Ewald at the Capitol/November 13

Special Session VI

This week, Gov. Walz called the Minnesota Legislature into its sixth special session of the interim to extend his peacetime emergency authority. This time, neither body debated nor took up a vote to rescind the governor’s emergency powers.

Instead, the House Republican caucus offered a new plan aimed to give the Legislature the ability to amend or rescind individual executive orders. They brought forward concerns from multiple industries that some executive orders contradict themselves and some have caused unintended negative consequences.

"Right now, as you know, the only way for us to end an executive order is to end the peacetime emergency altogether which would end all of the executive orders and that is not my goal. That is not what we are trying to do," said Rep. Barb Haley (R-Red Wing), author of HF19.

The bill did not receive the votes necessary to come before the body for a vote. The Senate had the companion bill on its agenda, but did not take action on it either.

In the Senate, something interesting happened during special session. Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) was elected president of the Republican-held body for the remainder of the biennium. This was a preventative move by Senate Republicans should President-Elect Joe Biden appoint Sen. Amy Klobuchar to a position in his administration. If Sen. Klobuchar were appointed to another post, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan could be appointed to take her place, and former President of the Senate Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) would have had to vacate his seat to move to the role of lieutenant governor.

With only a one-seat majority, Senate Republicans do not want to take the chance of losing one of their own members and risking the results of a special election. By moving a DFL member to the president’s position, they would instead open the possibility of gaining a DFL seat in a special election if Sen. Tomassoni’s seat were vacated. Even if there were a future special election for Sen. Tomassoni’s seat and it were won by a DFL candidate, the Senate Republicans would keep their slim majority.

New COVID-19 Restrictions

In light of a significant rise in cases, Gov. Walz introduced new COVID-19 related restrictions this week. These particular restrictions target those ages 20-34 in social settings; state data show them as responsible for a disproportionate spread of the virus. The state is seeing that 71% of cases are contracted in social settings. In addition, the infection rate has been doubling in Minnesota after 9 p.m.

The new restrictions include:

10 p.m. curfew for dine-in service at bars and restaurants and events such as wedding receptions and other celebrations
No counter and bar seating at bars and restaurants, unless that is the only form of seating in the establishment
Indoor capacity at restaurants and bars must remain at 50 percent of total capacity, not to exceed 150 people
No bar games requiring standing
Beginning Nov. 27, a 50-person limit on events such as wedding receptions and other celebrations or gatherings
Beginning Dec. 11, 25-person limits on events such as wedding receptions and other celebrations or gatherings
Ten-person, three-household maximum limit on indoor and outdoor social gatherings

These restrictions go into effect today, Nov. 13, at 10 p.m. unless otherwise stated.

State Elections

Absentee ballots have been counted by local election administrators and Legislative race results are now clear. The state Senate Republicans will continue to hold the majority for the next biennium with a 34-33 margin. The Senate DFL gained one seat. In the state House of Representatives, the DFL will also continue to hold the majority with a 70-64 margin. House Republicans gained five seats.

A few races could be headed for recount, but different results would not be enough to change the majority in either body.

Incumbent Rep. Julie Sandstede (06A, DFL) won her race by 40 votes
Incumbent Rep. Ami Wazlawik (38B, DFL) won her race by 99 votes
Incumbent Rep. Jeff Brand (19A, DFL) lost his race by 111 votes
Incumbent Sen. Jerry Relph (14, R) lost his race by 316 votes

Budget News

Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released the October Revenue Review, which showed a 12.2 percent increase over the May projection for general fund revenues in October. Year-to-date receipts for fiscal year 2021 are now 12.5 percent above what was originally projected in May.

The next full Budget and Economic Forecast will be conducted in November. Even with a more positive outlook in revenue than was projected in May, the state still faces a large budget shortfall.