Now that the DFL controls the MN state government - what will they do with their power?

CATHY WURZER: 2013, 2014, during the Mark Dayton administration, was the last time Minnesota government was firmly in the hands of Democrats. In January, a new legislative session begins with a new Democratic majority in the State House and Senate. So what happens now? Two political reporters are on the line to help break it down for us.

Eric Eskola is my co-host on Twin Cities PBS's long-running Almanac program. Eric is a veteran Capitol reporter and observer. Brian Bakst is here, too. He is also a seasoned political reporter for MPR News. Hey, guys, welcome.

ERIC ESKOLA: Hey, hey.

BRIAN BAKST: Hey, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Senate Minority Leader Melisa López Franzen yesterday called it the Minnesota Senate Miracle, now that the DFL controls that body. Brian, how did the miracle materialize?

BRIAN BAKST: Yeah, I think if people were taking predictions ahead of the election, this outcome was probably the lowest in their tier of possible Capitol configurations. The Senate, basically they drew a good map. I mean, they got a lot of seats that were leaning in their direction, or at least accessible to them. And they ran the table on the ones that they needed to win.

The Senate was close coming in. It's going to be close coming out. The House is close coming in. It's close coming out. So defining firmly in control of one party-- I mean, it's in the control of one party. But how firm it is, that's yet to be seen. Hey Eric, what was the environment like the last time this happened?

ERIC ESKOLA: Well, I want to go back to 1989. Can I?

CATHY WURZER: Sure.

ERIC ESKOLA: Rudy Perpich, Roger Moe, Bob Vanasek, three Democrats. Governor Perpich, another Democrat, is trying to lower the top tier of the state income tax. And the DFL-controlled legislature is not going along with them. Perpich, who started campaigning against the Speaker and the Majority Leader, both Democrats. And he even went to room 15 and testified before the Tax Committee in person, which I don't think I've seen before or since. He ends up vetoing the tax bill at the end of the session.

DeLong, the tax chair, was just furious-- another Democrat. I think the Speaker of the House had to cancel a cruise with his wife because the Governor had vetoed a DFL tax bill. And Perpich went around and campaigned against the DFL on behalf of this tax plan that he had. And the Senate Majority Leader at the time got up and did a pretty famous, Rudy, come home speech, to stop going around the state and badmouthing the DFL legislature. So the chance of DFL on DFL violence is very real still, even though they control everything, so.

CATHY WURZER: I was going to ask about that. I mean, I was trying to think the last, 2013, 2014, the last time that this happened, was in the Dayton administration. And I don't remember anything happening like that, where there was any huge strife, right?

ERIC ESKOLA: Well, there's just--

BRIAN BAKST: But there wasn't always that harmony either,

ERIC ESKOLA: Brian, didn't [INAUDIBLE] kick the governor out of the negotiations? Do I have that right?

BRIAN BAKST: I think that was in a later year. But there were some areas of clashes. I mean, I remember these super long conference committee meetings in the old one 123, which is one of the bigger hearing rooms in the Capitol, where the Democratic Chair of the House and the Democratic Chair of the Senate, Dick Cohen at the time, really just went toe to toe on a lot of things. I mean, it's not all smooth sailing. And keep in mind, Cathy, there is going to be a lot of learning going on at the Capitol next year.

There's 71 new members, 71 members who are new to their seats. 57 of them are freshmen. That turnover rate, you know, my math says it's about 28%. That's significant. So I mean, don't expect things to be kind of rolling out of the gate. They're going to have to take some time to acclimate people to the process. And this is going to be the first kind of normal session since the pandemic. There's been a lot of remote action. I think you're going to see a lot more happening in person. So we might see a month or two of just kind of learning the ropes.

CATHY WURZER: And as was pointed out by Eric, going back to '98, I mean, the DFL is not a monolith. And I would think that, well, Speaker Hortman has had some issues trying to-- she's got a pretty fractious caucus. And I don't know who's going to be the new Senate Majority Leader. But the Dems might not have an easy time this session, getting all the things passed that they want to pass, right, Eric?

