91st Minnesota Legislature

The Ninety-first Minnesota Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota from January 8, 2019 to January 4, 2021. It is composed of the Senate and House of Representatives, based on the results of the 2016 Senate election and 2018 House election. It first convened and held its regular session in Saint Paul from January 8 to May 20, 2019, and from February 11 to May 18, 2020. A special session was held from May 24 to 25, 2019, to pass bills enacting the state budget following an agreement between the governor and legislative leaders during the final weekend of the regular session in 2019.^[1]

Quick Facts Overview, Term ...

Another special session was held from June 12 to 20, 2020, which was required by state law as Governor Tim Walz extended Minnesota's peacetime emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the subsequent protests. Walz and several legislators said they intended to use the special session to address concerns raised by Floyd's murder related to racial inequities in policing,^[2] on which the House and Senate were unable to reach an agreement.^[3]^[4]^[5] They were also unable to reach agreements on a public works borrowing bill, appropriating money from the CARES Act to local governments, and assistance for Minneapolis and Saint Paul for damage caused by riots in those cities.^[5]^[6] Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka had said at the beginning of the special session Republicans would adjourn the Senate by June 19 regardless of whatever legislation had or had not been passed by the Legislature, which House Speaker Melissa Hortman said was an arbitrary deadline.^[7] Gazelka said at the end of the special session a deadline was needed to force discussions and that he was willing to return for another special session when there were agreements on these issues.^[5]

On July 10, 2020, Walz called a third special session that was held from July 13 to 21, 2020, as he again extended the peacetime emergency.^[8] The Legislature passed a bill on police reform, but was unable to reach an agreement on a public works borrowing bill.^[9]^[10] Five more special sessions were called by the Governor throughout the remainder of the year, all of which were to approve the extension of the COVID-19 peacetime emergency. In total, seven special sessions were held this term, the most of any term in state history.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]

Remove ads

Major events

April 3, 2019: Governor Tim Walz delivered his first State of the State Address.^[17]
May 9, 2019: A joint convention of the Senate and House of Representatives was held to elect regents of the University of Minnesota.^[18]
April 5, 2020: Walz delivered his second State of the State Address. Originally scheduled to be held on March 23 in the House chamber, it was postponed and moved to the governor's residence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[19]^[20]

Remove ads

Major legislation

Enacted

April 12, 2019: Hands-free cell phone use while driving act^[21] (Laws 2019, chapter 11)
May 2, 2019: Voluntary relationship defense for criminal sexual conduct repeal act^[22] (Laws 2019, chapter 16)
May 22, 2019: Assisted living act^[23]^[24] (Laws 2019, chapter 60)
May 22, 2019: Opioid addiction prevention and treatment act^[25]^[26] (Laws 2019, chapter 63)
Omnibus appropriations acts:^[27]
- May 22, 2019: Omnibus higher education act^[28] (Laws 2019, chapter 64)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus agriculture, housing, and rural development act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 1)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus transportation act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 3)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus environment and natural resources act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 4)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus judiciary and public safety act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 5)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus jobs, economic development, and energy act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 7)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus health and human services act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 9)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus state government act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 10)
- May 30, 2019: Omnibus education act^[29] (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 11)
May 30, 2019: Omnibus legacy act (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 2)
May 30, 2019: Omnibus tax act^[30] (Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 6)
March 10, 2020: COVID-19 pandemic response act^[31] (Laws 2020, chapter 66)
March 17, 2020: COVID-19 pandemic response act^[32]^[33] (Laws 2020, chapter 70)
March 28, 2020: COVID-19 pandemic response act^[34]^[35] (Laws 2020, chapter 71)
April 7, 2020: COVID-19 first responders workers' compensation act^[36]^[37] (Laws 2020, chapter 72)
April 15, 2020: Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act^[38]^[39] (Laws 2020, chapter 73)
April 15, 2020: COVID-19 pandemic response act^[40]^[41] (Laws 2020, chapter 74)
May 12, 2020: 2020 elections special procedures act^[42] (Laws 2020, chapter 77)
May 27, 2020: Outdoor heritage fund appropriations act (Laws 2020, chapter 104)
July 23, 2020: Police reform act^[43]^[44] (Laws 2020, Second Special Session chapter 1)
October 21, 2020: Omnibus capital investment "bonding" act^[45] (Laws 2020, Fifth Special Session chapter 3)

Proposed

Boldface indicates the bill was passed by its house of origin.

