Author: MinnPost

Melissa Hortman became Minnesota Speaker of the House on Jan. 8, 2019, the same day Lisa Demuth started in the Legislature. “The first day when we were sworn in, she became speaker, and then gave her speech. I remember her pointing out her family specifically in the gallery, and mentioning them, Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and the current House speaker said in an interview Monday. “And I don’t remember anything else she said. I just remember looking at a woman with strength and experience.” That Hortman spelled out not just her policy preferences but life priorities was galvanizing, Demuth said. And…

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The last time Melissa Hortman spoke at a Minnesota Capitol press conference she cried. Speaker Emerita of the Minnesota House, Hortman had cast the lone DFL yes vote on a bill to remove undocumented immigrant adults from a reduced cost state health care plan, a move she said was necessary to get Republican support on completing a state budget. Asked Monday what it felt like to approve legislation she personally did not support, Hortman first rolled her eyes in anguish before tearing up. “You know, I’ll continue to have health insurance. So, I’m fine. What I worry about is the people…

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The press release all Minnesota Capitol reporters, state workers and others have been waiting for arrived Friday afternoon: Gov. Tim Walz has called a special session of the Legislature for Monday and outlined the agreements that would govern what will be discussed and how. This ambitious one-day special session aims to tackle a mountain of work that lawmakers left unfinished when the Legislature ended its regular session on May 19 without completing numerous budget bills that must be passed to avoid a state government shutdown. I’ve put together some key takeaways from the documents, a House leadership press conference Friday…

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For Courteney Ross, there’s a distinction between the man she still loves and the movement that bears his name. “I kind of have to separate Floyd from George Floyd,” said Ross. Ross met Floyd, who she called by his last name – “unless I was getting mad at him and call(ing) him George Perry Floyd” – in 2017. Floyd was working security at the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center, where Ross was waiting to visit someone. Floyd noticed that Ross was becoming upset and offered to pray with her. “I just was so kind of taken back by how kind…

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