Minnesota Legislature Adjourns, Special Session Unclear

May 26, 2022

The Minnesota Legislature ended its session earlier this week without passing many of the major spending and tax bills, or a bonding bill. This leaves much of the state’s record $9 billion budget surplus unspent. As of this update, there has been no announcement of whether there would be a special session or when it would be. 

Going into the May 23 deadline, legislators met continuously to work out the details of an agreed upon framework announced by the governor and legislative leadership last week. The framework included roughly $4 billion in additional state spending, a $4 billion tax cut deal, and a $1.4 billion bonding bill. The Legislature found agreement on the $4 billion statewide tax deal. However, the details of what would go into the state spending bills were never worked out, leaving neither passed into law. 

Specifically, a compromise on spending items in the health and human services, E-12 education, public safety, and transportation bills were never reached; not to mention a compromise on a bonding bill to pay for new capital improvement projects. 

The failure to find compromise sparked a slew of partisan finger pointing, as the House would not begin the process of passing an agreed upon tax deal if the Senate would not budge on state spending provisions. If there is continued desire to pass these items this year, a special session will need to be called. 

House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) publicly encouraged Gov. Tim Walz to call a one-day special session to continue to work on a deal. Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) said Republicans are not interested in coming back. 

Walz announced that he is open to calling a special session, but only with agreement on both sides to tie loose ends on major spending proposals.