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2020 Minnesota legislative session

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Some states made changes to 2020 state legislative sessions and legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
Minnesota: The Minnesota State Legislature suspended some legislative activity, effective March 17, 2020, through April 7, 2020. The legislature adjourned on May 17, 2020. A special session convened on June 12, 2020. The special session adjourned on June 19, 2020. Another special session convened on July 13, 2020, and adjourned on July 21, 2020. A third special session convened on August 12, 2020, and adjourned the same day.
Minnesota State Legislature

Seal of Minnesota.svg
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   February 11, 2020
Website:   Official Legislature Website
Leadership
Senate President:  
Jeremy Miller (R)
House Speaker:  Melissa Hortman (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Paul Gazelka (R)
House: Ryan Winkler (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Thomas Bakk (D)
House: Kurt Daudt (R)
Structure
Members:  67 (Senate), 134 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art IV, Minnesota Constitution
Salary:   $31,141/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Redistricting:  Minnesota Legislature subcommittee has control

In 2020, the Minnesota State Legislature was scheduled to convene on February 11 and adjourn on May 17.

Several state legislatures suspended their sessions or otherwise limited legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Minnesota State Legislature suspended some legislative activity, effective March 17, 2020, through April 7, 2020. Under the suspension, floor sessions and committee hearings were called only "when legislative leaders have agreed-upon legislation that needs to be acted upon." The legislature adjourned on May 17, 2020. A special session convened on June 12, 2020. The special session adjourned on June 19, 2020. Another special session convened on July 13, 2020, and adjourned on July 21, 2020. A third special session convened on August 12, 2020, and adjourned the same day.[1][2]

At the start of the 2020, Minnesota was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 34-33 majority in the Senate and Democrats had a 75-59 majority in the House. Democrats also controlled the governorship, meaning neither party held a state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the Minnesota state Senate.
  • Democrats held a majority in the Minnesota state House.
  • Minnesota was one of 14 states with a divided government.
  • Minnesota’s governor was Democrat Tim Walz.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2016 state Senate and 2018 state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2020

    See also: State government trifectas

    Minnesota was one of 14 states without a state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Minnesota was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Minnesota State Legislature in the 2020 legislative session.

    Minnesota State Senate

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 32
         Republican Party 35
    Total 67

    Between 1992 and 2010, the Minnesota State Senate was controlled by Democrats. Partisan control of the chamber fluctuated, swinging back and forth between the Democratic and Republican parties between 2010 and 2012. Since the 2016 elections, Republicans have controlled the chamber. The table below shows the partisan history of the Minnesota State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2016. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Minnesota State Senate election results: 1992-2016

    Party 92 96 00 02 06 10 12 16
    Democrats 45 42 39 35 44 30 39 33
    Republicans 22 25 27 31 23 37 28 34
    Other 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

    Between 1992 and 2020, majority control of the state Senate changed four times. Democrats controlled the chamber from 1973 until the 2010 elections.[3] In the 2010 elections, Republicans picked up 16 seats and held a 37-30 majority. That Republican majority held until the 2012 elections, when Democrats gained nine seats. Democrats held that majority until the 2016 elections, when Republicans retook control of the chamber. In the 2016 elections, Democrats went from having a 39-28 majority to a 33-34 minority.

    Democrats went from having a 23-seat advantage following the 1992 elections to being at a one-seat disadvantage after the 2016 elections. The last time that Democrats or Republicans held more than the 45 seats required to override a gubernatorial veto was after the 1992 elections. Democrats lost that veto-proof majority in a special election in December 1994.[3]

    Minnesota House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2020
         Democratic Party 75
         Republican Party 59
    Total 134

    Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the Minnesota House of Representatives fluctuated, swinging back and forth between the Democratic and Republican parties. Democrats regained control of the chamber after the 2018 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Minnesota House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Minnesota House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 87 71 70 63 65 52 66 85 87 62 73 62 57 75
    Republicans 47 63 64 71 69 82 68 49 47 72 61 72 77 59

    Between 1992 and 2020, majority control of the state House changed seven times. Democrats controlled the chamber from 1987 until the 1998 election.[4] In 1998, Republicans picked up seven seats in the election. That Republican majority held until the 2006 elections, when Democrats gained 19 seats. The chamber returned to a Republican majority in 2010 after Republicans picked up 25 seats. Democrats regained control of the chamber in the 2012 elections when the party picked up 11 seats. Democrats held that majority until the 2014 elections when Republicans retook control of the chamber. In the 2014 elections, Democrats went from having a 73-61 majority to a 62-72 minority. Republicans increased their majority in the 2016 elections from 73-61 to 77-57 but lost their gains in the 2018 elections as a 75-59 Democratic majority regained power.

    Democrats went from having a 40-seat advantage following the 1992 elections to holding a 16-seat advantage after the 2018 elections. From 1992 to 2020, neither Democrats or Republicans held more than the 90 seats required to override a gubernatorial veto.

    Leadership in 2020

    Minnesota State Senate

    Minnesota House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2020 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2020. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Minnesota state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 37 standing committees in Minnesota's state government, including no joint legislative committees, 16 state Senate committees, and 21 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Minnesota Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article IX of the Minnesota Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Minnesota

    The Minnesota Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. Ratification of amendments proposed by a convention require a 60% supermajority of those voting on the amendment question, while an amendment proposed by the legislature requires a simple majority (50%+1) of those voting in the election.[5]

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Minnesota State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 68 votes in the Minnesota House of Representatives and 34 votes in the Minnesota State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Ratifying an amendment requires a 'Yes' vote from a simple majority of all voters casting a ballot in the election, rather than a simple majority of those voting on the question.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 3 of Article IX of the Minnesota Constitution, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote in each chamber during one legislative session is required to send a constitutional convention question to voters. A simple majority vote by the electorate is required to call the convention. Any proposed amendments approved by the convention require a 60% vote of the electorate to be ratified.



    Historical context: Between 1996 and 2018, the following occurred:

    • A total of 10 measures appeared on statewide ballots.
    • An average of one measure appeared on even-year ballots.
    • The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots ranged from zero to three.
    • Voters approved 80.0 percent (8 of 10) of statewide ballot measures.
    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2018
    Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Even-year average Even-year median Even-year minimum Even-year maximum
    10 8 80.0% 2 20.0% 0.8 0.5 0 3


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Minnesota.

    Minnesota Party Control: 1992-2024
    Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
    Governor R R R R R R R I I I I R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D R R R R R R D D
    House D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D D R R R R D D D D D D

    See also

    Elections Minnesota State Government State Legislatures State Politics
    Ballotpedia Elections Badge-VOTE-no shadow-Square.jpg
    Minnesota State Flag-Close Up.jpg
    State Houses-Tile image.png
    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Redwood Falls Gazette, "Minnesota state legislature suspends its business until April 14," March 22, 2020
    2. ↑ Post Bulletin, "Minnesota Legislature to return Thursday to take up COVID-19 response," March 25, 2020
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Minnesota State Legislature, "Party Control of the Minnesota Senate, 1951-present," accessed October 17, 2017
    4. ↑ Minnesota State Legislature, "Party Control of the Minnesota House of Representatives, 1951-present," accessed October 17, 2017
    5. ↑ The Pink Ballot Statute, 204D.15
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