Ewald at the Capitol

First Post-Session Deadline Unmet

The Legislature’s first self-imposed post-session deadline has now come and gone. By May 28, leaders had pledged to release spreadsheets for each budget bill. A few spreadsheets were released on June 3, but many are still not complete. It is likely that they will also miss their second deadline, which is to release bill language by today.

Budget negotiations have been going on behind closed doors, leaving both the public and many lawmakers in the dark. Rep. Alice Hausman, chair of the Housing Finance and Policy Committee and working group said, “Even I don’t know, are other working groups talking?”

From the small amount of public engagement that has occurred, it can be gathered that a couple of the main sticking points in negotiations seem to be clean cars emissions standards and police reform measures.

June 14 is likely the date for the beginning of a special session to extend the peacetime emergency and continue the Legislature’s work on the budget.

New State Shutdown Parameters

If the Legislature fails to pass a budget by July 1, the state will shut down. This time around, a shutdown would look very different than the last time the state shut down in 2011. This is due to a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that came from the Senate v. Dayton lawsuit of 2017. The lawsuit was brought forward because of then-Gov. Dayton’s line-item veto of the Legislature’s funding.

Part of the result of that lawsuit was the following: “No money shall be paid out of the treasury of this state except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.” This means that the court will not authorize funding of core functions of government in the event the governor vetoes funding or if the legislature does not pass a budget on time.

So, the stakes are much higher now. During the 2011 shutdown, about 80 percent of government functions were considered essential and continued to receive state funding during the 20-day standoff. Because of the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling in 2017, that would not happen this time. However, in the court opinion, Chief Justice Lorie Gildea wrote, “Our decision today should not be read to foreclose the possibility of a judicial remedy in a different situation."

Capitol Building Access

The chain-link fence that has surrounded the Minnesota State Capitol building for over a year has started to come down. Workers began tearing down the 8-foot-tall fence on June 1. The fence has cost the state $105,000.

As far as public access goes, a reopening date has not yet been determined, but House Speaker Melissa Hortman anticipates it will be open sometime next week. She also looks forward to having more members in the chamber.

“It hopefully will feel kind of normal for us old-timers, and for the new kids it will be a whole new experience of having everyone there. They don’t even know what it’s like,” Speaker Hortman said.

Full-time Legislature?

House Speaker Melissa Hortman has recently pitched the idea that Minnesota should join ten other states in the country and switch to a year-round legislative session. She also believes that a reduction in the size of the House would be beneficial. With the economic and budget forecast released at the beginning of March, the Legislature only has until late May to pass a budget — forcing a quick turnaround to finish on time.

A year-round legislative session would probably include greatly increased legislator salaries, because it would be difficult to hold primary jobs outside the Legislature as many currently do. Legislator salaries for states with legislative sessions that run for part of the year average $41,110, while states with year-round sessions average $82,358.

An argument against a year-round session is that it would prevent some people from being able to run for office due to the full-time nature of the position. It would also prevent the same amount of in-district work with constituents that is allowable now under a system of having an interim period.

“I think the citizen legislator concept, where you have people from all walks of life come in and give part of their time to the state of Minnesota as a Legislature, is the way it should be,” said Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka.

This change would require a state constitutional amendment.