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.