Minnesota Report
The DFL House Majority and its respective committee chair are suffering from a dosage of fear factor and it stems from the failure of the majority to pass State Aid For Emergencies (SAFE) HF0445 back in February. The fact six member of the DFL Caucus refused tot vote for the bill of which five were either freshmen or sophomores show a distrust for senior members or that the disjointed block flexed the veritable muscles because of the small 70-vote majority margin.
The disrespect show to Rep Carlos Mariani (DFL-65B, St Paul) by Reps Esther Agbaje (DFL-59B, Minneapolis), Aisha Gomez (DFL-62B, Minneapolis), Hodan Hassan (DFL-62A, Minneapolis), Athena Hollins (DFL-66B, St Paul), Jay Xiong (DFL-67B, St Paul) and 5th term member Mike Sundin (DFL-11A, Esko) is palpable. It gives pause to chairs who need comfort in the fact, at minimum, they can get 68 votes.
This is one of the schisms that House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-36B, Brooklyn Park) has to keep in consideration during negotiations.