Minnesota House GOP: No Deal On Bonding Or Policing Bills

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota House Republican leaders said Monday they won't provide the votes needed to pass a $1.9 billion public construction projects bill, and that they won't back a package of police accountability measures either.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, of Crown, made the comments at a news conference as lawmakers returned to the Capitol to resume their second special session of the year after several days of behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz had to call the special session to give lawmakers a chance to rescind the emergency powers he's been using to respond to the conornavirus pandemic. The Democratic-controlled House blocked a GOP effort to void those powers last week.

But the special session also gave legislators another chance to pass the public construction package, known as a bonding bill, as well as a set of police accountability measures that they were unable to agree on during last month's special session.

Bonding bills require a three-fifths majority to pass both chambers and must pass the House first. So some Republican votes are necessary for the bill to clear the House. But Daudt told reporters that negotiations have actually gone backward, so no Republicans will vote for the bonding bill as things now stand.