Legislative Update: The House’s Power-Sharing Agreement

Dear Neighbors, 

As I'm sure many of you have heard already, the Minnesota House is now organized and committees will start meeting on Monday. 

Prior to the start of this year’s session and the DFL denial of quorum, we were engaged in intense negotiations with our Republican counterparts. Our last offer before the start of session on Jan 14th to the Republicans was publicly released, which you can find here. It was refused, and we all witnessed the unconstitutional actions by the Republicans that followed.

As you can see from our January offer, my DFL colleagues and I stood firm on two immovable positions:

1. DFL State Rep. Brad Tabke must be allowed to serve. He had won a very close election in Shakopee that was upheld in a recount and by the courts. House Republicans wanted to kick him out just because it’d give them a better shot at winning that seat.
2. In the likely event that the March special election in Roseville returns the House to a tie, then we should govern the House as such - with co-chairs and balanced membership on our committees.

I’m excited to share that the DFL fight for democracy was successful, and these positions were adopted in our power-sharing agreement.

As part of the deal, Republican Lisa Demuth will serve as Speaker of the House for the next two years, with checks and balances on her power put in place. Republicans will also chair committees until the tie is reached - though DFL support is still required to pass any bill. These elements were also largely the same as our January offer.

While I’m glad a deal was reached, it took House Republicans exhausting their power-grabbing tactics before they decided to agree to a deal that could’ve been reached nearly a month ago. I think Minnesotans will remember that.

Hitting the Ground Running

With the 2025 Legislative Session truly underway and committees meeting next week, I want to thank the community leaders, advocates, and organizations that worked with me in Mankato and around the state these last few weeks to ensure that we can hit the ground running in the Minnesota House.

Like last week, when I met with the folks at Partners for Housing. Minnesota is in a housing crisis, and we're only going to get out of it if we become serious about supporting affordable, accessible homes. Partners for Housing is no stranger to the struggles we face in Mankato when it comes to housing insecurity, and I thank them for their efforts and for discussing the work ahead.

I also stopped at Planned Parenthood’s Mankato Health Center, which is crucial in providing quality, affordable care to our community and beyond, with people driving over 300 miles for the care they need. From reproductive health care to cancer screenings, they provide an amazing community resource.

I want to thank them for inviting me to tour their facility and discuss the health care needs of Mankato and the entire region.

A stop outside our district included a trip to the Lower Sioux Indian Community to chat about their political priorities.

Their band is one of four Dakota Tribes in southern Minnesota, referring to their traditional Minnesota River Valley homeland as Cansa’yapi (where they marked the trees red).

These visits and more are crucial in shaping our legislative agenda, especially as we work to build a state that works for all Minnesotans. Thank you again to everyone that ensured we were able to successfully utilize these last few weeks while Republicans were “playing House.”

Stay connected with the Legislature

Now that we’re constitutionally organized, the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services will once again be offering nonpartisan recaps of high-profile bills, committee hearings, and floor sessions with their Session Daily publication. Subscribe to receive these here. To track bills of interest through the legislative process, I encourage you to utilize the MyBills feature on the Minnesota House of Representatives’ website. You can also visit my House of Representatives website.

I welcome your questions and comments anytime. You can send an email to rep.luke.frederick@house.mn.gov or call me at (651) 296-3248. Also, please visit and “like” my Facebook page for more Capitol and community updates.

Thank you for the privilege of representing you in the legislature.

Sincerely, 

Luke Frederick

State Representative