Senate DFL , CD3 DFL

Senate DFL End of Session Review: July 9, 2021

Minnesota Senate DFL
End of Session Review

Following the murder of George Floyd and coming amidst the unprecedented public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Legislative Session opened with the opportunity to deliver the transformative change Minnesotans were demanding. Despite the promise of these changes, the 2021 Legislative Session ended with much of this work, and the completion of the two-year budget, undone.

Instead of focusing on the needs of Minnesotans, Senate Republicans focused on hyper-partisan and extreme legislation that would restrict voter access, discriminate against trans youth, reopen schools and businesses without safety plans or resources, and pushed to roll back clean air and water protections. Senate Republicans also continued to push the big lie that our elections were not free and fair, which is a cornerstone to our democracy.

Senate DFL Update: June 18, 2021

First 2021 Special Session Convenes

Senate DFL is committed to getting the work done

Agriculture budget bill sees improvement

Commerce budget focused on consumer protection

Energy budget improves significantly but lacks bold ideas for carbon-free future

Legacy Finance Omnibus Bill agreement positioned to pass the Legislature

Higher education agreement provides more system funding, program aid for students

Senate DFL Week in Review: May 28, 2021

Anniversary of George Floyd’s death
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.

Minnesota observes the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death

Tuesday, May 25, marked one year since George Floyd was murdered at the hands of Minneapolis police officer, Derrick Chauvin, in South Minneapolis. His death brought to the forefront the global consciousness of what Black communities have known about systemic racism and policing for years. Had Darnella Frasier not been there to bear witness to and record the event, it is likely Chauvin would have never faced accountability. Read more >>

Behind closed doors

Much of the work for the next two-year state budget was left unfinished at the close of the 2021 Legislative Session. With general budget spending targets not released until the last day of session, a special session will be needed to finish the work. In the meantime, working groups were assigned to negotiate which spending proposals in each budget conference committee would be included in the final bills. Working groups were expected to have these fiscal spreadsheets completed by May 28 and policy priorities agreed upon by June 4. As of Thursday, May 27, few details have emerged about the status of these negotiations. Read more >>

Senate DFL: Week in Review

Session ends with lots of work left to do
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.

Judiciary budget target received, time for Senate Republicans to come to the table

After initially receiving a $90 million target, $20 million of which was earmarked for the disaster assistance contingency account, DFLers fought to increase new spending for the Judiciary Committee and were able to raise the target to $105 million. This new funding, however, is expected to be stretched very thin, as our communities are demanding changes in our criminal justice and policing systems. Read more >>

Environment budget left in limbo, no progress in negotiations despite hearings

Though the Environment and Natural Resources conference committee met nine times – the House convening six hearings and the Senate three – in the final weeks of session, no progress was made towards working through the differences between the two versions of this year’s policy and budget omnibus bill. Senate Republicans maintained throughout that time that they couldn’t begin working on anything with a financial component to it, despite the many non-general fund financial components contained within the bill. Read more >>

Senate DFL Week in Review: May 14, 2021

Final Days of the Legislative Session
and everything happening in the Legislature this week

A lot of work remains with only a few days left

The Legislature is constitutionally required to adjourn by midnight on May 17, yet Senate Republicans have spent the past week drawing ultimatums and refusing to negotiate on important numbers needed for the Legislature to finish its work on time. Read more >>

Conference committee update

Conference committees for each of the omnibus budget bills continued working this week. In the absence of global budget targets — spending totals that have been agreed upon by the House, governor, and Senate majority — most committees spent time working through policy provisions or items that have no associated cost. Read more >>

Senate DFL Week in Review: May 7, 2021

Voter Identification Bill
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.

Senate Republicans support voter suppression through passage of Voter ID bill

A controversial bill passed the Senate floor this week on a party-line vote to impose onerous voter ID requirements on our future elections. Photo ID requirements—in conjunction with provisional ballots and voter registration purges—have been used by Republicans across the country to disenfranchise voters and make it more difficult for citizens to cast a ballot. Read more >>

House moving forward on police reform legislation, unclear if Senate Republicans will follow

The conference committee tasked with deliberating the 2021 Judiciary Omnibus Bill began its work this week, walking through the Senate and House versions of the bill and the similarities and differences. There is more than 200-page difference between the two bills, with the House having a higher budget target and allowing policy provisions to be included in the bill. Read more >>

Senate DFL Week in Review: April 23, 2021

Guilty verdict for Chauvin
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.