Clean Energy First Act^[46] (H.F. No. 1405/S.F. No. 1456)
Energy Conservation and Optimization Act of 2020^[46] (H.F. No. 4502/S.F. No. 4409)
Extreme risk protection order bill^[47] (H.F. No. 9/S.F. No. 436)
Family leave insurance bill^[48] (H.F. No. 5/S.F. No. 1060)
Firearm transfer background check bill^[47] (H.F. No. 8/S.F. No. 3426)
Omnibus environment and natural resources bill^[49]^[50]^[51] (H.F. No. 4554/S.F. No. 4499)
Proposed constitutional amendment establishing a fundamental right to a quality public education bill^[52]^[53] (H.F. No. 3658/S.F. No. 3977)
Recreational cannabis bill^[54]^[55] (H.F. No. 420/S.F. No. 619)
Voting rights restoration for felons bill^[56]^[57] (H.F. No. 40/S.F. No. 856)

Remove ads

Political composition

Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Changes in membership" section below.

Senate

Thumb — **Senate composition**
  35 Republican

  30 DFL

  2 Independent

More information Party (Shading indicates majority caucus), Total ...

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)	Total	Vacant

Republican	Democratic– Farmer–Labor	Independent
End of the previous Legislature	34	32	0	66	1

Begin (January 8, 2019)	34	32	0	66	1
February 13, 2019	35	67	0
November 18, 2020	30	2	67	0
Latest voting share	52.2%	44.8%	3%

House of Representatives

More information Party (Shading indicates majority caucus), Total ...

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)	Total	Vacant

Democratic– Farmer–Labor	Republican
Republican Caucus	New Republican Caucus
End of the previous Legislature	55	75	0	130	4

Begin (January 8, 2019)	74	55	4	133	1
January 10, 2019	75	134	0
February 12, 2019	54	133	1
March 27, 2019	55	134	0
November 16, 2019	74	133	1
December 6, 2019	54	132	2
February 11, 2020	75	55	134	0
Latest voting share	56%	41%	3%

Remove ads

Leadership

Senate

President:
- Jeremy Miller (R)^[58] (until November 12, 2020)
- David Tomassoni (I) (from November 12, 2020)
President pro tempore: Mary Kiffmeyer (R)^[59]

Majority (Republican) leadership

Majority Leader: Paul Gazelka^[58]
Deputy Majority Leader: Michelle Benson^[60]
Assistant Majority Leaders:^[60]
Majority Whips:^[61]
- John Jasinski
- Eric Pratt

Minority (DFL) leadership

Minority Leader:
- Tom Bakk^[58] (until February 1, 2020)^[62]
- Susan Kent (from February 1, 2020)^[62]
Assistant Minority Leaders:^[61]
- Nick Frentz (from February 7, 2020)^[63]
- Jeff Hayden
- Susan Kent (until February 1, 2020)^[62]
- Carolyn Laine
- Erik Simonson (from February 7, 2020)^[63]
Minority Whips:^[61]

House of Representatives

Speaker: Melissa Hortman (DFL)^[58]
Speakers pro tempore:^[64]
- Gene Pelowski (DFL)
- Paul Marquart (DFL)
- Jeanne Poppe (DFL)
- Liz Olson (DFL)
- Laurie Halverson (DFL)
- Tony Albright (R)

Majority (DFL) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Minority Leader: Kurt Daudt^[66]
Deputy Minority Leader: Anne Neu^[67]
Minority Whip: Dan Fabian^[67]
Assistant Minority Leaders:^[67]

Remove ads

Members

Summarize

Perspective

House of Representatives

On December 8, 2018, four Republican members of the House (Reps. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, Cal Bahr of East Bethel, Tim Miller of Prinsburg, Jeremy Munson of Lake Crystal) announced that they would not join the Republican caucus in the 91st Legislature and instead would form a new caucus, called the "New Republican Caucus." They cited displeasure with "the attitudes and actions by [Leader Daudt] and some of his supporters" and said they still consider themselves to be members of the Republican Party.^[68]

Religious composition

Over half of the 91st legislature identify as Christian, 3% identify as Jewish, and 42% refused to state their affiliation. The single largest religious denomination are Lutherans with 39 members; 21 in the house (15.6%), and 18 in the senate (26.9%).

More information Religion, Group ...

Self-reported religious affiliation^[69]
Religion	Group	No. of members	% of members
Christians	Lutherans	39 / 201	19.4%
Roman or Eastern Catholics	29 / 201	14.4%
Methodists	6 / 201	3%
Baptists	4 / 201	2%
Episcopalians	4 / 201	2%
Mormons (LDS Church)	1 / 201	0.5%
Other Christians	23 / 201	11.4%
Jews	6 / 201	3%
Muslims	2 / 201	1%
Unitarian Universalists	1 / 201	0.5%
Unknown/Refused to state	84 / 201	41.8%
Unaffiliated	0 / 201	0%

Minority composition

22 legislators identified themselves or were identified in a newspaper or book as a member of a minority group.

