Legislature Reaches Full Complement - For about three days this week, all 201 legislative seats, 134 House members and 67 Senators, were filled for the first time in 2025. The week began with David Gottfried, the winner of...more
What’s a Quorum? When Secretary of State Steve Simon convened the Minnesota House of Representatives at Noon on Tuesday, January 14, 67 Republicans were in attendance but the 66 DFLers were notably absent. DFLers...more
What Is It and Why Does It Matter? The Minnesota Department of Management and Budget (MMB) prepares formal forecasts of state revenues and expenditures in November and February each year, which policymakers use to set the...more
Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) issued the November Budget and Economic Forecast this morning and has projected that the State of Minnesota will have a $616 million surplus for the upcoming FY 2026-2027 biennium...more
Since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President just over two weeks ago, speculation has swirled about the identity of her pick for the Vice Presidential candidate....more
In the homestretch of Minnesota’s 2024 legislative session, tension has mounted in St. Paul as state House and Senate committees scramble to secure enough votes to place their bills on Governor Tim Walz’s desk for signature....more
Omnibus Policy Bills on the Move - Prior to the March 22nd legislative deadline for policy bills, most committees created omnibus policy bills. Starting this week, both the House of Representatives and the Senate engaged...more
Republicans Retain Daudt Seat - Republican Bryan Lawrence of Baldwin Township in Sherburne County won the Minnesota State House Special Election in District 27B to replace former Representative Kurt Daudt, who resigned...more
Where is the Governor’s Supplemental Budget? With legislators racing toward the first and second bill deadline on March 22, the Walz Administration spent the week behind closed doors putting the finishing touches on its...more
Looking Ahead to Next Week - With first and second deadlines fast approaching on March 22, expect the pace at the Legislature to increase next week as legislators race to meet these important policy bill deadlines....more
Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released the State Economic Forecast today. In the Forecast, MMB declared that “Minnesota’s budget and economic outlook remains stable” for the remainder of the FY 2024-2025 biennium,...more
On Friday, May 19, 2023, Minnesota’s Senate approved the negotiated and final version of Minnesota’s new adult-use cannabis regime....more
“The State of our State is Strong” - Governor Tim Walz delivered his annual State of the State address to legislators from the House chamber this week. He highlighted common themes from DFL leadership this session,...more
On Tuesday, Governor Tim Walz rolled out his full, $65 billion budget. Under the proposal, all but about $1.3 billion of the surplus would be spent, and two tax increases would be enacted: a 1/8 cent sales tax hike in the...more
Governor’s Budget Rollout - This week, Governor Walz began rolling out key features of his proposed budget with two press conferences focused on investments in economic and children and families initiatives. The $12...more
Whether to legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana has been a highly scrutinized topic for many years. A resolution in Minnesota could be on the horizon, however, as new developments in the Minnesota legislature...more
DFL Sweeps State-wide Races - DFL incumbent Governor Tim Walz easily defeated Republican challenger Scott Jensen by a 52.2% to 44.6% margin. Walz built up huge vote margins in Hennepin and Ramsey counties early, and Jensen...more
Changes regarding cannabis law in Minnesota are underway as HF3595 passed as part of an amendment to HF4065 in both the House and Senate and the bill was signed by Governor Tim Walz (D) on June 2, 2022. HF3595 sets out to...more
Introduction - Despite a historic surplus, the Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die on Sunday, May 22 with most of their work unfinished. This result was far different from the expectations of many when the Legislature...more
Five weeks beyond the 100th calendar day of the session, the 2022 session of the 89th General Assembly of Iowa has adjourned sine die. Originally slated to end on April 20, stalled negotiations on Education Savings Plans...more
Sine Die - The Minnesota Legislature has adjourned sine die, and for many, it feels that is all that was accomplished this year. In spite of a global framework being agreed to—$4 billion each for taxes, spending and...more
Pursuant to the State Constitution, the legislature may not pass legislation after midnight on Sunday, May 22. Impacting the time pressure as well are the state party conventions. Republicans are meeting in Rochester now...more
IT’S A BIG DEAL - Yesterday, legislative leaders announced they had a deal on the replenishment of the unemployment insurance trust fund and frontline worker bonus pay. The deal was approved by a conference committee late...more
Legislature’s Final Stretch - Following its traditional ten-day break, the Legislature is back to complete the final leg of the 2022 session. Both the House and Senate resumed both floor sessions and committee action on...more
Time Marches On - We are two months into session, with merely seven weeks remaining (including a week-long break). After next week, the Legislature will go on break until April 19. When they return, nearly all committee work...more