>> Mary: IT'S BEEN A FAST-PACED AND RATHER RAUCOUS SESSION.

WITH US NOW TO PROVIDE CONTEXT, LONGTIME POLITICAL REPORTER AND "ALMANAC" HOST, ERIC ESKOLA.

ERIC, THIS IS UNLIKE ANY SESSION, EITHER OF US HAVE EVER SEEN.

>> Eric: IF I OULD HAVE CALLED YOUR DAD, REPORTING LEGEND GENE LAMA'AMER, AND ASKED HIM WHAT HE THINKS, HE WOULD HAVE COMPARED THIS TO THE '70s, WENDY ANDERSEN, ALL KINDS OF PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION.

WORK LOAD, 3300 BILLS I THINK IT'S BEEN INTRODUCED.

OF COURSE THE QUALITY OF THAT IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, YEAH, IT'S BEEN A PRETTY REMARKABLE SESSION.

>> Mary: WHEN I THINK OF THE '70s, WHAT MY DAD WOULD SAY, THE COMPLEXION OF THE NEW LEGISLATURE, THE AMOUNT OF WOMEN, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE OF COLOR.

HE SAID, MMEDIATELY, IT WAS LIKE THE '70s WHEN THAT FIRST INJECTION OF WOMEN CAME.

HIS QUOTE TO ME WAS IT CHANGED THE CULTURE INSTANTLY.

I THINK THIS CULTURE HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY HERE AGAIN.

>> Eric: WELL, IT'S BECOME DRAMATICALLY MORE DIVERSE, GENDER HAS BEEN -- WOMEN ARE MUCH MORE REPRESENTED THAN THEY WERE BACK IN THE '70s, OBVIOUSLY.

AND KIND OF A FRESH AIR IS BLOWING, I THINK, THROUGH THE CAPITOL.

AND I TOOK A LOOK AT MARK DAYTON'S STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS FROM 2013, TEN YEARS AGO.

DEMOCRATS HAD THE -- THAT WAS THE LAST TRIFECTA.

>> Mary: YES.

>> Eric: NOT ONE MENTION IN DAYTON'S SPEECH OF SOCIAL JUSTICE.

COULD YOU BELIEVE IT?

>> Mary: THAT IS HARD TO BELIEVE.

WHEN THAT'S BEEN A DRIVER THROUGHOUT MULTIPLE BILLS HERE, NOT JUST ONE BILL.

>> Eric: JUST TEN YEARS AGO.

AND TALKING TO FOLKS THAT WERE AROUND WHEN PAUL THISSEN AND MARGARET ANDERSON KELLIHER WERE RUNNING THE HOUSE, A COUPLE OF DEMOCRATS.

THEY WERE VERY SLOW AND MODERATE IN GOING FORWARD.

I THINK THEY THOUGHT THAT WAS THEIR TICKET TO RE-ELECTION.

THE NEW DEMOCRATS IN CHARGE HERE, IT'S AMN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD AND WE'RE GOING TO GET OURS WHILE WE'RE HERE AND MAYBE THE FUTURE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.

>> Mary: YEAH, I'VE HEARD DEMOCRATS ADMIT, THEY'RE GOING TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE CHAMBER ANYWAY IN TWO YEARS, GO FOR IT, DELIVER EVERYTHING.

AND THE THING WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT IS THE GOVERNOR, WHERE HE PLAYS INTO ALL THIS, BECAUSE YOU MENTIONED WENDY ANDERSON, HE MENTIONED WENDY ANDERSON IN HIS STATE OF THE STATE.

THIS IS A FAMOUS GOVERNOR, KIND OF BOY WONDER ON THE COVER OF "TIME" MAGAZINE.

OUR GOVERNOR'S KIND OF COURTING SOME NATIONAL MEDIA.

WHAT DO YOU THINK'S AHEAD FOR HIM?

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

>> WHEN I TALK TO PEOPLE, THEY NOTICE THE SAME THING.

BUT IT'S A MYSTERY TO ME.

