Legislative Update
Greetings Neighbors,
This is a supplemental version of my weekly newsletter to discuss my vote to adjourn Sine Die on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026. As you know, most of our work up in St. Paul goes unnoticed, but this vote sparked a little bit of Facebook commentary.
So, today I am going to tell you what is and what is not happening at the Capitol in 2026 and why. As you recall, we started our two-year session 23 days late in January 2025 when only half (67 of 134) the elected legislators reported to the Capitol. I attended all my committee and floor session meetings every day hoping we could reach a quorum of 68 legislators and really get to work for Minnesota. Did all 134 legislators receive their paychecks? Yes, they did.
Once we reached a quorum, we finally moved several bills onto House floor and passed them with the intent of making sure that we passed an overall two-year budget prior to our June 30th, 2025, end-of-budget-year deadline.
The second half of our two-year session started on Tuesday, February 17th, 2026. The outcomes are very much less impressive. As of Thursday, March 26th, 2026, 134 legislators introduced 4,790 bills. Given the opportunity, I just want to thank and congratulate our staff and the revisor’s office for facilitating nearly 5,000 pieces of legislation and still increasing. It’s truly a monumental effort!
Next, a small portion of these bills are heard in our committees. Once heard and debated, they are voted upon to move forward. Many times, the bill may need to move to other committees, but sometimes it can move straight to the General Register for a floor hearing and vote. Given our equally divided committees, most committee votes result in a tie and the bill fails to move out of the committee. In many cases, the bill will be held over in committee for inclusion in a possible committee omnibus bill at the request of the bill author or the committee chairman. In summary, almost nothing is moving forward out of the committee structure which means almost nothing is moving forward to the House floor. As a result of stagnation politics, your tax dollars continue to pay for salaries just like they did in January 2025. In addition, by executive order of the Governor during this legislative session, every taxpayer feels the impact of the extra Capitol Security officers and entry screening, overtime pay for the extra State Patrol officers at the Capitol, daily per diem expenses for the legislators and legislative staff, many additional variable costs. If we end session early, these costs end immediately.
Given these facts, many of us voted to end legislative stagnation and end the legislative session Sine Die (Latin for adjourning the current session without setting a date to reconvene) to save taxpayer expenses.
If the vote passed; does that mean that we are truly finished? It could, but not likely. One person, Governor Walz, can bring us back into a Special Session. If he calls a special session, we can vote to suspend the House rules and bring certain pieces of legislation straight onto the House floor for a vote. Is it optimal? Absolutely not, but it does focus our efforts.
Amazingly, the vote to adjourn on Wednesday, March 25th sent a strong signal to all concerned. On Thursday, March 26th, 2026, more unscheduled floor motions to suspend the House rules were made by both sides of the aisle. These votes brought forward several bills out of committee and straight to the House floor. First, HF 3435, a bill limiting access to school sites. This bill was debated and ultimately did not prevail. Second, HF 1434, a bill relating to consumer protection; requiring age verification for websites with material harmful to minors. This bill was debated and ultimately did not prevail. Third, HF 3402, a bill relating to public safety; banning possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines (larger than 10 rounds). Ultimately, this bill was debated and did not prevail after a procedural vote to correct the record following an incorrectly made vote. Fourth, HF 3433, a bill relating to public safety; banning possession of semiautomatic military-style assault weapons; providing criminal penalties. This bill was debated and ultimately did not prevail. Finally, HF 3493, a bill relating to education finance; increasing safe schools revenue; making safe schools revenue available to charter schools, cooperative units, nonpublic schools, and Tribal contract schools; appropriating money. This bill was debated and ultimately did not prevail.
In summary, five individual bills were introduced by floor motions, debated extensively, and they were voted upon by each elected Representative resulting in evenly divided 67 to 67 votes. Whether or not you agree with the outcome of the votes, the proceedings occurred in full view of the cameras and each elected member of the House of Representatives. Backroom deals did not occur. Bills laid over in committee did not get incorporated into negotiated omnibus bills. At this point, you must admit that the system started working and these events gave me the opportunity to write this letter explaining my vote to end our session on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026.
Thank you for your continued support as we try to make Minnesota better every single day!
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