Democrats in the Minnesota House plan to boycott the state Capitol Tuesday by walking out of the first day of the legislative session. This after Republicans say they hold political control.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Today is the first day of the legislative session for Minnesota lawmakers. This is usually a day when Democratic Governor Tim Walz hands out baked goods to Democrats and Republicans in a show of bipartisanship. But the baked goods were not there today, and neither were any of the Democrats in the State House of Representatives. That is because they walked out over a power dispute with Republicans. Minnesota Public Radio’s Clay Masters has the story on what happened next.
CLAY MASTERS, BYLINE: I’m walking through the Minnesota State Capitol on the opening day of its legislative session. Lobbyists are starting to show up. TV cameras are being set up. Activists are putting up displays, ready to advocate for their causes. It’s a lot of the usual annual sights and sounds. But inside the Minnesota House of Representatives, though…
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STEVE SIMON: There being 67 members present, there is no quorum as required by the constitution of the state of Minnesota.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Mr. Secretary…
SIMON: The House may not conduct any further business, and the House of Representatives…
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: …Mr. Secretary…
SIMON: …Is adjourned.
MASTERS: That’s Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, who presided over the chamber, saying, basically, there’s not enough people here to get anything done. Voters in November elected a split Minnesota House – 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans. There were talks of power sharing among the party leaders, but then a Democrat wound up not taking his seat after a judge said he wasn’t honest about living within the district. That gave Republicans a one-seat edge ahead of a special election later this month.
All right, back in the House chamber, the secretary of state steps aside. And Republicans take things over, electing their leader, Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the House despite not having a quorum. Demuth gives an acceptance speech.
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LISA DEMUTH: The Minnesota people are counting on us today, not for partisan victories or for political theater but for real results that improve their daily lives.
MASTERS: The Democratic leader in that chamber, Melissa Hortman, wasn’t even at the Capitol today, and it doesn’t sound like her caucus will be showing up any time soon.
MELISSA HORTMAN: We do not intend to return to the Capitol and participate in any sham proceedings.
MASTERS: Hortman says her members will be meeting with constituents in their districts. The House seat that’s going before a special election has historically been a safe one for Democrats. Hortman says what happens in the days to come at the Capitol is meaningless.
HORTMAN: They clearly lost on quorum, and they just couldn’t handle it. So they had to have a fake House of Representatives. It is really astonishing that they would take it to that extent.
MASTERS: Hortman was speaker of the House for six years. The last two, Democrats had complete control of state government here. So she’s fully aware of the power of the speaker position. They’re concerned Republicans will try to block another Democrat, who was reelected by just 14 votes, from taking his seat. To make things more complicated, in the state Senate, there’s also a temporary tie following the death of one of its members. But in that chamber, Republicans and Democrats are working together until the seat is filled later this month. Democratic Senate Leader Erin Murphy is staying out of the House drama.
ERIN MURPHY: I have confidence that the House is going to eventually come together, and we’ll do our work in short order.
MASTERS: Somewhere in the next few months, lawmakers will have to pass a budget to keep the government open in the North Star state. Also absent from the first day, Democratic Governor Tim Walz. The unsuccessful vice-presidential candidate is back in his state and will have his budget blueprint in as soon as later this week, no matter who is walking these halls. For NPR News, I’m Clay Masters, in St. Paul.
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