| Today’s special session is almost certain to spill into Tuesday, but by Legislature calendar math, even a 7 a.m. finish would count as a “one-day” session. Most of the state budget will be acted upon . Leaders believe all of the bills are positioned to pass, although there is plenty of grumbling within both parties and you can never tell how things are going to go. If one part goes off the rails, many could. If one bill is reopened, several could be. It’s a pretty delicate situation. Despite the signed agreement that everything be confined to a single session day, there’s no real consequence for going beyond that. Leaders could amend their agreement if they had to and Gov. Tim Walz knows that every budget bill has to eventually be signed to avoid a partial shutdown on his watch. Layoff notices to state workers whose agencies or programs aren’t funded would go out Tuesday if there are remaining gaps that could force a shutdown on July 1. Buckle up.
There are landmines in several bills, but the shortest of all the bills could prove the most contentious and consume the most debate: The barely two-page bill to remove adults without legal immigration status from MinnesotaCare . Democrats plan to vote against in en masse, although at least two DFL votes — one House DFLer and one Senate DFLer — must be green to get it through, assuming all Republicans vote in favor. The most likely vote for the bill in the House is Rep. Melissa Hortman, the caucus leader who signed her name to the deal framework as did Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy. But there could be others from swing or rural districts where the stance makes for good politics. Children would remain on the program, but groups that promote child well-being say taking adults off the program could by extension mean children don’t get seen by doctors either when they should. "Children are more likely to receive preventative checkups when their parents have health care coverage,” the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota wrote in a letter to lawmakers, which added, “Eliminating MinnesotaCare access for Minnesota adults who are undocumented immigrants, many who are moms, dads, and caregivers, will have significant impacts on their children — impacts that will force children and their families deeper into the shadows.” Supporters of the policy change say that the relatively new MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented immigrants is proving too costly and isn’t appropriate.
There are big stakes associated with the standalone bill’s passage. Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth said that there was a fail-safe built in to guarantee the MinnesotaCare bill is enacted. If it isn’t, it would trigger a clause that would defund the Minnesota Department of Health. “This just lends that little bit extra layer of insurance to help with caucuses that maybe were a little bit concerned,” Demuth said Friday. She said she was certain it would get the 68 votes required in the House; it needs at least 34 in the Senate. Gov. Tim Walz has said he will sign all of the bills the Legislature sends his way as part of the negotiated agreement. For Republicans, there could be a bill or two where most of their members won’t be on board. One could be a standalone proposal to rewrite the regulations and tax treatment of data centers — those warehouses of processors that store information from the Internet and cloud servers and require large of amounts of energy to run and cool. Republicans don’t like the removal of a tax exemption for electricity, which they say goes against their credo of not raising taxes (the broader tax bill also raises the cannabis tax). Don’t expect there to be many or any votes where a Republican — in this case deal signatory Lisa Demuth — is the sole and deciding vote on their side. House GOP floor leader Harry Niska said as much during an appearance on Politics Friday . Specifically, Niska said, “The hope is that we're not necessarily in our caucus in a position where we're leaving our speaker in a position where she has to vote alone on any particular bill,” Niska said. With Demuth’s rising political star, that outcome would no doubt trail her in future potential campaigns for other offices. Hortman, the DFL leader, said she was willing to stand alone if need be. “This is a compromise that I was willing to make, and if it requires just my vote, then that's how we'll get it done.”
The process for getting an agreement was again ugly and mostly occurred behind closed doors. There will be hearings on all of the bills (some have happened already) but that’s unlikely to result in big changes to them. Demuth and Hortman defended it last week as the nature of a closely divided Legislature with political sensitivities all around. Hortman: “That is often how things unfold in the Legislature, where there's a lot of different alternatives of how you can accomplish something. And when people finally can agree on what it is, that's when you have the public conversation.” Demuth: “I understand the frustration where we've gone from conference committees now into work groups, but each one of these areas are doing public walkthroughs.” The tax bill that had been a tidy 12 pages is now 123 pages with plenty of local tax increment financing initiatives and so much more.
The one bill that will take more than simple majorities to pass is the public works construction package known as the bonding bill. The deal calls for a $700 million package, which is heavy on projects for clean water and drinking water initiatives as well as local road and bridge projects. This bill was negotiated entirely out of public view (it's posted here along with a list of projects in cash and to be borrowed for). The prospects for a bonding bill had been considered tenuous until Senate Republican leadership signed off. Reminder: that bill requires 81 House votes and 42 Senate votes to pass because it involves issuance of state debt. As with the tax bill, the House votes first on the bonding bill.
Programming note: MPR’s Cathy Wurzer is due to interview two key players in the negotiations on Morning Edition. House Speaker Demuth is scheduled to join Wurzer as is Senate Majority Leader Murphy. As always, find it at 91.1 on your radio dial or by streaming at mprnews.org or a mobile device.
The special session isn’t the only legislative story to watch today; state Sen. Nicole Mitchell is due in court for a settlement conference in her burglary case. There haven’t been any indications that a settlement is close or expected. But this could be the final checkpoint before a felony trial begins next week (if it stays on track). Mitchell, a Woodbury DFLer, faces two felony counts, although her defense team is working to get one tossed. It stems from an arrest in April 2024 in the home of her stepmother and where her father lived before his death. She denies wrongdoing and has resisted bipartisan calls to resign. On Friday, the judge in the case granted her request to appear at the hearing via remote connection because of the special session she’ll be part of in St. Paul.
Gov. Tim Walz has been pulled between the overtime legislative negotiations and political engagements. He’s continued to travel the country to appear at Democratic gatherings or to sit for interviews about his 2024 vice presidential run and what might lie ahead. On Friday, he’s due in Washington for a Center for American Progress speaking event. The group’s CEO, Neera Tanden, will moderate the Walz talk that is part of its “What’s Next: Conversations on the Path Forward” series.
Finally, the Minnesotan at the head of the national Democratic Party is in the news for remarks that suggested he wasn’t thrilled with the job. Ken Martin, who had been the DFL Party chair until being elected leader of the Democratic National Committee this year, told fellow DNC officers in mid May that “I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore.” Politico gained access to a recording and published it Sunday . The comments came last month as Martin was in a feud with a vice chair who had threatened to back primary challenges to incumbents. Martin, through a spokesperson, sent Politico a statement saying he’s not going to step down. | 