Derek Chauvin found guilty on all charges

A jury in Hennepin County this week found former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin guilty on three charges in the murder of George Floyd: second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin is currently imprisoned and awaiting sentencing, which is expected to happen in about eight weeks. Read more >>

Senate DFL Week in Review: April 16, 2021

2021 Budget Bills on the Floor
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.

Judiciary Budget fails to meet community demands

The Senate this week passed its judiciary budget bill. The committee was given a $90 million target, which allows for some investments in the state’s court and corrections system, and in some public safety requests. Of the target, $20 million of that target was reserved for disaster assistance for our local communities.

The bill, however, is a stark portrait of what the Senate Republican priorities aren’t; the bill contains no policing and criminal justice reform, no justice programs, and little in the way of reducing the intersectional causes behind crime and recidivism. Read more >>

Consumer protection, clean energy absent from Republican budget bill

Senate Republicans passed a budget bill this week intended to address consumer protection and energy issues. Although the name of one of the committees that generated the bill is Commerce and Consumer Protection, the legislation contained little for actual Minnesota consumers. And in sharp contrast to the clean energy priorities of the DFL House and Governor Walz, the bill falls woefully short of funding energy project that will bring the state closer to a carbon-free future. Read more >>

Higher Ed bill passes floor; heads to conference committee

The Senate’s higher education omnibus budget bill passed with a floor vote of 38-29, with most DFLers voting no due to the bill’s low budget target and lack of funding for the coming two years. Read more >>

POCI CAUCUS

Senate Republicans “Worst of the Worst“

Agriculture Committee budget lacking in support for farmers

Senate DFL Week in Review: April 9, 2021

2021 Budget Bills
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.

Budget bills begin to take shape

The first year of the biennium is the year that the Legislature creates a budget to fund state agencies, programs. It is this funding that pays for the essential services that Minnesotans have depended on as we weather the COVID-19 pandemic: the health department that is responsible for testing, vaccinating, and managing the pandemic; the educators who are trying to keep our kids afloat during a crisis; the department administering unemployment and job-retraining for laid off workers. Read more >>

DFL Senators lead in advocacy for legislation to reform Minnesota’s criminal sexual conduct statutes

In March of this year the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in the case State v. Khalil that under current Minnesota law, an individual charged with sexual assault of a person that is mentally incapacitated due to consumption of drugs or alcohol may not be found guilty if the victim is voluntarily intoxicated, due to a poorly written definition found in state statute. Senate DFL members joined House DFL and Republican members for a bipartisan press conference this week to bring attention to legislative solutions proposed in the bill. Read more >>

Senate DFL Mid-Session Update

At the midpoint of the 2021 Legislative Session, the contrast between the priorities of the Senate DFL and Senate Republicans could not be starker. While Senate Republicans have proposed a hyper-partisan agenda, Senate DFLers are fighting for policies to help working families, provide a world-class education, ensure a clean future, and advance our democracy.

Since session has begun this year, Senate Republicans have held hearings on legislation that would restrict voter access, discriminate against a sector of our student athletes, reopen schools and businesses without safety plans or resources, and have pushed to rollback clean air and water protections. Republicans can’t even affirm that our elections are free and fair, which is a cornerstone to our democracy.

Instead of real solutions to address the pandemic while keeping Minnesotans safe, they waste precious time attacking the governor and not doing the legislative work necessary to help our state. They proposed reopening businesses and schools without adequate safety measures or funding in place to keep people safe. Even in the midst of a public health crisis, they ignore and mock the safety practices necessary to mitigate the risks of this pandemic, including at the Senate itself by not wearing masks and putting the health of their colleagues and staff at risk.

Minnesota Senate DFLEnd of Session Review

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First 2021 Special Session Convenes

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POCI CAUCUS

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Minnesota Senate DFL
End of Session Review