June 21, 2022 No Special Session; Fundraising Numbers Released

Special Session Talks Called Off

After four weeks of private meetings, the ongoing negotiations regarding a potential special legislative session came to a halt last week as Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders were quick to deflect blame for the impasse.  Immediately following the “final” negotiation session, Gov. Walz and Speaker of the House, Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) addressed the media and criticized Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller (R- Winona) for allegedly refusing to continue discussions.  Sen. Miller responded with a statement criticizing Democratic leaders for refusing to pass the largest package of tax cuts in state history without billions of dollars of additional spending. 

In the final hours of the regular legislative session, lawmakers announced an agreement on a highly negotiated, $4 billion tax relief proposal which was a priority of the Senate Republican majority.  They did not, however, reach consensus on the details of the $1 billion education bill, the $1 billion health and human services bill, or the roughly $2 billion in other “agreed upon” spending proposals which were important to Gov. Walz and House Democrat majority.  As such, the House of Representatives (which, under the Minnesota Constitution, must act first on all tax bills), never voted on the tax proposal. 

With negotiations appearing to have ended, the vast majority of the state’s historic $9.25 billion surplus will likely remain untouched until the legislature returns in January 2023.  However, the legislature will look quite different at that point as all 201 legislative seats are on the ballot and a total of 59 legislators have announced their retirement or are seeking election to a different office. 

  

Campaign Fund Raising

With limited polling data available at the state legislative level in Minnesota, one of the ways in which pundits and the media evaluate political activity is through caucus and candidate fundraising reports.  Last week, the first-round of 2022 finance reports were released, announcing fundraising totals for the first quarter of 2022 and each campaign committee’s “cash on hand” as of March 31, 2022. 

Despite DFL Gov. Walz and likely Republican nominee, former state Sen. Scott Jensen being relatively close in the polls, campaign finance reports show Gov. Walz with nearly four times the cash on hand of his rival.  The value of incumbency can also be seen in the fundraising advantages held by both legislative majority caucuses.  Cash on hand as of March 31, 2022, is as follows: 

 

Gubernatorial Race

• Walz: $4.5 million
•  Jensen: $660,000 Tuesday

 

Legislative Caucuses

• Senate Republican Caucus: $1.6 million
• Senate DFL Caucus: $817, 000
  
  
• House Republican Caucus: $650,000
• House DFL Caucus: $1.13 million

Important Dates to Remember

• August 9, 2022: Primary Election & First Congressional District Special Election 
  
  
• November 8, 2022: General Election