Dear Neighbor,
The Legislature began a special session this week to complete budget work that went unfinished during the regular session which adjourned in mid-May.
June 30 marks the end of the fiscal year and legislators are working to have a budget in place by then to avoid a state shutdown. With that in mind, the slow start to this special session has been cause for concern among some.
The House has passed zero of the 14 omnibus finance bills as we make our way through the fifth day of special session. Floor sessions were rather short the first three days before nearly 14 hours of discussion on a commerce/energy package took place on Thursday. Then, just before midnight last night, the majority tabled that bill and three others with no votes taking place.
People have asked me what’s going on. Why are House Republicans dragging out this discussion? Are they trying to force a state shutdown?
Let’s back up a second and set the record straight:
First of all, despite all the talk about a budget agreement being reached on the final day of session in mid-May, the House majority still lacks actual finished bills on the vast majority of the budget. While relatively small packages related to commerce/energy, agriculture, the Legacy Amendment and higher education were made available for votes of the full House, roughly 90 percent of the state budget has not been presented in final form. No K-12 bill. No health and human services, taxes or transportation. No public safety and no state government or environment.
In other words, we could have wrapped up business on the four smaller bills on Monday and we’d probably be in the same spot with the state budget unresolved a week and a half before the fiscal year ends and the big bills not yet ready for votes.
As for the lengthy floor sessions, this is largely the result of the process the House majority has put in place. Budget bills comprising the entire $52 billion state budget have not received due diligence and public transparency. Plans largely established by three people – the governor and House/Senate leaders – are getting one sham hearing in Ways and Means and an informational walk-through in only one of the relevant committees.
This is not the transparent process with input from the public the people of Minnesota deserve. Lawmakers in the relevant subject matter committees are unable to amend these bills agreed upon by legislative leaders, meaning no opportunity to offer amendments until bills reach the floor unless House Democrats agree to re-refer these bills to their respective committees. So far, they are unwilling to do so.
For the past 15 months, the governor has served as a one-man executive and legislature. Instead of seeking to bring 201 legislators back into the decision-making process, closed-door budget negotiations of late have just been an extension of what we’ve seen the last year-plus. (On a related note, House Republicans made a 19th effort to end the governor’s emergency powers this week because there is no emergency. House Democrats blocked that move to keep our state of emergency in place.)
That leaves us with two choices: We can either give up, stay quiet and let three people set the state’s next budget, or we can fight like heck for the people we represent. House Republicans have made it clear we are willing to fight the good fight on behalf of the people we represent.
Look for more as the special session unfolds. Hopefully we’ll have some good news regarding bills passing with bipartisan support.
Sincerely,
Matt