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Dear Neighbors,
As I'm sure many of you have heard already, the Minnesota House is now organized and committees will start meeting on Monday.
Prior to the start of this year’s session and the DFL denial of quorum, we were engaged in intense negotiations with our Republican counterparts. Our last offer before the start of session on Jan 14th to the Republicans was publicly released, which you can find here. It was refused, and we all witnessed the unconstitutional actions by the Republicans that followed.
As you can see from our January offer, my DFL colleagues and I stood firm on two immovable positions:
- DFL State Rep. Brad Tabke must be allowed to serve. He had won a very close election in Shakopee that was upheld in a recount and by the courts. House Republicans wanted to kick him out just because it’d give them a better shot at winning that seat.
- In the likely event that the March special election in Roseville returns the House to a tie, then we should govern the House as such - with co-chairs and balanced membership on our committees.
I’m excited to share that the DFL fight for democracy was successful, and these positions were adopted in our power-sharing agreement.
As part of the deal, Republican Lisa Demuth will serve as Speaker of the House for the next two years, with checks and balances on her power put in place. Republicans will also chair committees until the tie is reached - though DFL support is still required to pass any bill. These elements were also largely the same as our January offer.
While I’m glad a deal was reached, it took House Republicans exhausting their power-grabbing tactics before they decided to agree to a deal that could’ve been reached nearly a month ago. I think Minnesotans will remember that.
Hitting the Ground Running
With the 2025 Legislative Session truly underway and committees meeting next week, I want to thank the community leaders, advocates, and organizations that worked with me in Mankato and around the state these last few weeks to ensure that we can hit the ground running in the Minnesota House.
Like last week, when I met with the folks at Partners for Housing. Minnesota is in a housing crisis, and we're only going to get out of it if we become serious about supporting affordable, accessible homes. Partners for Housing is no stranger to the struggles we face in Mankato when it comes to housing insecurity, and I thank them for their efforts and for discussing the work ahead.
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