ST. PAUL — Minnesota House leadership held negotiations throughout the weekend and for three hours on Monday, but none gave way to a power-sharing agreement as Democrats continued their boycott on Monday’s floor session while 67 House Republicans demanded punishment.
House Republicans drafted a motion on Monday, Jan. 27 to ask absent Democrats to end their boycott, and for those who remain absent to forgo their legislative salary, but Secretary of State Steve Simon adjourned the House floor before the motion could be heard.
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Simon’s gaveling out on Monday comes after the Minnesota Supreme Court ordered Friday that 68 members of the House — one more than the 67 Republican members — constitute a quorum. Simon's re-appearance as presiding officer of the House on Monday is a formality that is expected to continue until House Republicans and Democrats can reach a power-sharing agreement, ending the Democrat's boycott and allowing a speaker to be elected.
House Leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said in a virtual press conference after Monday’s floor session that she and Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, have exchanged up to 10 power-sharing offers, but haven't reached an agreement yet. Hortman said she remains hopeful that something will be worked out before a special election in March that is expected to return the House to a tie between Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats have offered Republicans full control of speakership and committees, essentially an operational majority, until, and only if, the special election returns the House to a tie. In that case, Democrats ask that Republicans return to a power-sharing agreement of co-chairs and co-speakers.
Another key sticking point in the negotiations is a commitment from Republicans to seat Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee .
“We're working on sheets of paper, and in a way, this is good practice,” Hortman said. “At the end of session, we have to have agreement on a Minnesota state budget that is 10s of billions of dollars, and the agreement between the Democrats and the Republicans in the Minnesota House regarding power sharing is much less complicated than the state budget.”
Demuth contended after the House floor session on Monday that Democrats boycotting “does not help” with any kind of power-sharing agreement.
“I absolutely believe that that dynamic that we're seeing right now, and the contentiousness here in the House of Representatives, that we can find some type of resolution, but people not showing up for work, taking a super secret swear in session two days earlier is not helping with the trust and the ability to negotiate in good faith,” Demuth said.
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The decision from the Supreme Court that 68 constitutes a quorum — meaning Republicans need Democrats to show up in order to introduce bills, elect committee chairs and speakership — may not be an end to the deadlock in the House.
Hortman has stated two main reasons for why they are denying quorum, because Republicans are threatening to unseat Tabke and because a power-sharing agreement is necessary given a special election for a currently vacant House seat in Roseville is likely to return the House to a 67-67 tie.
Without these assurances, Democrats likely won’t return until the special election which is expected in early March according to Gov. Tim Walz’s office.
Tabke was the tipping point for Democrats deciding to boycott, Hortman said. After a judge ruled in mid-January that despite 20 missing ballots evidence shows Tabke won the house seat 54A in Shakopee, Republicans continue to threaten to throw out Tabke.
Republicans only need their 67 votes to unseat Tabke, since Tabke would not be allowed to vote on his own seat’s fate, a majority would constitute 67.
Tabke currently makes up the 66 Democrats currently elected. If Republicans successfully unseated Tabke, and can win either the special election in Roseville or a newly triggered special election in Shakopee for Tabke’s seat, they would have a 68-66 majority. This 68 majority would constitute a quorum and is enough to pass bills.
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