the Great Recession and our economy's recovery from it might help you skip the election ads and use the facts to make up your mind.

A new comparative analysis of post-World War II recessions by the Minneapolis Fed shows that the 2007-2009 Great Recession was remarkably deep, and the recovery out of it has been steady.


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