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DFLers on Tuesday made good on their threat to keep the Minnesota House in limbo, boycotting the session’s opening as the parties fight over chamber control. House Republicans responded by pushing ahead in the half-empty chamber and electing their leader as the new House speaker.
It’s not clear what come next but all of it is likely headed to the courts.
House Democrats were no-shows as the Legislature convened at noon. Republicans there vowed to push forward with the session, but questions around whether they have the legal ability to do that haven’t been completely answered.
Cameras panned the House chamber — and the empty DFL side — just after noon as the roll call began. The clerk paused after calling the names of DFLers and getting no response. Republicans all vigorously checked in as "present" when their names in the roll call arrived.
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GOP members were then sworn in. Appeals Court Chief Judge Jennifer Frisch administered the oath of office to Republicans, and a hearty round of applause followed.
"Congratulations members, one and all," Secretary of State Steve Simon, a DFLer, said to the half-filled room.
The good feelings then began to unravel.
When an electronic roll call vote, where green dots appeared on the voting board next to the names of those present, showed only 67 Republicans, Simon declared there was no quorum, meaning the House could not conduct business.
GOP Rep. Harry Niska rose to object — but Simon quickly gaveled the session adjourned for the day.
Republicans have challenged Simon’s authority as the arbiter on this. After a brief break, Niska, R-Ramsey, rose to override Simon's ruling. Rep. Paul Anderson, the oldest member of the House GOP was in the speaker’s chair as state law advises around organization.
Anderson, R-Starbuck, ruled that a quorum was present. The Republicans in the House proceeded with business.
Republican members then unanimously chose their leader, Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, to be the House speaker.
“The Minnesota people are counting on us today — not for partisan victories or for political theater but for real results that improve their daily lives,” Demuth told the chamber following the vote.
DFL leaders had signaled earlier in the day they intended to follow through on the boycott threat.
In a midmorning statement, Melissa Hortman, leader of the Democrats, said the DFL would not show up Tuesday at the Capitol, potentially denying a quorum in the chamber and preventing it from conducting business.
Hortman cited the GOP’s response to news of a judge concluding state Rep. Brad Tabke, a DFL Minnesota House incumbent who narrowly won reelection, should be able to begin a new term. House GOP Leader Lisa Demuth criticized the ruling and said her caucus would evaluate it and consider options.
Hortman in her statement said the DFL had no choice but to stop the House from conducting business.
“Given Republican statements this morning indicating their intent to ignore the election results and the court’s decision, Democrats have no other recourse to protect the will of the voters than to deny quorum until the special election in (House District) 40B has concluded and that new member is sworn in,” Hortman wrote.
District 40B is a crucial seat that came open after the November winner, a DFLer, was disqualified for failing to establish proper residency in time to serve the Roseville-Shoreview area district. It’s due to be filled in a Jan. 28 special election — that timing is also part of a pending court fight — and will determine if Republicans gain a true advantage or the chamber is tied at 67-67.
Hortman’s remarks signal that the deadlock at the outset of the Legislature’s five-month run will continue.
House Democrats have threatened an indefinite boycott if Republicans move forward with an effort to assume key leadership positions on a temporary one-vote advantage that they’ll be able to retain for the year and maybe beyond.
It’s not fully clear what Republicans can do if DFLers skip out. They insist that 67 members is enough to constitute a quorum and suggest that they will ignore rulings to the contrary by the presiding officer at the session’s outset.
On Tuesday morning, a judge sided with Tabke, saying he should be able to start his new term as the winner of the election and that “neither an injunction nor a special election is warranted or ordered.”
With an indefinite boycott, it’s not clear when the House, at least, would start its work — and it has a lot of work to do this session.
Lawmakers must pass a two-year budget before July 1 or the state could face a government shutdown. They could also take up a public construction finance bill because they weren’t able to get one across the finish line last year.
They could also weigh a variety of policy bills and possible tweaks to Minnesota’s budding legal cannabis marketplace and paid family and medical leave program that is set to go live next year.
Lawmakers have to adjourn the legislative session on May 19, but they could be summoned back for a special session if they can’t get their work done on time.
Republicans have said they’ll move forward with an effort to elect GOP Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, as House speaker and put fellow Republicans in place as committee chairs.
“We are not at a tie right now, and the actions and the way that the Democrats have shown that they will not work with us, regardless of whether or not they like the circumstances, really brings into question how serious they were going to work with us all the way through on a power sharing (deal) or these antics that we've seen,” Demuth said earlier in the week.
Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, wrote to GOP leaders last week and said there need to be 68 votes in the chamber to do any formal business, what’s known as a quorum.
Republicans insist they have authority to act with 67 members. They said they’ll ignore Simon and accuse him of collaborating with members of his party to grind the House to a halt.
“It appears that other members of your political party will engage in lawless behavior to thwart the lawful organization of the Minnesota House,” the GOP leaders wrote Monday in a letter to Simon. “You need not make yourself an accomplice in their shameful effort.”
Simon responded on Monday and said his assessment had not changed. He said that without 68 members, the chamber would not be able to take up action on electing leaders or other motions.
Senate leaders announced on Sunday that they’d reached a deal to share power, at least early in the session. Republicans and Democrats will share custody of presiding officer posts and committee chair positions, with the exact rotation of gavels to be determined. They’ll have evenly split representation on committees.
As part of that deal, senators on Tuesday named Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, and Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, as co-presidents of the Senate. The pair embraced in a bro hug following their selection.
Perhaps another sign of unity could be seen on the desk of Sen. Kari Dziedzic, the Minneapolis DFLer who died in December, less than two years after receiving a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. A single red rose stood in a vase on the desk,
Going into the session, Republicans and Democrats will be evenly split at 33-33 with no tiebreaker. A special election for a Minneapolis area seat will break the tie late this month. And the power-sharing deal could be reversed once one caucus gets a 34th member.
But top lawmakers said whatever procedural rules adopted early in session will stay in place for the remainder of the year.
Citizens and activists who gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol for Tuesday’s opening day said they hoped lawmakers can get beyond partisan politics and address issues.
That included Susie Kaufman, a state leader for Moms Demand Action, which lobbies for stronger gun laws.
"I don't know how you can read one more story about a child who has access to a gun that should have been secured safely, and then dies because they had access to that gun,” she said. “So I'm asking these legislators to just be humane and think about how they can save one life and maybe get something done this session."
Kaufman didn't want to comment on legislators' battle for control of the Legislature, but said she's hopeful some laws will get passed this year.
MPR News reporter Kirsti Marohn contributed to this report.
