Minnesota Report
On January 29th, we wrote the following:
The proposed seven tenets of the Checks & Balances compromise were:
1. Both Rep Lisa DeMuth (R-13A, Cold Spring) and Rep Harry Niska (R-31A, Ramsey) will sign a letter stating support the submission of Election Certificate they will vote on as many ballots as necessary to seat Rep Brad Tabke (DFL-54A, Shakopee) as a full voting member of the 2025-26 Minnesota House of Representatives, and encourage their colleagues to do the same.
2. Both House Leaders DeMuth and Rep Melissa Hortman (DFL-34B, Brooklyn Park) should flip a coin for the Speakers seat.
a. The winner gets to declare which year of the biennium in which they will preside and the opposing leader will become the House floor leader.
b. The two positions will switch at the beginning of the 2026 session.
3. The committee assignments will be equal in number and the partisan staff will be equal in number.
4. The nonpartisan staff will provide the committee support and the chairs will be in rotation each meeting with the gavel changing hands on each subsequent meeting with the incoming chair of the day presenting the agenda at least 24-hours in advance.
5. All department bills will have bipartisan authorship.
6. If and when, a Conference Committee is called for, each side will put forward their respective two members, with one key exception, the person must have voted for their bill in committee and on the floor to be available for consideration as a member.
7. All meetings with the Governor will have both sides present.
Last night, House leader’s Speaker Designate Lisa DeMuth and outgoing Speaker Melissa Hortman announce the structure of their compromise, which entails:
An acceptance of Rep Brad Tabke’s election certificate, but to be followed by an Ethics Committee investigation. To this point, we ask, FOR WHAT, he did nothing wrong! Seems like Republicans need to have a public flogging of Tabke, and if he dares to not show up to this event they could turn around and challenge his validity. Hmmm, quite curious.
Until the results in the 40B election, which Governor Tim Walz (DFL-MN) called for March IIth, are known in the Special Election in Roseville Republicans will retain the gavel and if the DFL prevails, then there will be co-Chairs of all committees except one.
The exception in the power sharing agreement being, there will be another committee create to again publicly flog, Governor Walz, in a Star Chamber Republican led, meaning they have a 5-3 majority, House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee.
The clear victory for the GOP is the lack of opposition to DeMuth’s receipt of Speakership, which was already something the DFL presented before. This will make history with DeMuth becoming the first black woman to hold this position.
Now, we want o be clear, we weren’t in the room, and are not even sure if anyone in the two negotiating teams even read what we wrote, but if not then as they used to say in the Guinness Commercial, we’re just, overwhelming knowledgeable or let us say, “Brilliant.”