Minnesota House approves first bills of session, after GOP-backed bills didn't clear threshold to move forward
After a few Republican priority bills failed to clear the vote threshold needed to pass the House in recent weeks, the chamber advanced two GOP-backed proposals with overwhelming bipartisan support on Thursday, the first pieces of legislation to advance out of the chamber this year following a weeks-long delay to session's start.
The measures that were approved include creating an incentive program for state agencies to save money and prohibiting organizations that get state funding from spending those dollars on political causes.
But another measure that would curtail the governor's peacetime emergency powers failed to get the 68 votes needed to move forward. Even though Republicans have a one-seat edge right now, neither party has an outright majority due to a vacant seat in the Roseville-area for which there is a special election March 11.
The current make-up is there are 67 Republican members to Democrats' 66; the outcome of the election in a few weeks could return the chamber to a tie if the DFL candidate prevails or give Republicans the magic number to pass their priorities without any bipartisan buy-in.
Two other bills debated on the floor this year also didn't move forward, failing to get the 68 votes required. Still — while they have the extra vote and are leading committees under the terms of the deal agreed to by both parties — GOP members say it's important to continue to move their bills through committee and call them for floor votes anyway.
They believe it's a chance for their ideas to get the attention they deserve after they say Democrats largely rebuffed their proposals the last several years when they controlled the chamber.
"I think it keeps these really important bills that Minnesotans care about that will make Minnesotans' lives more affordable on the table and then they can come into play later in session," said Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, whose emergency powers bill and a measure to pause future light rail transit projects earlier this week failed to advance. "So this is not wasted time. This is not posturing. This is getting the work done that we were sent here to do."
If the House does return to a tie in a few weeks, no bill will even make it to the floor for a vote without guaranteed bipartisan support since the panel deciding which bills are eligible will be evenly split between both parties.
The seat at stake is in a metro district that favors Democrats, but Republicans say they are working hard to elect their candidate to secure the 68 vote-proof majority that would allow them to further their agenda.
The DFL caucus, meanwhile, projects confidence that the chamber will once again return to the 67 to 67 split that voters delivered in November. A judge determined the Democrat who won in that district initially did not meet the residency rules required to legitimately serve the district, prompting the vacancy.
"In a few short weeks, the Minnesota House will return to a 67-67 tie, and we will have to work together to get anything done. Democrats were pleased to join Republicans in passing two minor bills off the House floor today," said former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman in a statement. "Instead of looking in the rearview mirror and rehashing old political battles like our state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to look forward and spend more time working together."