HE'S NOT WRITING A BOOK, I KNOW.

THAT.

>> Mary: WHICH IS A MEASURE OF A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

>> Eric: SURE.

BUT I WONDER IF HE HAS SCRAMBLED TO THE FRONT OF THE PROGRESSIVE PARADE.

BECAUSE IT WAS A MODERATE CONGRESSMAN.

>> Mary: ABSOLUTELY.

SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, RURAL DISTRICT.

>> Eric: AND HE WASN'T LIBERAL ENOUGH TO GET THE FL ENDORSEMENT FOR GOVERNOR.

BUT HERE HE OMES, LEADING THE PARADE, NOW HE'S THE PROGRESSIVE LEADER FOR THE -- SHOWING MINNESOTA TO BE THE WAY FOR THE OTHER 49 STATES.

>> Mary: SO WHO IS THE CANDIDATE, IF IT'S NOT HIM, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR PEGGY FLANAGAN HAS HAD, I WOULD SAY, THE HIGHEST PROFILE OF ANY LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR I'VE COVERED AT EVERY BILL SIGNING, DOING SPEECHES, DOING TONS OF MEDIA.

DOES SHE BECOME THE HEIR APPARENT FOR THAT SEAT?

>> Eric: I WOULD THINK SO.

I THINK IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE IN 2026 -- '24, WELL, ANYWAY, WHEN TINA SMITH IS UP, IF SHE RUNS OR NOT.

AND I THINK THAT WILL BE A CHOICE FOR A LOT OF DEMOCRATS, THERE WILL BE A LONG LINE, IF AND WHEN TINA MITH DECIDES TO RESIGN OR RETIRE.

>> Mary: HOW ABOUT WHAT'S AHEAD, WE TALKED ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY'VE ACCOMPLISHED, THE NUMBER OF HISTORIC BILLS ALREADY THROUGH.

BUT THERE'S KIND OF A DECENT LIST OF THINGS YET TO DO, AREN'T THERE?

>> Eric: THE GAS TAX HAS EMERGED.

>> Mary: YEAH, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT, RIGHT?

>> Eric: I WOULD THINK THE DEMOCRATS, YOU KNOW, ANN REST SAID THERE'S AN INSATIABLE APPETITE ON THE DFL SIDE TO RAISE TAXES, SHE'S THE DFL SENATE TAXES CHAIR.

>> Mary: YES.

>> Eric: AND I WONDER IF THE DEMOCRATS ARE GOING TO GET INTO HOT WATER POLITICALLY, IT MIGHT BE THIS BUSINESS OF RAISING ANY TAXES WHEN THE SURPLUS IS $17.5 BILLION.

>> Mary: WHAT ABOUT LITTLE ANNOYING THINGS, LIKE A DELIVERY FEE, I'M HEARING PEOPLE KIND OF IRKED ABOUT THAT POTENTIAL.

>> Eric: IF A BONDING BILL COMES, REGENERATES ITSELF AS A BONDING BILL, INSTEAD OF THE $1.3 BILLION CASH, THAT WILL FREE UP MONEY THAT THEY WANT TO PLUG INTO OTHER THINGS.

BUT IF IT'S A $1.3 BILLION CASH BILL, INSTEAD OF BONDS, THAT'S CASH MONEY OUT THE DOOR RIGHT AWAY, AND THAT'S GOING TO LEAVE THEM SCRAMBLING FOR NEW REVENUE RAISERS.

>> Mary: FRIDAY NIGHT, THE "ALMANAC" TRADITION RETURNS, ALL FOUR LEGISLATIVE LEADERS, LIVE IN PERSON, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE LOOKING FOR?

>> Eric: I THINK JUST THESE VERY QUESTIONS, JUST THE MONUMENTAL NATURE OF THE SESSION, IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, GOOD OR BAD, AND THEN LOOKING AHEAD TO WHAT COMES UP IN THE INTERIM.

>> Mary: ALL RIGHT, ERIC