June 22, 2020

Special Session Comes and Goes with No Deal on Many Issues

Just over a week ago, Gov. Tim Walz called the Minnesota Legislature back to the State Capitol for a special session beginning on June 12, 2020. Usually, a governor (who has the sole authority to call a special session) establishes the agenda and parameters for a special session and will only call for the special session when all legislative leaders reach a global agreement. This year, however, the governor was required by statute to call lawmakers into a special session when he extended the peacetime emergency he declared in response to COVID-19. The special session gave the Senate and the House of Representatives the opportunity to terminate the executive order with a simple majority vote. Both bodies debated overriding the Governor’s peacetime authority, but only the Senate successfully voted to terminate the Governor’s powers in a bipartisan vote of 39-29.

After a similar vote in the House of Representatives failed to rescind the Governor’s peacetime emergency authority (61-73), the legislature was left with an open ended special session and the opportunity to work on numerous bills (including a capital investment bill, a tax bill, supplemental budget and federal COVID-relief appropriations, and various unfinished policy initiatives) that remained incomplete after the legislature adjourned the regular session on May 18, 2020. However, the death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department and the public protests and violence that followed fundamentally changed the tenor and tone of the special session. Issues of race and competing proposals to reform law enforcement dominated much of the public discussion during the special session and made it difficult for legislative leaders to find agreement.

From the onset, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) said that he only intended to stay in session for a week and adjourn by midnight on June 19, 2020, if there was no agreement. As a result, lawmakers worked through eight days of hearings, floor debates, and at times, contentious negotiations before the Senate elected to adjourn the special session sine die in the early hours of June 20, 2020. The high hopes that lawmakers had on completing key legislation during a special session slowly unraveled as the governor and legislative leaders tried to negotiate new bills to address public safety and police reforms.

Despite a disappointing end, the legislature will likely be called back again on July 13, 2020 when the Governor is expected to extend his COVID-19 peacetime emergency again. Although frustrated with the outcome of the special session, Senate Majority Leader Gazelka and Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) have both committed to completing their work in July. Whether those commitments can overcome the political challenges they will face remains to be seen.

Please reach out to any of the Larkin Hoffman Government Relations team members with any questions.