As the legislative session begins, House GOP leaders are speaking out about what they feel should should be accomplished the first week of session.
This is Minnesota’s 93rd annual legislative session, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have already started introducing proposals.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) says "repairing the damage" from 2023 is a main objective for them after the DFL trifecta in the House, Senate and in the Governor's Office passed a record $72 billion budget. And in the process, making Republicans feel left out of the process.
"I mean, there's so much that was damaged last year, whether you're talking about mandates or whether you're talking about the mandates on schools or business, families, the extreme legislation that was passed in so many different respects last year," says Johnson.
Republican Senator Zach Duckworth (Lakeville) says, in particular, he hopes to see bipartisan support for fixing the language in the current School Resource Officer laws.
"Because we're following the legislative process, we will end up with a better product that actually does take a look at the issue at hand," says Duckworth.
New Senate Majority Leader Senator Erin Murphy (DFL- St. Paul) says certain proposals like the one for physician assisted death could take longer to get passed.
"I expect that it's going to take time for us as a people, as Minnesotans, to reconcile the way we feel and what we think about that legislation," Murphy explains. "So we're at the beginning of a process that will probably take more than one year."
A look ahead at the session, which ends May 20, includes proposals for a ban on assault weapons, sports betting, and cannabis regulation.
