Governor Tim Walz (D) greeted lawmakers in both the House and Senate ahead of the start of the 2023 Legislative session, with the governor handing out pumpkin bars as they took their seats.
It's expected to be a busy January with a number of issues to be taken up by lawmakers. By law, they have to balance the budget, but other priorities include tax conformity, public safety, legalizing marijuana and sports betting, as well as potentially codifying abortion rights.
“It feels like it was in 2019 again,” said Governor Walz. “It's full of folks. They're here to express their views whether they agree or disagree. This is what democracy is now.”
The DFL controls the House and the Senate and there is a massive budget surplus. There isn’t complete agreement on how that money should be spent, so it could be challenging at times this session.
Meanwhile, Melissa Hortman (D- Brooklyn Park) was voted in as Speaker of the House, and she told WCCO’s Vineeta Sawkar that the tax conformity bill, with ramifications for social security as well as possible rebate checks, is at the top of the priority list. She says the governor’s focus on child poverty is something she’s wanting to get through quickly.
“I think when we look at how to invest Minnesota’s surplus, we want to think really carefully at the things we can to do address child poverty,”Hortman says.
Hortman says January will be very busy and they intend to work quickly on reproductive freedom laws, and measures to implement more clean energy.
134 Minnesota House members took their oath of office at the capitol today. It's a year with a lot of new faces, and one where Democrats control both chambers, but former Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R- Zimmerman) says that doesn't mean his caucus won't make an impact.
“I think we want to make sure that what this chamber and what the legislature and what state government does for Minnesotans is solve the biggest problems that Minnesotans care about, or are being affected by,” says Daudt. “Whether that’s economic issues, or education issues or whatever, we need to make sure that’s what we’re focused on here. Our job isn’t to be obstructionists, our job is to make sure that we pull the other side in the direction of working together to solve those problems, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
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