A recap of this week in the Minnesota House

Neighbors,  

I’m writing to you today with troubling news. This week, Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives expected me to break my oath of office. I refuse. 

Minnesotans voted for a tied Minnesota House this past November: 67 seats were won by Republicans and 67 seats were won by Democrats. As you can imagine, neither party was thrilled with this result, but to quote Republican caucus leader Lisa Demuth, the “voters of Minnesota sent a tie to the House of Representatives.” Minnesotans expect us – no, are requiring us -- to come together and work for them, and I’m eager to do just that.  

For months our caucuses have been negotiating a power-sharing agreement to work within this odd historic scenario (it’s only the 2nd time it has happened in our state’s history). The talks progressed well, and the leaders jointly announced committees and committee co-chairs with equal membership.  

When news broke of the need for a special election for a vacant seat in a Democratic stronghold, the Republicans abandoned the power sharing agreement and announced their intention to seize control of the Minnesota House for the next two years, despite only having a majority for a little over two weeks. To be clear: once those two weeks are over, no party has enough votes to pass anything without support from the other side, regardless of whose leader is standing at the Speaker’s rostrum. 

However, on Tuesday, January 14th, House Republicans did just that. Secretary of State Steve Simon declared no quorum was present and adjourned the House, as required by the Minnesota Constitution, and yet Republicans illegally seized control and “appointed” themselves to the Speakership, to Chair positions of all committees (leaving all DFL members off of committees entirely), and began pretending to conduct proceedings. Minnesota state law and our Constitution are clear that this was not legitimate House business.  

To make matters worse, Republicans, it seems, are making it a bit of a habit to declare victory in an election they did not win. House Republicans have announced their intention to unseat the elected representative of District 54A, Rep. Brad Tabke, once they claimed their phantom majority status, regardless of the judge that ruled Rep. Tabke won his election and is the duly elected Representative for Shakopee.  

Thankfully, the Minnesota Constitution gives us tools for preventing a rough group of partisan legislators from taking over the legislature: denying quorum. Article 8, Section 13 defines quorum as “a majority of each house” and state law defines a majority as 68 members (see Minnesota Statute 2.021). The reason this section is in our constitution is to stop rogue groups of legislators from trying to make laws outside the bounds of our office; something the Republican caucus is brazenly trying to do now. This means that if even one of us would have shown up to Tuesday’s session, everything the Republicans are doing now would have full, legal basis. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to deny quorum until we can come to a bipartisan agreement. 

Despite these bad-faith displays of partisanship and unwillingness to work together, DFL Speaker-designate Melissa Hortman submitted a good-faith generous power-sharing offer to GOP Rep. Demuth on Monday before session was scheduled to start. Republicans refused and have not returned to the table to so much as submit a counter.  

This should be a time when we begin the important work that Minnesotans elected us to do. Instead, House Republicans are wasting time and resources by playing House just to attempt to unseat a duly elected Representative.  

I’m eager to get to work on the Floor and in committees and begin bipartisan work for Minnesota. We are ready to begin whenever the Republicans are ready to abandon this charade and begin the real work Minnesotans sent us to do. 

Working for Rochester

During this time away from the Capitol, I’ve been busy right here in Rochester. While Republicans pretend to hold Floor Session and committee hearings, all of which will have to be re-done when the Supreme Court nullifies the proceedings, I’ve been utilizing this time to deliver for my community.  

The entire Rochester delegation, Rep. Tina Liebling, Rep. Kim Hicks, and I have been meeting with our legislative partners, local leaders, and of course, constituents. Just this week, I was able to visit the Olmsted Waste-to-Energy Facility as it seeks capital investment to build and equip a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and P-TECH, a pioneering education reform initiative created to prepare young people with the academic, technical, and professional skills required for high-wage, high-skill, and high-need regional careers. We also met with AARP members to discuss their legislative agenda and needs for Rochester and Minnesota, Olmsted County staff, and the Rochester Community Behavioral Health Hospital.   

I've also been hard at work with my DFL colleagues to get legislation ready to ensure we can hit the ground running once a power-sharing agreement is reached.   

If you have any questions or if I can ever be of assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out. Despite the turbulence in Saint Paul, my focus is, and always will be, serving my community.  

Stay Connected!

Unfortunately, due to technological constraints, replies to this newsletter won’t reach my email account. To share your input or ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance, please feel free to reach out at rep.andy.smith@house.mn.gov or 651-296-9249, and I will be happy to help.

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Warmly, 

Andy Smith,
State Representative