Minnesota

Minnesota House to split committee control in light of tie

Published

1 month ago

November 19, 2024

Minnesota House to split committee control in light of tie

ST. PAUL — Minnesota House leaders Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Springs, jointly announced on Monday, Nov. 18, that they will be splitting control of committees for the upcoming session as part of a power-sharing agreement.

The leaders said in a Monday

post on the official Minnesota House website

that membership of the standing committees will be equally divided among GOP and DFL co-chairs, meaning most bills that make it to the House floor will have already gone through bipartisan hands.

The House is currently tied 67-67 leading up to the legislative session. The last time there was a tie was in 1979. Leaders of the DFL and GOP

said earlier this month they would come to a power-sharing agreement

, hinting at the possibility of splitting control of committees.

Leadership has not announced who will preside as speaker of the House yet, but Minnesota law states there can’t be two speakers.

If the speaker is not agreed upon before the session begins on Jan. 14, Secretary of State Steve Simon would temporarily act as speaker of the House.

Two recounts of current DFL-held seats are set to occur in the coming weeks, though leaders suspect these recounts will not change the results of the tied House. The recount for House Seat 54A in the Shakopee area will be held on Thursday, Nov. 21, and the recount for House Seat 14B in St. Cloud will be held on Monday, Nov. 25.

Mary Murphy joined Forum Communications in October 2024 as the Minnesota State Correspondent. She can be reached by email at mmurphy@forumcomm.com.

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Minnesota

Report: Falcons likely to cut former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins

Published

4 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Report: Falcons likely to cut former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins

The Atlanta Falcons are likely to cut Kirk Cousins before mid-March, less than a year after he left the Minnesota Vikings to head to Georgia.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that “executives across the leave” believe Cousins’ exit from Atlanta will happen before a $10 million roster bonus is due on Mar. 17, with Schefter citing “multiple sources” who say a split is now inevitable.

It comes in the week that Falcons made the decision to bench Cousins in favor of rookie QB Michael Penix, Jr., whom the Falcons drafted at No. 8 in March shortly after signing Cousins to a four-year, $160 million deal.

Given Cousins has a no-trade clause in his Falcons contract, Schefter notes that it’s unlikely Atlanta will be able to find a suitable deal to trade Cousins, meaning he’s likely to hit the free agent market for the second year running.

Cousins entered the season still recovering from the Achilles injury that ended his final year with the Vikings, and has struggled under center, with the tipping point for Atlanta coming after a 41-21 loss in Minnesota to the Vikings and a 15-9 win over the struggling Las Vegas Raiders, where Cousins threw for only 112 yards, one TD and one INT.

He still showed flashes of his old brilliance however, namely in the 31-26 win over the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in late October, when he threw for 276 yards and four TDs.

After moving on from Cousins, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold for a one-year, $10 million deal and drafted JJ McCarthy with the 10th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

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