In a six-hour Minnesota House floor session last month before lawmakers went on spring break, there was a tantalizing moment when it looked like something interesting might happen.
Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, rose to speak on behalf of legislation to put security cameras into child care centers, a bill close to West’s heart because his daughter was physically abused at a child care center.
Passing this bill is so urgent, West implored, that if just one DFLer voted for it in a House split evenly between Democrats and Republicans he would break from his party’s unanimous opposition to a bill banning federal immigration agents from entering schools without a warrant.
“If you can work with me here, I can work with you on that,” West said.
Wait, would Republicans like West who condemned parts of Operation Metro Surge side with DFLers? What might come next? Movement on gun legislation? Agreement on how to best stop scammy health care providers from collecting Medicaid money instead of simply saying the word “fraud” a lot?
But Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, DFL-Eden Prairie, squelched any such compromise.
Kotyza-Witthuhn, who – like West – is co-chair of the Children and Families Finance Committee, pointed out numerous flaws in the bill, including that it only applies to child care centers that receive public funding from enrolling low-income families. She noted that West’s measure does not account for predators that could hack footage and use it for “child sexual abuse material.”
“This proposal simultaneously goes too far and not far enough,” Kotyza-Witthuhn said. West withdrew the bill from consideration, and House members spent the next two hours speechifying on an assault weapons ban proposal that every DFLer supported and each Republican opposed.
As Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, reminded reporters before the recess, the Legislature convened in mid-February following “a combination of political assassination, children being killed in a church, and Minnesotans being killed on the streets.”
But instead of meeting the historical moment, lawmakers are Krazy Glued to partisan positions that better serve their election campaigns than lawmaking. Weirdly, the session has been a formulaic respite from the chaos of the past year.
“It’s a pretty peaceful session,” said Rep. Liz Reyer, D-Eagan. “No harm but no huge breakthroughs. That’s why I’m pretty tranquil.”
Lawmakers return to St. Paul on Tuesday and are scheduled to adjourn the third week of May. Here are some guesses as to whether even medium-sized breakthroughs will take place.
Can we stick a fork in major gun violence prevention legislation?
Probably.
House DFLers used a parliamentary tactic to get an airing of the assault weapons ban bill along with a measure prohibiting gun magazines with more than ten bullets. The gambit got every lawmaker on record in an election year when there are indications that suburban voters would support such weapons restrictions.
“We have members who have just been avoiding the issue,” said Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, and author of the assault weapons bill.
But the partisan vote deflated the already slim chance of these bills passing this session. The Senate Finance Committee will prioritize companion assault weapons and high-capacity magazine prohibition legislation when it returns, Murphy said, keeping the issue in the public eye in the DFL-controlled Senate.
Senate Finance is also set to take up a host of bills that provide money for violence prevention research, law enforcement, assessing school safety threats, and hiring school safety specialists.
Each of these bills allocates only about $1 million-$4 million a year toward their intended goal, and some are bipartisan. These small bore measures could clear both chambers and demonstrate that the Legislature is doing something after the Annunciation Church and School shooting.
The same with bills policing federal immigration agents?
Basically.
Politically, the one difference between guns and immigration is that Republicans including West and Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, have expressed displeasure with the Trump administration’s handling of Operation Metro Surge, while not one GOPer has voiced support for an assault weapons ban.
But House Republicans have so far stonewalled legislation prohibiting ICE from entering education and health care facilities without search warrants and empowering Minnesotans to sue federal law enforcement officials.
Here, again, Murphy will push to keep the issue top of mind, vowing that a “Metro surge package of 11 bills” including prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks will soon move onto the Senate floor.
How many more times will I have to hear about an ‘independent’ Inspector General’s office?
A lot more.
Despite largely replicating existing parts of state government, the call for a new watchdog office is the most publicized of a few fraud-fighting measures with potential bipartisan support.
