MN Senate, House off to different starts
The Minnesota Senate and House of Republicans have so far produced a stark difference in levels of efficiency to begin this year’s legislative session. FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard breaks down the details.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – The dysfunctional Minnesota House of Representatives seems unlikely to function as normal until at least Thursday, and possibly for weeks afterward.
On Capitol Hill
The backstory:
House Republicans filed written arguments with the state Supreme Court Tuesday, arguing the court should stay out of the fight over what constitutes a quorum – the number of representatives needed to do any business.
They say it’s 67, so they’ve gone about business as usual with 67 Republicans.
Democrats say it’s 68, but they’re trying to negotiate a power-sharing agreement before going to court.
“Both of us have huge downsides, and those are uncertainties that you can control through a settlement agreement,” said Rep. Melissa Hortman, (DFL-Brooklyn Park), who’s leading DFLers in their boycott to deny quorum.
The state’s highest court will hear arguments Thursday.
An election to fill the empty House seat is still more than a month away, but Democrats expect to win that seat and have a 67-67 tie in the House.
Republicans have a one-member advantage until then.
Senate efficiency advantage
Dig deeper:
Republicans haven’t used that advantage to do a lot yet, while the Minnesota Senate has been a model of efficiency.
Senators are sharing power across parties, and they’ve already authored more than 400 bills.
House Republicans have only produced 10 bills to date, and they say those are their priorities.
Three are related to fraud prevention, but most of them are very partisan bills with little chance of passing a mixed legislature.
Half-empty rooms are hearing the 2025 priorities for House Republicans, with fraud prevention getting first billing.
Finding fraud
Why you should care:
Rep. Jim Nash, (R-Waconia) wants all legislators to get a five-year scorecard on audits at state agencies.
“These have value,” Rep. Nash said. “We should be looking at them for a longer period of time. We should take advantage of them as we process a request for funding.”
Meanwhile, bipartisan Senate bills would add extra time in prison for people who lead police on chases, or who attack youth sports referees.
And GOP bills are already getting attention in committees.
“We did lay this bill over last year, and it seems to be gaining some momentum,” said Sen. Steve Drazkowski, (R-Mazeppa), as he moved a tax bill through committee.
Senators are also working on their own fraud prevention bills, but their approach is different.
Senate Democrats are trying to follow an outline from Gov. Walz.
Where the GOP would create an entire Office of the Inspector General, the governor proposed a Fraud and Financial Crimes unit at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
He also suggested a pilot program using artificial intelligence to detect fraud.
It’s not in any bill yet, but House Republicans say they’re on board.
“It is a tool that can be used to look for irregularities,” said Rep. Nash. “And I think that it would have found some of those things that would have been popping up with Feeding our Future.”
We’re still a long way from seeing any bills passed at the Capitol and when they do, it’ll require bipartisanship.
Neither party can pass a bill without at least one vote from the other side.
