With just over a week left in the legislative session, a lot of work remains unfinished. The House and Senate have debated and passed numerous budget and policy bills, and conference committees have been established with members from their respective chambers assigned to hammer out differences between companion bills. Each body must pass identical bills before a final bill can go to the governor for action. Get more information on these bills, and on conference committee appointments, here: Conference Committees — Minnesota Legislature (mn.gov) Legislative leaders have publicly stated that their top priority is passing a capital investment package this session. Both the House and Senate continue to advance identical bills that provide a framework for a potential end-of-session deal. The heart of any compromise with the ability to gain a super-majority of votes necessary for passage (three-fifths of the members) in the House and Senate will center around $300 million in funds set aside for local projects. After the end of this week, the legislature will only have a few days to pass bills. The legislature will reach its 120th legislative day soon — it cannot act on bills on the last day of session, when it will adjourn sine die. If the legislature does not reach 120 legislative days, the legislature is constitutionally required to adjourn Monday, May 20. The governor met with legislative leaders for breakfast last week — indicating a there is a path forward to passing supplemental policy and budget bills and a bonding bill — but it will be difficult as more bipartisan cooperation is needed as the deadline approaches. Legislative leaders have also suggested that we are seeing typical end-of-session activity, where bills tend to pile up at the end. But they expect to finish their work before legislative days run out or they are constitutionally required to adjourn. It is typical for legislative sessions to be unpredictable. However, the 2024 legislative session has become more unpredictable than usual. Sen. Nicole Mitchell (Woodbury) was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary in late April. While Sen. Mitchell is present and participating in Senate floor votes, Senate DFL leadership relieved her of her committee assignments and barred her from attending caucus meetings. Republican leaders have called on Sen. Mitchell to resign and continue to protest her participation on Senate Floor votes. An ethics complaint was filed and was heard by the Senate Rules and Administration Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct on May 7 (along with a separate ethics complaint for Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen). The committee ended without a ruling on the Sen. Mitchell complaint; instead, a June 12 meeting is scheduled to discuss the complaint further. By then, Sen. Mitchell is set to appear in court on June 10. With a slim 34-33 DFL margin of control in the Senate, the impact of Sen. Mitchell being absent would have surely created uncertainty as to the ability of the Senate to pass supplemental budget bills, controversial policy bills, and a capital investment bill during the remaining days of session. | | OTHER UPDATES | On Monday, April 29, Gov. Walz tapped Tikki Brown, an assistant commissioner in the Department of Human Services, to be the first commissioner of Minnesota’s new Department of Children, Youth and Families. The department is set to begin on July 1 with Brown leading a team that will complete the transition of programs for caregivers and young children that are currently part of four state agencies: Human Services, Education, Public Safety and Health. Brown expects the full transition to take a year. With over two decades of experience in Human Services, Brown is ready to begin working toward a full transition by 2025. | | DATES TO REMEMBER | Adjournment: May 20, 2024 | | LEGISLATIVE RETIREMENTS | For an up-to-date list of legislative retirements, please visit the Legislative Reference Library’s list of retirements. Notable retirements include: - Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, current House Judiciary and Public Safety Chair
- Rep. Brian Daniels, current minority lead, Children and Families Finance & Policy
- Rep. Pat Garofalo, current minority lead, House Ways and Means
- Rep. Matt Grossell
- Rep. Hodan Hassan, current House Economic Development Finance & Policy Committee Chair
- Rep. Frank Hornstein, current House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee Chair
- Rep. Shane Hudella
- Rep. Deb Kiel, current minority lead, House Human Services Policy
- Rep. Michael Nelson, current Labor and Industry Finance & Policy Committee Chair
- Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, current minority lead, Human Services Finance Committee
- Rep. Jerry Newton, current House Veterans and Military Affairs Finance & Policy Committee Chair
- Rep. Liz Olson, current House Ways and Means Committee Chair
- Rep. Gene Pelowski, current Higher Education Chair and most senior House member
- Rep. John Petersburg, current minority lead, Transportation Finance & Policy Committee
- Rep. Laurie Pryor, current House Education Policy Committee Chair
- Rep. Brian Pfarr
- Rep. Dean Urdahl, current minority lead, House Capital Investment Committee
Two members have left the legislature since the 2023 Legislative Session adjourned in May 2023: - Rep. Ruth Richardson (DFL-Mendota Heights) resigned Sept. 1, 2023. This seat was won by Rep. Bianca Virnig (DFL-Eagan), who was seated on Jan. 12, 2024.
- Former Speaker and House Minority Leader Rep. Kurt Daudt resigned Feb. 11, 2024. This seat was won by Rep. Bryan Lawrence (GOP–Princeton), who was sworn in on April 2, 2024.
Three members are seeking a different office in 2024: - Rep. Heather Edelson, current Vice Chair House Ways and Means, is seeking the office of Hennepin County Commissioner for District 6. Edelson recently won the primary for position.
- Sen. Kelly Morrison, current Assistant Majority Leader, is running for the 3rd U.S. Congressional District. Morrison recently won the DFL endorsement for the district.
- Rep. Mark Wiens is seeking the office of Washington County Commissioner for District 3.
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