Special Session Announced
Earlier this week, Gov. Walz announced that special session will start today, June 12. This is required for the peacetime emergency to be
extended, but many other issues will likely be addressed as well. The governor stated that police reform and working to strengthen the economy are on the top of his list of priorities for the special session.
The Senate plans to vote down the governor’s extension of the peacetime emergency. However, the vote will yield no result. In order for the peacetime emergency to be rescinded, the House would have to vote against it, which will not happen. As far as legislation goes, the Senate will likely work on COVID-19-related tax relief.
Besides police reform, the House is likely to prioritize the spending of the federal CARES Act money and additional COVID-19-related assistance funding.
Both bodies have shown interest in continuing to work on some form of a bonding bill. During session, the House’s original bill was about $2 billion in size while the Senate’s was just under $1 billion.
This will be the Legislature’s ninth special session since 2010. Regarding the length, Gov. Walz said, “this is going to be a summer where we're pretty much in session.”
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