20 May 2024
ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s Republicans called for an end to the DFL control of state government following a contentious end to this year’s legislative session.
What started as a Republican filibuster last week ended in the DFL pushing through legislation, mainly without bipartisan support, while conservatives yelled on both legislative floors.
On Sunday, the DFL folded at least nine bills into a 2,860-page omnibus bill that included several provisions from committee reports that had not been debated again on the floor. It passed without Republican support. Prior to voting, the bill had not been placed online or given to all members.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, called out the DFL for not listening to Republican concerns during an early Monday morning press conference.
“This trifecta has been a disaster, not just for the legislative process but for Minnesotans,” he said. “Remember that this November when you go to the polls and you are voting, this is what happens when you have single-party control.”
His concerns were shared by House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring.
“The voice of the minority was completely shut out during the end process,” Demuth said, adding that DFL party leadership refused to acknowledge motions made by Republicans during Sunday night’s House floor session.
DFLers have remained unapologetic in the face of Republican criticism.
“Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives did what we need to do to pass our agenda,” Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, told reporters early Monday morning.
She said there were unprecedented delays going back the last three weeks and that the DFL has been open with Republicans about their agenda, including the process by which bills passed. Hortman signaled Sunday morning that the DFL would cut floor debates in the interest of passing those bills.
“(The Republican) requirement for us to work together was that we not do any of the things that Minnesotans sent us to St. Paul to do,” Hortman said.
And while the Legislature typically approves a capital improvement budget, or bonding bill, in even-numbered years, this legislative session failed to produce one. A bill that would have given $900 million to local communities failed to pass in the Senate.
Also missing the cut in this year’s legislative session was an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) bill, which would have presented a constitutional amendment question to voters in 2026.
Among other things, the proposed bill would have enshrined the right to an abortion in Minnesota’s constitution. Supporters of the bill have called on Gov. Tim Walz to open a special session of both legislative bodies to pass the bill.
A proposal to legalize sports betting in Minnesota also failed to cross the line. While legislators have worked for a compromise among all the bill’s stakeholders, an agreement could not be reached before Sunday’s deadline.
“We’re going to come up just short on the sports betting bill this year. But in the last few days we proved that we could find a deal that all the major stakeholders could live with. Tribes, tracks, charities… That’s meaningful progress that can be a foundation for the future,” Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, posted on social media.
Despite last week’s contentious floor debates, lawmakers unanimously passed a broad Emergency Medical Services reform bill.
The bipartisan bill will provide $24 million in short-term funding for EMS in Minnesota and $6 million for a sprint medic program in Northeast Minnesota. The program would supply roving paramedics in northern Minnesota who will provide medical treatment at calls before a fully equipped ambulance arrives.
That funding falls short of the $120 million legislators sought for EMS services earlier this session.
End-of-session negotiations failed to produce a deal on infrastructure, with Republicans refusing to support a borrowing bill unless DFLers concede to a list of demands that included dropping the ERA and a gun control proposal.
And while DFLers did meet some of the GOP demands, such as providing funding for EMS and sending religious liberty protections to the governor’s desk, they still moved forward with the ERA, killing the possibility of a bonding deal, which can only pass with a supermajority.
Minnesota’s Legislature doesn’t technically have to do anything this year. Lawmakers passed a two-year budget in 2023, so there’s no risk of a government shutdown. But, barring a special session, action on bonding and abortion rights will have to wait until the Legislature reconvenes in 2025.
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