Minnesota legislative session takes on ‘Twilight Zone’ feel with ‘so much uncertainty’
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Two weeks into the Minnesota legislative session, the Capitol feels a bit like an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
The House had been called to order seven times as of Tuesday. But has it been real?
Lawmakers are moving in fits and starts, but are mostly stuck as a power struggle drags on between Republicans and Democrats.
Two weeks of activity by GOP members in the House evaporated under a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision, which held that the one-seat edge Republicans currently enjoy there does not constitute a quorum.
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There’s even a disclaimer on the House website noting that some of the proceedings — and all bill introductions — have been scrubbed from the record. Archival footage for all but two brief floor sessions is no longer available. (The Legislative Reference Library has collected the information and footage to preserve for history.)
The court order means Republicans can’t legally conduct business without Democrats, who are staying away during a bitter disagreement over who holds sway there. The GOP holds a 67-66 advantage until a special election is held to fill a vacant seat that could result in a deadlocked chamber.
Meanwhile, the evenly divided Senate seemingly had figured out a way to share power and stay cordial. Yet Monday, Republicans spent hours trying to oust a Democratic member who faces burglary charges.
The DFL is heavily favored to get back its one-vote majority in the Senate following Tuesday’s special election to fill the seat of Sen. Kari Dziedzic, a Minneapolis DFLer who died in December.
‘Never thought we’d see this day’
Despite the paralysis and legal limbo, there are still signs of normalcy at the Capitol. Interest groups, lobbyists and members of the public continue to convene in the echoing hallways and under the vast rotunda, struggling to make their voices heard.
“What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Now!” chanted about two dozen members of Indivisible Twin Cities on Monday morning.
They waved signs that read “Stop the Coup,” and appealed to Republican House members to seat Democratic Rep. Brad Tabke of Shakopee, who won his race in November by only 14 votes.
Twenty absentee ballots in the election were accidentally discarded before counting. A subsequent recount and court ruling upheld Tabke’s slim victory, but Republicans haven’t committed to seating him.
They say irregularities should be explored fully before a decision is made. The House has final say over its own members, but Tabke wouldn’t be able to vote on his own standing. Democrats counter that refusing to seat him would be a power grab.
“It feels really crazy, for sure,” said Jennifer O'Brien of Edina, before the Indivisible protest.
“I never thought we'd see this day. It's disheartening, between the Minnesota level that we always hope would be a little more rational than the national level, they're kind of escalating things.”
The protesters then walked over to a press conference hosted by state Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, who will lead a new Fraud and State Agency Oversight Committee in the House.
That committee was supposed to have its first hearing early Monday morning. But it was canceled after the Minnesota Supreme Court decision that effectively barred Republicans from moving ahead until Democrats end their holdout.
“So we are here to say that the committee work is going to continue,” Robbins said. “We will continue to meet with whistleblowers, continue to identify topics that need attention, and hope our Democratic colleagues come and join us in this work.”
Meanwhile, just down the basement hallway, about 180 officials from across the state gathered for their annual Township Day.
The Minnesota Association of Townships comes to the Capitol every year to remind legislators of the needs of the state's smallest communities — especially transportation. Townships maintain 55,000 miles of roads across the state.
But those conversations are harder to have when House Democrats aren't there, said Steve Fenske, the group's general counsel.
“And I don't mean that in a judgmental way,” Fenske said. “It's just physically we have to be in more places. So that's been a challenge, and I think we are all just waiting. We're just waiting to get in the same room and have the discussions we're used to having in the same place."
‘We know how this is going to end’
In upstairs hallways, lobbyists still mill about hallways. But it's definitely not business as usual, said Jeff Anderson, who represents a number of small cities and school districts in northern Minnesota.
“It is odd. I mean, the dynamics are such where there's just so much uncertainty,” Anderson said.
“Because we know how this is going to end,” Anderson added. “By July 1, they have to pass a budget. I know there's a lot of legislators who would like to see a bonding bill. It's just going to take a while, I think, to get there with this rocky start.”
That rocky start was on full display later on Monday afternoon, when Secretary of State Steve Simon gaveled the House to order with three knocks of his gavel.
Republicans filled the gallery on one side. But the other half, where Democrats typically sit, was once again, empty.
After a prayer from the chaplain, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a brief roll call, Simon adjourned the meeting after only seven minutes.
From the gallery, an unidentified Republican member called the proceeding “a sham.”
“You can see that House Republicans, now on week three, are here to do the work that we have been elected to do by the people of Minnesota,” said Republican House Leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring.
Later, House Democratic Leader Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park said negotiations are ongoing with Republicans, and that she hoped a resolution could be reached by the end of the week.
“We’ll be at the negotiating table until we figure this out,” she said. “Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.”
