No Change at MN House as DFL Continues Boycott into 3rd Week of Session

The start of the third week of the state legislative session resulted in no change in the House of Representatives.

Democrats and Republicans have argued about what constitutes a quorum, and last Friday, the state Supreme Court ruled that 68 members must be present to conduct business. Republicans hold a current 67-66 edge pending a special election in March in a district that has voted strongly for Democrats in the past.

All elected DFL Representatives continued boycotting House proceedings on Tuesday. DFL and Republican leaders have been negotiating the past three days but remain apart on who should hold power in the House.

Republicans believe their one-seat current majority should provide them leadership in the House for the next two years and that Democrats should return under that arrangement. But Democrats have a different view.

“The Minnesota House DFL thinks that it is really simple and straightforward,” said House DFL leader Rep. Melissa Hortman. “We just match the will of the voters and we see people who won elections and we operate as a shared governing body when we’re tied. During the time between now and when we’re tied again, if we’re tied again, our proposal is that Republicans would run the chamber.”

She continued, “Our proposal is that Rep. DeMuth would be elected speaker, that Republicans would chair committees, that they would have a majority of the votes on each of the committees. And, you know, in negotiations offer to help get some bills to the threshold that they would need to pass off the House floor to be sent over [to] the Senate.”

“You can see that House Republicans now on week three are here to do the work that we have been elected to do by the people of Minnesota. We will continue doing that,” said House GOP leader Rep. Lisa Demuth. “We are hearing from people all over the state that our taxpayers are paying for members, Democrat members, not to show up from work – for work. We are hearing across the state that the best thing that could happen is that Democrats would actually show up for work, get to work with their Republican colleagues, and find a pathway through.”

Meanwhile in the state Senate, where there are an equal number of Senators from both parties, Republicans attempted to expel DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell, who is facing a felony burglary charge. But all Democrats voted to not take up the motino.