Minnesota legislative session ends, still with a long to-do list

A narrowly divided Legislature adjourned Monday without completing a state budget for the next two years, ending the session just as it began: with rancorous finger pointing.

The session started with the Minnesota Supreme Court settling a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over control of the House, and now lawmakers have adjourned with the biggest budget bills still outstanding, including health and human services, education and taxes.

The Legislature only passed nine budget and policy bills out of some 20 in process, and now it will need a special session to do the rest.

Lawmakers are working to pass a $66 billion to $67 billion two-year budget that will fund everything from schools to parks to health care and services for people with disabilities. The state is grappling with a structural deficit that’s arisen from the rapidly increasing costs of special education and caring for an aging population. Given Republicans’ refusal to agree to any new tax revenue, lawmakers are looking to trim spending.

Most consequentially, Gov. Tim Walz and DFL leaders agreed – at Republicans’ behest – to remove undocumented adults from MinnesotaCare, the state’s subsidized health insurance for the working poor. Children will still be enrolled. The bill hasn’t passed yet, and DFL Caucus leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brookyln Park, told reporters Monday night that Democrats would fight it until the end.

“Until the last gavel drops on the last minute of passing a budget for the state of Minnesota, Democrats are going to keep fighting to try to get Republicans to relent on that demand,” Hortman said.

Between now and the special legislative session – date yet to be announced, though ideally before Memorial Day, they say – lawmakers will hammer out the bills in “working groups.” Because the lawmakers won’t be in session, these will be unofficial meetings that include House and Senate members of both parties. Legislative leaders have given the working groups until 5 p.m. Wednesday to finalize budget bills, after which Walz will likely call a special session, which leaders and Walz say should last just one day.

Lawmakers are back at the Capitol today to start the working groups.

“We have to finish this. We don’t have a choice,” said House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring. “That is what Minnesotans expect us to do. We will be able to get that work done in a bipartisan fashion.”

Despite the Wednesday deadline, Hortman said the earliest a special session could occur is Friday, though next week is probable. If lawmakers can’t reach a deal by Friday, they will have to work over Memorial Day weekend, Hortman said.

Only Walz can call legislators back into session, but only lawmakers can adjourn once they are in special session.

In the hours leading up to midnight Monday, rank-and-file lawmakers had little work to do because legislative leaders were meeting behind closed doors and making last-minute decisions on what bills they could pass in the few remaining hours.

Multiple members walked laps on the Capitol’s second floor, while Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, played catch on the Capitol lawn. Rep. Joe McDonald, R-Delano, was spotted using an electric scooter to “have a little fun,” traveling from the bowels of the Capitol to the House members’ offices in the Centennial Office Building.

In a series of press conferences, lawmakers laid the blame on each other for failing to finish their work. House Democrats argued that Republicans were attempting to change the parameters of an agreement Walz and legislative leaders announced last week.

“Republicans keep moving the goal posts. None of the GOP demands are necessary to pass a state budget bill. All of them will make life harder and more expensive for Minnesota families,” said House DFL floor leader Jamie Long of Minneapolis.

Demuth said Democrats’ 23-day boycott at the outset of the session derailed lawmakers from finishing on time.

“Waiting 23 days of a stall out was not helpful,” Demuth said.

The session kicked off in January with House Democrats refusing to appear at the Capitol,  seeking to prevent Republicans from using a one-seat, temporary advantage to take control of the House and potentially block a Democrat from being seated in a hotly contested recount. The Minnesota Supreme Court was forced to intervene before the two sides agreed on a power-sharing agreement.

Walz on Monday afternoon told reporters he’s confident the larger budget bills will get done and said Minnesotans shouldn’t be concerned about the lack of progress.

“Against the backdrop of the dysfunction in D.C., this is a pretty remarkable thing to see – the most closely divided Legislature in Minnesota history working together in a fiscally responsible way,” Walz said.

Walz noted that June 1 acts as a perfunctory deadline: The state will be obligated to send layoff notices to state employees if there is no budget by then, and leaders want to avoid that.

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Editor’s note: The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell. 

This story was written by Michelle Griffith and originally appeared in the Minnesota Reformer on May 20.

Griffith covers Minnesota politics and policy for the Reformer, with a focus on marginalized communities.