The Minnesota Legislative Session kicks off on January 14, 2025. The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) leaders and staff are closely monitoring the changing legislative landscape, currently marked by a number of uncertainties, narrow margins and the need for bipartisanship.

Ahead of the session launch, we’ve been engaging with legislators on both sides of the aisle to share the critical need for increased investment in primary care. Legislators play a vital role in ensuring more Minnesotans have access to quality, equitable health care, and we are urging them that supporting primary care is more important than ever.

Update from United Strategies

MAFP lobbyist Megan Verdeja and the United Strategies team share an update from St. Paul (January 7, 2025):

Minnesota House Republicans try to take control while Minnesota House Democrats threaten to walk out.

Since the start of the new year, we have continued to see shake-ups regarding how the upcoming legislative session will come together. As it currently stands:

• The Minnesota Senate will be tied (33-33) going into the 2025 Legislative Session. This tie resulted from the recent death of Senator Kari Dziedzic and will ultimately be resolved by a special election to be held on January 28, 2025. The seat is considered to be safely in DFL hands, but it will certainly have ramifications on how power is shared and distributed in the upper chamber until the special election is resolved.
• House Republicans will have a temporary one-seat advantage (67-66) in the Minnesota House going into the 2025 Legislative Session. This one-seat advantage is a recent development after a judge ruled that the winner of the House election in District 40B, Curtis Johnson (DFL), did not reside in the district he was elected in, resulting in a special election to be held on January 28, 2025, to fill the now-vacant seat.

What does this all mean? It depends on who you ask, but one thing is for certain: it will be an unconventional start to the session.

Day of Dueling Press Conferences

Minnesota House

In light of the new one-seat advantage, House Republicans have left the power-sharing agreement they struck with House DFLers and are proceeding into the 2025 Legislative Session as the self-identified majority party. In response, Speaker Melissa Hortman released a statement calling on Speaker Demuth to honor the power-sharing agreement that was struck after Minnesotans delivered a 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House.

Monday (January 6, 2025) at noon, the Minnesota House Republicans held a press conference preempting a 1:15 pm DFL press conference. Leader Demuth (R), backed up by many of her caucus members, reiterated that they had control of the House when the session starts next Tuesday and that they planned to elect her as Speaker and begin legislating. It was quickly pointed out that with 67 members, they wouldn’t be able to pass any bills, but nonetheless, she and her caucus were adamant they were in control.

Thirty minutes later, Leader Hortman (DFL), backed up by her caucus, outlined a parliamentary maneuver by which the House DFLers would deny the Republicans the ability to begin the session by denying them a quorum (which is required to call the session to order). In this outcome, no DFLers will be present on January 14, 2025, to usher in the 2025 session, ultimately paralyzing the Minnesota House until an agreement is reached to share power. This option is reserved if House Republicans attempt to use their one-seat advantage to take control of the chamber by electing Representative Demuth as Speaker of the House.

Speaker-Designate Demuth, in response to Speaker-Designate Hortman’s threats to deny quorum, said at a press conference today that “constituents expect their people to be at work, and we do not stand for anyone who decides not to show up.” When pressed by reporters on parliamentary procedures like recall elections or calling on law enforcement to force DFLers to the House floor, Speaker Demuth responded that, “whatever opportunity is out there, if they choose to do this, we will explore it.”

DFLers have equated this maneuver to an “illegitimate power grab” and claim that in order to have a quorum to start the legislative session, DFLers must be present.

Ultimately, if House DFLers do not show up for the first day of the session, it will be up to Secretary of State Steve Simon, who presides over the first day of the session, to rule on whether the House has reached a quorum. When asked how Secretary Simon would rule on quorum, a representative said that he is “consulting with nonpartisan staff and legal counsel” regarding the issue.

Additionally, there are concerns across DFL circles that House Republicans, now with a one-seat advantage, may refuse to seat Representative Brad Tabke, elected in House District 54A by a slim 20-vote margin, regardless of how the judge rules in the election contest lawsuit heard in December. Not allowing Representative Tabke to be seated for the legislative session will put pressure on Governor Walz to call a special election in 54A, setting up a hotly contested rematch. Should the GOP prevail in this special election, they will expand their margin to 68-66.

This contentious disagreement is still developing…

Minnesota Senate

With a tie in the Senate, it has been rumored that leaders in both parties have reached a power-sharing agreement to usher in the start of the 2025 Legislative Session. It remains to be seen just how this agreement will actually take shape, but it is likely that before the late Senator Dziedzic’s seat is filled, DFLers and Republicans will share the responsibilities usually given to the Majority Party.

Underpinning all of this is the awaited felony burglary trial of Senator Nicole Mitchell. After failing to enter a plea, her trial is scheduled for January 27, 2025. If Mitchell is found guilty, a push for her expulsion from the Senate is likely, further impacting control of the body and the legislative session, which will already be underway. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, however, Senator Mitchell’s presence will be sure to cause contention at the start of the legislative session.