Business as Usual, Kind Of

The Minnesota Legislature is back in business, but it isn’t business as usual. With nearly all staff and many legislators working remotely, much of the day-to-day work looks and feels different, but both the House and Senate say they are confident that they have processes in place to complete the Legislature’s work. Here’s a sampling of what’s up in St. Paul:

Committee Hearings

With dozens of hearings last week, both the House and Senate have been making good use of the expanded webcast channel offerings. Most hearings have been focused on introductions, broad issue overviews and COVID-19 updates. Schedules are available here for the House and here for the Senate.

Bill Introductions

After a very slow start, the pace of bill introductions is starting to pick up. So far this year, the House has introduced 133 bills, and the Senate a very comparable 135 bills. At this time in the previous biennium, the House had introduced 206 bills to the Senate’s 278. While appreciated by those who think too many bills are introduced, the slow pace is primarily attributable to a backlog in the Revisor’s office and the inability for lobbyists to walk around and actively participate in getting a bill introduced.

Budget News

Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released a positive January economic update. Net general fund receipts again exceeded expectations, and economic indicators also show a likelihood of higher than expected GDP. Long story short, the February forecast (which is the final economic projection that the Legislature will receive and will use for purposes of budgeting) is likely to improve over the previous November forecast, meaning the Legislature is likely to have greater flexibility in its budgeting decisions.

Inauguration

President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office later this week. Due to possible security threats for state capitols across the country, additional security was on-hand over the weekend, and will be throughout the week in St. Paul.

No Session Today

The Capitol and legislative office buildings are closed today in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The rest of the week is expected to be much like last week, with many committees meeting and continuing primarily with overviews.

January 18, 2021