More information Minority status, No. of members ...

Self-reported minority legislators^[69]
Minority status	No. of members	% of members	% of MN
Not a minority	179	89.1	78.3
A minority	22	10.9	21.7
	Hispanic	7	3.5	6.2
Hmong	6	3	1.5
Black (ex. Somali)	4	2	5.7
Somali	2	1	1.4
American Indian	2	1	1.2

Remove ads

Changes in membership

Summarize

Perspective

Senate

More information District, Vacated by ...

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date successor seated
11	Tony Lourey (DFL)	Resigned effective on January 3, 2019, to become commissioner of human services.^[70] A special election was held on February 5, 2019.	Jason Rarick (R)	February 13, 2019
14	Jerry Relph (R)	Died due to complications from COVID-19.^[71] Relph, who had been defeated in the November general election, was replaced when the 92nd Minnesota Legislature convened.	Aric Putnam (DFL)	January 5, 2021

House of Representatives

More information District, Vacated by ...

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date successor seated
57A	Vacant	Hospitalized due to an infection.^[72]	Robert Bierman (DFL)	January 10, 2019
11B	Jason Rarick (R)	Resigned effective on February 12, 2019, to assume Minnesota Senate seat.^[73] A special election was held on March 19, 2019.	Nathan Nelson (R)	March 27, 2019
60A	Diane Loeffler (DFL)	Died of cancer on November 16, 2019.^[74] A special election was held on February 4, 2020.	Sydney Jordan (DFL)	February 11, 2020
30A	Nick Zerwas (R)	Resigned effective on December 6, 2019, to spend more time with his family and to seek employment outside of the Legislature.^[75] A special election was held on February 4, 2020.	Paul Novotny (R)	February 11, 2020

Remove ads

Committees

Senate

More information Committee, Chair ...

Committee^[76]	Chair	Vice Chair	DFL Lead
Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Finance	Torrey Westrom	Mark Johnson	Kari Dziedzic
Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy	Bill Weber	Mike Goggin	Foung Hawj
Capital Investment	Dave Senjem	Scott Newman	Sandy Pappas
Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy	Gary Dahms	Karin Housley	Dan Sparks
E–12 Education Finance and Policy	Carla Nelson	Gary Dahms	Chuck Wiger
Energy and Utilities Finance and Policy	David Osmek	Andrew Mathews	Erik Simonson
Environment and Natural Resources Finance	Bill Ingebrigtsen	Carrie Ruud	David Tomassoni
Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance	Carrie Ruud	Bill Weber	Chris Eaton
Family Care and Aging	Karin Housley	Jerry Relph	Kent Eken
Finance	Julie Rosen	Bill Ingebrigtsen	Dick Cohen
Health and Human Services Finance and Policy	Michelle Benson	Scott Jensen	John Marty
Higher Education Finance and Policy	Paul Anderson	Rich Draheim	Greg Clausen
Human Services Reform Finance and Policy	Jim Abeler	Paul Utke	Jeff Hayden
Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy	Eric Pratt	Justin Eichorn	Bobby Joe Champion
Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy	Warren Limmer	Dan Hall	Ron Latz
Local Government	Dan Hall	Bruce Anderson	Patricia Torres Ray
Rules and Administration	Paul Gazelka	Michelle Benson	Tom Bakk
Subcommittees^[77]	Committees	Paul Gazelka
Conference Committees	Paul Gazelka
Ethical Conduct	Jeremy Miller
Litigation Expenses	Scott Newman
Permanent and Joint Rules^{[nb 1]}	Jeremy Miller
State Government Finance and Policy and Elections	Mary Kiffmeyer	Mark Koran	Jim Carlson
Taxes	Roger Chamberlain	Dave Senjem	Ann Rest
Transportation Finance and Policy	Scott Newman	John Jasinski	Scott Dibble
Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy	Bruce Anderson	Andrew Lang	Jerry Newton
Select Committees
Home Ownership Affordability and Availability^{[nb 2]}	Rich Draheim

House of Representatives

More information Committee, Chair ...