In fact, the independent IG is threatening to become this session’s undocumented immigrant adults getting kicked off of MinnesotaCare, an issue that will dominate the news as other business gets done behind closed doors.
In any case, Gov. Tim Walz (remember him?) proposed in his supplemental budget to set aside at least $18 million toward “the State Office of the Inspector General to investigate fraud and misuse of public funds across state programs.”
Both Murphy and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, offer their continued support for the IG position. And Rep. Matt Norris, DFL-Blaine, has bounced from House committee to House committee garnering bipartisan backing.
Let’s put it this way. If some version of a new IG office is not signed into law, everyone will be pretty sheepish.
What about other fraud-fighting measures?
In the session’s first week, Johnson announced with his Senate Republicans measures to stop service providers from defrauding state agencies. In a DFL-run Senate, these proposals have gone nowhere, except, Johnson said, modernizing the computer systems counties use to process Medicaid and other social service payments.
“I mean, it has a huge price tag,” Johnson said in an interview. “But, to me, that’s an important one that our counties have been asking for.”
There is bipartisan legislation in both the House and Senate for a Human Services Systems Steering Committee to address “human services information technology systems.” But the bill does not appropriate a specific amount of money and spends more time explaining how this steering committee will be run than problems facing outdated IT.
Walz, meanwhile, has proposed not just also studying the matter but spending $25 million next year to “address MAXIS issues and create time saving efficiencies for county workers.” MAXIS is the program used to administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It was (seriously) created in 1989.
Another measure with bipartisan support is adding 18 staff members to the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which currently has 32 staffers. This bill failed last year. But there is growing sentiment that the state must fill the void in prosecuting Medicaid fraud with the U.S. Attorney’s Office overwhelmed.
“I agree that the office should be in line for a significant funding increase to help us shut the door on fraud, especially since dozens of career federal prosecutors have decided they’d rather resign than do Pam Bondi’s bidding,” said Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis.
So, Walz is having a limited impact on this session?
My snark may be premature. The governor’s supplemental budget proposals have not yet been incorporated into bill language. So, issues that you have not been hearing much about – like expanding a child care credit – could come into focus.
But fellow DFLer’s didn’t even give lip service to Walz’s plan to “transform” the Department of Human Services.
Related: Walz’s plan to radically change Medicaid, semi-explained
And many of the retiring governor’s other ideas – like reviving the social media tax proposal and using the revenues to help workers displaced by artificial intelligence – might be a little too, well, far-sighted. We’re just trying to pass an independent IG here.
What about Lisa Demuth?
As she runs for governor, House Speaker Demuth, R-Cold Spring, has kept caucus members in lockstep on committee and House floor votes. But her own proposal to mimic a new federal law that stops taxing tips and overtime wages until 2028 looks doomed.
A House DFL spokesperson said that their caucus would only sign on to the tax cut if it was accompanied by a revenue bump elsewhere, such as increasing taxes on the wealthy. Thus far, Demuth has made clear that she does not want any type of tax hike.
What else might the Legislature do?
Though such a measure has yet to be introduced, legislative leaders are consistent about their desire for a bonding bill.
“I think it’s a high priority for our caucus,” Murphy said. “But it’s certainly a priority for all four caucuses.”
There are also issues too new for partisan viewpoints to be hardened into cement. One is banning AI companion bots for minors.
Another is funding to increase State Capitol security.
Anyone who has frequented the Capitol of late has noticed not just the new metal detectors but familiar faces of security officers clocking serious overtime. Walz’s supplemental budget includes $12 million for year-round weapons screening and hiring 42 new people, which could end the current reliance on overtime work.
If last year is any guide, whatever happens this session will likely be hammered out between Murphy, Demuth, House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, probably Walz and perhaps Johnson in private meetings, and then conveyed to committee leaders.
Murphy said before the recess that she had dinner with Demuth, Stephenson and Johnson.
“It’s the first time we’ve been together really since last session,” Murphy said. “We did not talk on specific issues.”
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