The Minnesota House opened Tuesday as predicted with Democrats not showing up, Secretary Simon declaring “no quorum,” and House Republicans installing their own chair to conduct business. Nothing like this has happened in the combined 218 years your authors have been covering the Capitol.
Things are moving fast, so here are some updates on where we stand heading into week two of the 2025 session.
Update One – Court rules that Walz improperly called special election
In a huge ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court quashed Tim Walz’s writ of special election because he did not follow state law and called for the election before there was actually a vacancy in the District 40B seat. The ruling threw the ball into Walz’s court and put him in a very difficult Catch-22, as John Phelan wrote yesterday.
The court’s ruling forces Gov. Walz to follow the law, giving him the authority to issue a writ of special election on February 4:
If a vacancy results from a successful election contest, the governor shall issue 22 days after the first day of the legislative session a writ calling for a special election…
But keep reading:
…unless the house in which the contest may be tried has passed a resolution which states that it will or will not review the court’s determination of the contest. If the resolution states that the house will not review the court’s determination, the writ shall be issued within five days of the passage of the resolution.
One of the first things House Republicans did on Tuesday was pass that resolution. This would allow Gov. Walz to issue the writ of special election on Monday, January 20, about two weeks earlier. If he really wants to get the seat filled at the earliest opportunity, here is his chance.
But — and it’s a big but — he can only do that by acknowledging the resolution passed Tuesday, and that requires that he recognize the House that issued it as being properly organized, which he has so far denied.
Here is the governor’s quandary: recognize the House, issue the writ, and hold the election early but acknowledge the legitimacy of everything the House has done so far, or refuse to recognize the House, ignore the resolution, and hold the election weeks later.
The ruling throws another proverbial ball into Melissa Hortman’s court. Her plan was to boycott the House for only two weeks until they could win the special election and gain back their 67th member. Now two weeks has been turned into possibly two months, with the special election more likely to occur in early March. Boycotting that long appears impossible from a public relations perspective. Democrats will have to come back to the House, likely with their tail between their legs.
By the way, one of the more infuriating parts of this drama has been the Democrats’ arrogance over their chances to win the special election. The Republican candidate’s message to voters in 40B should be: “That team cheated, and now they’re taking your vote for granted. Prove them wrong.” With more time to campaign, there is a real possibility the Republican could prevail in a low-turnout election on a random Tuesday in March.
Update Two – Democrats file lawsuits with Supreme Court
Both Secretary of State Steve Simon and House Democrats have filed petitions with the Supreme Court encouraging them to weigh in on the legislative struggle for control. The Court scheduled a hearing for Thursday, January 23, 2025. The debate will focus on the definition of quorum, with Republicans arguing quorum is a majority of members elected (133), and Democrats arguing quorum is a majority of seats (134).
The leaders appeared on TPT’s Almanac show Friday night with Tim Walz and Melissa Hortman delivering preposterous statements that can’t go unchallenged.
When asked about the Supreme Court ruling on his writ of special election, Walz said, “It sure appears like the supreme court ruled today on that, that there is not a quorum, and that’s what this said, that there’s not a quorum to do it. That question is settled.” What? The court didn’t mention the quorum question in its ruling. Walz is lying again.
With her first chance at the Almanac microphone, Hortman said, “I think the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled this evening that there are 67 members in both caucuses, that Curtis Johnson was not able to resign, and I think what they ruled is he’s still a member-elect, so we have returned to a tie.” Wow! The Almanac hosts laughed out loud at this preposterous statement and politely moved on.
Update Three – Sen. Mitchell (accused felon) gets her trial delayed until after session
With all attention on the House, it’s time for a Senate update. The Senate is tied 33-33 for the moment, but clearly on a path to get back to 34-33 DFL as soon as the special election occurs January 28 in heavily DFL Minneapolis.
Senate Democrats got good news Friday as a judge in Becker County granted Sen. Nicole Mitchell’s request to delay her felony burglary trial until July, at the earliest. Given the events described above, the legislative session is less and less likely to be resolved on time, further postponing her courtroom date.
You will recall that, last year, the Senate Ethics Committee declined to take action on Mitchell because the matter was in the courts. Now the courts are postponing action because the Senate is in session. Another Catch-22!
Update Four – Walz releases first draft of state budget
Gov. Walz issued the first draft of his state budget this week. We write first draft because everything will be changed after the February budget forecast comes out at the end of next month. Click here to read about a proposal to bring more sanity to how we craft the state budget. Economist John Phelan gives us an early look at Walz’s proposal to broaden the base of the sales tax and lower the rate.
The headline measure is a proposed cut in the sales tax rate — the first in Minnesota’s history — from 6.875% to 6.8%. So, on a purchase of $100, you’d save eight cents. But what the governor gives with one hand he takes with the other — and then some. His budget also extends the base of the tax by applying it to a lot of professional services, like attorneys, accountants, or money managers, which are currently exempt.
In practical terms, what matters is the extent to which the reduction in the tax take from the lower rate is offset by the increase from the broadened base. Under Gov. Walz’ budget, the average family will save about $42 a year in reduced sales taxes, but that saving would be dwarfed by spending $620 on the newly taxed professional services. Overall, the expected impact is about $185 million in additional revenue for the state government.
Read John’s entire post here.