Dear John,
Tomorrow, Minnesota will be the first state in American history to start a legislative session without agreed-upon majorities in either body of the Legislature. It is hard to overstate the confusion among legislators, the press, and members of the public here in St. Paul. How did this happen?
Although the November election appeared to yield a 67-67 tie in the Minnesota Hosue, Republicans have a temporary majority after the resignation of Representative-Elect Curtis Johnson, who was not eligible for his Roseville-area seat after it was shown that he did not live in that district. Democrats are hopeful they will prevail in a special election in that area, and in a separate court case challenging the razor-thin margins in another race in the Shakopee area where 20 ballots were deemed to have been improperly thrown out. If they lose either the special election in Roseville or the court case in Shakopee, the Republican majority may become permanent.
Faced with the Republican majority, Democrats were threatening not to show up for the first day of session tomorrow, and that threat has now turned into reality. Democrats took the unprecedented step of having themselves “sworn in” as members of the Legislature not at the Capitol on the first day of the legislative session, as Minnesota law dictates, but yesterday evening at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, by a retired Minneapolis judge.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Steve Simon is telling the Republican majority that they do not have the votes to conduct the business of the House, while House Republicans assert that they do. And on the Senate side, a temporary tie has been created by the tragic death of DFL Senator Kari Dziedzic of Minneapolis, while another member, DFL Senator Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury, is facing a criminal trial for burglary set to begin on January 27th.
Are you confused yet? So is everyone else. Democrats, Republicans, and independents don’t know what exactly is coming tomorrow. Will the Republican majority be able to begin its work? Will Democrats stay away, while still collecting their paychecks? We don’t know what the future holds—we don’t even know what tomorrow holds!
Although we don't know exactly what's coming tomorrow, it is clear that Democrats in the House are not planning to show up for the first day of session tomorrow. We believe they should show up and do the job they were elected to do. If you have a moment, will you contact your Minnesota House member? You can use the link below, enter your address, click "Contact" under your Minnesota House member, then call them or email them depending on your preference. You can say that you hope they are planning to show up for work, and that you're praying for them!
