This past week was the third week since the start of session. Over on the Senate side, things continued to progress forward with floor sessions, committee hearings, bill movement and more – including some specific big picture developments highlighted below. On the House side however, due to the January 24th Supreme Court ruling nullifying activities that take place without the needed 68 member quorum, and the continued lack of agreement between House DFL and GOP leaders on next steps, the MN House is not yet officially organized. Below is a run-down of the specific legislative developments from this past week:
MN House Developments: Last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling prompted some speculation that House GOP and DFL leadership negotiations would resume quickly, with perhaps a resolution this week yet. However after reports of significant hours of negotiations over the weekend and into the beginning of the week, by the middle of the week indications were that these negotiations have stalled at this time. And late in the day on Thursday, House GOP leadership announced more legal action, this time focused on their contention that they are being unlawfully limited in their ability to bring forward house floor motions regarding the absent DFL members. Most days this past week MN GOP House members came into the Capitol for floor sessions, with each session lasting about 10 minutes – just long enough for Secretary of State Simon to declare no quorum present and adjourn. There were no committee hearings or bill introductions in the House last week.
MN Senate Developments: On Monday of this past week, Senate Republicans brought forward a motion to expel Senator Nicole Mitchell from the Senate. The motion failed, but the proceedings were a reminder of how this outstanding issue will likely continue to impact Senate activity this session. In other MN Senate news, the outcome of a Tuesday Special Election in a Minneapolis district was as expected and resulted in a victory for DFLer Doron Clark. After his swearing in next week, the MN Senate will be back to a 34 DFL to 33 GOP balance.
Federal Developments: Much of the conversation around the MN Capitol complex this past week focused on recent federal level announcements regarding federal grants and loans. In case this resource was not already on your radar, the MN Council of Nonprofits has put together an “evolving set of resources and action steps” related to the federal funding freeze initiative.
Cody Holliday
Government Relations Specialist
Fredrikson Government Relations