ERIC ESKOLA: Well, there's going to be that rivalry between the two chambers. The House is going to look at the Senate, although they're all Democrats. But they're not a monolith. And they do have identity politics in the DFL caucuses. But the House is going to look at the Senate like a bunch of fogeys in powdered wigs and robes. And the Senate's going to look down at the House, although they're all Democrats.

So you're going to have institutional rivalry between the two chambers. And we'll see how the personalities gel, and the negotiations. I think the Governor is going to have to be quite a mediator between the two chambers. And so you always trade one set of problems for another set of problems. And I think that's what's going to happen here. There's just a new set of problems.

BRIAN BAKST: And Cathy, I just want to note here that the Senate's got a four year term. The House is a two year term. So the Senate can be a little more measured. But another thing we might see is potentially, constitutional amendments. Having one party in control of both, they might be able to put some stuff on the 2024 ballot that both suits their value objectives and suits their 2024 turnout objectives. So keep an eye on that.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, conversation--

ERIC ESKOLA: What we do know is that education is going to do very well financially, K-12 Education Minnesota is a very plugged-in union. They're big contributors to the Democrats. And we will find out what fully funding K-12 education means because the Education Minnesota and the DFL folks, really in both chambers, are going to be loath to cross them too much. So we'll find out what fully funding education really means this session.

CATHY WURZER: And getting back to just a second here, to something like abortion rights, a conversation I had earlier on the show with Attorney General Ellison, he mentioned folks who are thinking about protecting abortion access by putting it in a statewide ballot measure. So given unified government, as you say, Brian, maybe we've got this opening to put more constitutional amendments on future ballots.

BRIAN BAKST: Yeah, that's right. And keep in mind that that's been something that we've seen in other states. And that's really benefited the turnout for Democratic candidates in those states. And we've seen a lot of crossover voting, too. A lot of Republicans have supported these types of amendments on abortion as well. So you might see that in part because they don't want to take the risk that a future legislature could reel back any statutory changes they make. So they might do it because it's more firmly footed if it's in the Constitution.

CATHY WURZER: I know both--

ERIC ESKOLA: I've heard from a couple of lawyers that the Doe v. Gomez ruling from, was it '95, is a pretty shaky foundation to protect abortion, and that codifying it, I think, will end up being a pretty good priority. I think both caucuses are pro-choice. But they're narrow margins. And who knows what's going to happen. But I would guess they would take a run at codifying Roe v. Wade in state constitution-- in state law, rather, in state law.

CATHY WURZER: Say, I know you both were watching the news conference yesterday with Melissa López Franzen and then the Governor. And so there was some talk about what might come up here in the next few months with the new session. I'm wondering, what do you think about-- what do you think might be the first things out of the gate? Eric?

ERIC ESKOLA: Oh, I think everything will get pushed to May. I think Brian made a great point earlier that there's going to be a, let's find the bathrooms first, attitude among the many, many new members. And the Governor is always kind of encouraging folks to get something quick out of the gate. But even he was saying yesterday that, I've come to realize that things slop over to the end of session. So I don't know what Brian thinks. But you know, I'm always a skeptic on, we're going to get stuff done early in the session. I'll have to see it to believe it.

BRIAN BAKST: I'm keeping an eye on a couple of things between now and the start of session. Number one, if the Governor's trial balloon late in the campaign, that he's going to call lawmakers back for a potential special session on public safety, happens, and what the next economic forecast shows. That should be out in early December. We have to see if that surplus that they left behind is as big or even bigger as it was when they closed up session last time.

And there's a chance that they do some sort of quick rebate checks. The Governor really wants to do that, do it while inflation is still a concern for folks. And so that could be one of the things that they do. It might not be super big. But it could be just kind of a placeholder to get them through to later in session.

ERIC ESKOLA: And I will say that having the same party in charge of everything makes it easier to get something done early, if that's what happens.

CATHY WURZER: All right, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much.

ERIC ESKOLA: Thank you!

BRIAN BAKST: You're welcome, Cathy.

ERIC ESKOLA: Good to talk to both of you.

CATHY WURZER: All right, Eric Eskola is my co-host on Twin Cities PBS Almanac program. Brian Bakst is a Political Reporter here at MPR News.