Committee^[80]	Chair	Vice Chair	Republican Lead
Commerce	Laurie Halverson	Zack Stephenson	Tim O'Driscoll
Education Policy	Cheryl Youakim	Mary Kunesh-Podein	Sondra Erickson
Environment and Natural Resources Policy	John Persell	Jamie Becker-Finn	Dale Lueck
Ethics	Mary Murphy		Sondra Erickson
Government Operations	Mike Freiberg	Duane Sauke	Nick Zerwas^{[nb 3]}
Duane Quam^{[nb 4]}
Subcommittees	Elections	Raymond Dehn	Kristin Bahner	Jim Nash
Local Government	Sandra Masin	Steve Elkins	Joe McDonald
Health and Human Services Policy	Rena Moran	Kelly Morrison	Deb Kiel
Labor	Mike Sundin	Erin Koegel	Jason Rarick^{[nb 5]}
Bob Vogel^{[nb 6]}
Rules and Legislative Administration	Ryan Winkler	Kaohly Her	Kurt Daudt
Subcommittee	Legislative Process Reform	Gene Pelowski		Linda Runbeck
Taxes	Paul Marquart	Dave Lislegard	Greg Davids
Division	Property and Local Tax	Diane Loeffler^{[nb 7]}	Samantha Vang	Jerry Hertaus
Andrew Carlson^{[nb 8]}
Ways and Means	Lyndon Carlson	Liz Olson	Pat Garofalo
Divisions	Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy	Jeanne Poppe	Jeff Brand	Rod Hamilton
Capital Investment	Mary Murphy	Fue Lee	Dean Urdahl
Education Finance	Jim Davnie	Julie Sandstede	Ron Kresha
Subdivision	Early Childhood Finance and Policy	Dave Pinto	Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn	Mary Franson
Environment and Natural Resources Finance	Rick Hansen	Anne Claflin	Dan Fabian
Subdivision	Water	Peter Fischer	Steve Sandell	Josh Heintzeman
Energy and Climate Finance and Policy	Jean Wagenius	Jamie Long	Chris Swedzinski
Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development Finance	Gene Pelowski	Ben Lien	Paul Anderson
Health and Human Services Finance	Tina Liebling	Alice Mann	Joe Schomacker
Subdivisions	Early Childhood Finance and Policy	Dave Pinto	Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn	Mary Franson
Long-Term Care	Jennifer Schultz	Todd Lippert	Glenn Gruenhagen
Higher Education Finance and Policy	Connie Bernardy	Laurie Pryor	Bud Nornes
Housing Finance and Policy	Alice Hausman	Michael Howard	Tama Theis
Jobs and Economic Development Finance	Tim Mahoney	Mohamud Noor	Bob Gunther
Judiciary Finance and Civil Law	John Lesch	Kelly Moller	Peggy Scott
Legacy Finance	Leon Lillie	Ami Wazlawik	Josh Heintzeman
Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy	Carlos Mariani	Heather Edelson	Brian Johnson
Subdivision	Corrections	Jack Considine	Dan Wolgamott	Marion O'Neill
State Government Finance	Mike Nelson	Andrew Carlson^{[nb 9]}	Tony Albright
Ginny Klevorn^{[nb 10]}
Transportation Finance and Policy	Frank Hornstein	Brad Tabke	Paul Torkelson
Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy	Rob Ecklund	Jay Xiong	Bob Dettmer
Select Committees
Minnesota's Pandemic Response and Rebuilding^{[nb 11]}	Melissa Hortman	Ryan Winkler

Remove ads

Administrative officers

Senate

Secretary: Cal Ludeman^[59]
First Assistant Secretary: Colleen Pacheco^[59]
Second Assistant Secretary: Mike Linn^[59]
Engrossing Secretary: Melissa Mapes^[59]
Sergeant at Arms: Sven Lindquist^[59]
Assistant Sergeant at Arms: Marilyn Logan^[59]
Chaplain: Mike Smith^[59]

House of Representatives

Chief Clerk: Patrick Murphy^[64]
First Assistant Chief Clerk: Tim Johnson^[64]
Second Assistant Chief Clerk: Gail Romanowski^[64]
Chief Sergeant at Arms: Bob Meyerson^[64]
Assistant Sergeant at Arms: Erica Brynildson^[64]
Assistant Sergeant at Arms: Andrew Olson^[64]
Index Clerk: Carl Hamre^[64]

Remove ads

Notes

[N 1]
Established January 30, 2019.^[78]
[N 2]
Established May 14, 2019. Dissolved May 17, 2020.^[79]
[N 3]
Until December 6, 2019.
[N 4]
From February 11, 2020.
[N 5]
Until February 12, 2019.
[N 6]
From February 13, 2019.^[81]
[N 7]
Until November 16, 2019.
[N 8]
From January 10, 2020.^[82]
[N 9]
Until February 11, 2020.^[83]
[N 10]
From February 11, 2020.^[83]
[N 11]
Established May 12, 2020.^[84]

References

Loading content...

External links

Loading content...

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads