May 5, 2021

Police Reform, Governor’s Emergency
Powers Take Center Stage

In the wake of the Chauvin trial verdict, Governor Tim Walz and DFL legislators are pushing for further police reform legislation, while GOP leadership counter with a determination to end Gov. Walz’s emergency powers. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-East Gull Lake) has stated publicly that if the Governor is not willing to end his emergency powers, the Senate is prepared to fund a minimal, “lights-on” budget that will keep the state government funded at its existing levels to avoid a government shutdown. Speaker of the House, Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) has made policing reform an essential component of any budget agreed to this year.

Complicating matters this year is the Governor’s continued renewal of his COVID-19 peacetime emergency declaration which gives him broad unilateral authority to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor must renew his executive order every thirty days, and the legislature must be in session to provide lawmakers the opportunity to vote to overturn the order. With no clear end in sight to the pandemic, the Governor intends to keep renewing his authority; thus, the traditional pressure to adjourn session with a complete and balanced budget sent to the Governor has completely dissolved. Lawmakers will be called back to the Capitol again in June, giving the legislature an additional six weeks to strike a deal to avoid a state government shutdown.

The 2021 regular session must adjourn on May 17, 2021. With little time and no urgency, it is expected that most budget negotiations will require at least one special session this year.

Omnibus Bills Clear Floor; Conference Committee Begin Negotiations

Last week, both the House and Senate passed all omnibus budget proposals with the House passing its version of the human services bill (H.F. 2128) late Monday, after 11 hours of debate. The Senate debated their version of the omnibus human services budget bill on Thursday, ultimately passing the bill on a vote of 39-28.

Conference committees began to meet over the last week and a few other standalone bills passed off the floor. Legislators spent the end of last week gearing up for the final two weeks of session. This week, conference committees will be meeting throughout the day. A full list of conference committees is below.

Conference Committees

Vehicle Bill	Vehicle Bill	Substituted	Senate Conferees	House Conferees
Agriculture and Rural Development	SF958	HF1524	Westrom; Dornink; Goggin; Anderson; Murphy	Sundin; Vang; Pelowski; Lippert; Nelson, N.
Commerce, Energy & Consumer Protection	SF972	HF1031	Dahms; Senjem; Utke; Mathews; Frentz	Stephenson; Long; Hollins; Acomb; O’Driscoll
Environment & Natural Resources	SF959	HF1076	Ingebrigtsen; Rudd; Eichorn; Tomassoni; Westrom	Hansen, R; Wazlawik; Morrison; Fischer; Heintzeman
Health and Human Services	​HF2128	SF2360	Benson; Abeler; Utke; Koran; Hoffman	Liebling; Schultz; Gomez; Pinto; Schomacker
Higher Ed	​SF975	HF993	Tomassoni; Rarick; Goggin; Jasinski; Clausen	Bernardy; Christensen; Keeler; Klevorn; O’Neill
Housing	HF1077	SF969	Draheim; Duckworth; Dahms; Pratt; Dziedzic	Housman; Howard; Agbaje; Reyer; Theis
Judiciary & Public Safety	SF970	HF1030	Limmer; Mathews; Johnson; Ingebrigtsen; Latz	Mariani; Becker-Finn; Moller; Frazier; Miller
K-12	HF1065	SF960	Chamberlain; Eichorn; Duckworth; Dornink; Wiger	Davnie; Richardson; Pryor; Hassan; Kresha
Legacy	HF1079	SF971	Ruud; Weber; Senjem; Lang; Hawj	Lillie; Jordon; Xiong, J; Huot; Green
State Government, Veterans and Military Affairs	HF1952	SF1831	Kiffmeyer; Lank; Koran; Howe; Carlson	Nelson, M; Xiong, T.; Masin; Greenman; Nash
Taxes	HF991	SF961	Nelson; Weber; Miller; Bakk; Rest	Maquart; Youakim; Her; Lislegard; Davids
Workforce and Business Development	​SF1098	HF1342	Pratt; Rarick; Housley; Draheim; Eken	Noor; Ecklund; Olson, L.; Berg; Hamilton

Joint Budget Targets Expected Friday

Typical for this time of the year the speculation of whether or not the legislature will have enough time to sort out differences and negotiate on Joint budget targets while passing final legislation off of each floor by midnight, May 17. Due to the pandemic, recent civil unrest in Minneapolis--that sparked national media attention and a politically charged environment leading up to the 2022 census election--, and the Governor’s Executive Power Authority that is expected to be extended through May (requiring legislators to return for special sessions to extend the Governor’s authority each month following adjournment of the regular session) there is no real urgency to come to bipartisan agreement on policy bills that couldn’t be farther apart.