Legislature Reaches Full Complement—

For about three days this week, all 201 legislative seats, 134 House members and 67 Senators, were filled for the first time in 2025. The week began with David Gottfried, the winner of the 40B special election, being sworn into the House on Monday. Gottfried’s swearing in brought the House to a 67-67 tie and triggered the Power Sharing agreement between House Republicans and DFLers signed on February 5. Under this agreement, the DFL was restored to parity on all House committees, except the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, and committee gavels began rotating between Republican and DFL Committee Chairs.

—But Only for a Few Days

While the week began with a new member of the Legislature, it ended with the resignation of another. Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) was arrested in Bloomington about two hours after Rep. Gottfried was sworn in. He has been charged in federal court with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor after he allegedly tried to solicit sex from a 17-year-old girl who turned out to be an undercover Bloomington police officer. Sen. Eichorn resigned approximately an hour before the start of Senate floor session on Thursday in which the Senate was poised to vote to expel him. With Eichorn’s resignation, the DFL holds a two-seat majority, 34-32. There is no word yet on when a special election to replace him will be held.

Governor Walz Townhall Tour (and a Supplemental Budget)

For the past week, Governor Tim Walz has been travelling to other states holding townhall-style meetings in Republican Congressional districts where the respective member of Congress is not holding townhalls. Minnesota Republicans and the media have been quick to criticize him—Republicans stating that he should be more concerned about taking care of Minnesota, and the media wishing that he would hold media availability in Minnesota. Both will get their wish, as Gov. Walz is set to release his supplemental budget proposal today and will hold his first townhall since being elected Governor on Saturday in Rochester.

High Number of Hopeful Cannabis Licensees

Over the weekend, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) closed the application window for the first round of licenses, including both social equity and general license applications that were submitted in the past month. Between the 10 license types available, OCM received more than 2,000 applications, including 1,322 applications for microbusinesses. While four of the license types have caps on the overall number of licenses that can be granted, the microbusiness license, which allows for a vertically integrated business from seed to sale, is not capped. The legislature continues to consider legislation to tweak the fledgling industry.

Calendar Reminders

With just two weeks remaining before the first and second committee deadlines, we thought a reminder of important upcoming dates would be helpful:

  • March 29-31: Legislative Break, Eid
  • April 1: House plans to release budget targets by this date
  • April 4, 5:00 p.m.: First and Second Committee Deadline (Policy)
  • April 5: Senate plans to release budget targets by this date
  • April 11, 12:00 noon: Third Committee Deadline (Major appropriation and finance bills)
  • April 12-21: Legislative Break, Passover and Easter (Break ends at noon on Monday, April 21)
  • May 19: Last day of the legislative session
  • July 1: Government shutdown begins if new budget isn’t enacted

March 21, 2025