CapWatch

With roughly six weeks left in the legislative session, legislators have until this Friday, April 11th, to pass all major omnibus budget bills out of their respective finance committees.

The legislature returns from a short break for the Eid holiday on Tuesday, with only three days until the first round of committee deadlines.

Last week, newly elected state Rep. David Gottfried (DFL-Shoreview), was sworn in as the 134th member of the Minnesota House of Representatives after comfortably winning a special election in House District 40B.

For the second time this year, the balance of power in the Minnesota legislature was in the hands of a single district as voters went to the polls for a special election. On March 11th, the voters in House District 40B overwhelmingly supported Democrat David Gottfried over Republican Paul Wikstrom, electing him as the 134th member of the Minnesota House of Representatives

With legislative deadlines announced and the February forecast in hand, the Minnesota Legislature will look to pick up the pace as it has a somewhat condensed calendar to complete its work on the biennial budget.

The Minnesota Legislature continued to work at an accelerated pace this week as committees heard and considered a variety of budget, policy, and capital investment proposals.

Legislative activity increased significantly this week as members of the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives worked through a variety of policy and budget proposals.

This week felt much more familiar at the Minnesota State Capitol as all 201 legislators participated in floor sessions and committee hearings.

On Wednesday, February 5th, legislative leaders in the Minnesota House of Representatives announced a revised power sharing agreement for the 2025-26 biennium that ended the more than three-week stalemate and brought all 133 members of the House of Representative to the chamber for the first time in 2025.

The Minnesota House of Representatives remains stalled in partisan gridlock as caucus leaders have been unable to reach a power sharing arrangement following the Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling last week that 68 members are needed for the body to have a quorum.

Two weeks into the legislative session and the status of the 2025 session, at least as it pertains to the Minnesota House of Representatives, remains in question

Legislature Begins in Unknown Territory 

On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, the Minnesota Legislature convened the 2025 legislative session, but while most first days are largely ceremonial, this year the House of Representatives got off to a rocky start.