Hampered Legislature is back in court this week

It’s a bit of deja vu as the Minnesota Legislature enters week 4 of its session, with another lawsuit over the power standoff headed to the state’s highest court.

The slow start to the year could come back to haunt lawmakers who are seeing weeks slip by without making much progress. They have until May 19 to complete a new budget and other work on time or they’ll risk spilling into an overtime session and could flirt with a government shutdown.

While the Senate has been chugging along, the House remains stuck. Floor sessions have run just a few minutes long and committees can’t even operate.

What to know about what’s on tap::

Supreme Court takes another look 

House Republicans pushed a weeks-long dispute back in the laps of Minnesota’s Supreme Court justices after an initial ruling failed to break a stalemate.

Those justices had pushed the matter back to House members after ruling it takes 68 members to do any business, what’s known as a quorum. Republicans, with their 67 members, can’t achieve that threshold on their own.

Last week, DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon entered the House chamber and quickly moved to adjourn after only 67 members marked themselves present. The 66 Democrats are boycotting the start of session over stalled talks about a power-sharing arrangement and the seating of a member who won a close election.

Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, stood with arms crossed and in frustration seeking to be recognized by Simon to no avail. He wants to introduce a measure to dock pay of Democrats for not showing up to the Capitol. On Thursday, Republicans sought the intervention of the court.

“We have had motions at the desk every single day that are specifically within the power of a lesser number than a quorum, to do under the Minnesota Constitution,” Niska said. “[Simon] has overstepped his authority as the presiding officer.”

Simon’s office said he won’t comment on the pending litigation but pointed to earlier legal analysis his office provided lawmakers that “absent a quorum and an organized House of Representatives, the only item in order is adjournment.”

Written briefs are due early this week. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Thursday. 

Special election could be called

The outer bounds of the power standoff in the House will become clear this week.

Gov. Tim Walz is expected to schedule a special election for an open House seat, which had been on the calendar for Jan. 28 but was canceled by the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Walz didn’t follow proper protocol for setting the date.

Republican leader Rep. Lisa Demuth and Democratic leader Rep. Melissa Hortman both said last week they’re willing to continue power sharing talks but accused the other of not cooperating.

Currently, Republicans have 67 seats and Democrats have 66 because of a vacant seat. A Democrat initially won the Roseville/Shoreview area seat in November but was disqualified after falling short in a residency challenge. 

Walz has the sole authority to order the special election to fill the seat. 

The date is almost certain to be mid-March, which could mean Democrats won’t be at the Capitol until then, barring an agreement or decision among members of their caucus to end their holdout.

Complicating matters is another seat that a Democrat won by 14 votes. Republican leaders have not agreed they will seat Rep. Brad Tabke. They argue there were irregularities they might further explore because of 20 ballots missing. That’s despite a judge’s finding after a trial that Tabke’s victory stood, citing testimony from affected voters that would have made it impossible for Republican challenger Aaron Paul to overtake Tabke.

Meanwhile, House members cannot introduce bills or go to committee meetings until Democrats show up. They can only hold press conferences and talk about their priorities. 

Republican Party leader: Recall effort will proceed

The stalled House is a source of intense political back-and-forth.

Democrats contend Republicans are unwilling to recognize the victory of Tabke and are engaged in a power grab. Republicans accuse DFLers of leaving their constituents and the state in a lurch by not showing up at the Capitol.

The Republican Party threatened last month to seek recall elections against holdout Democrats. As of last week, no signature petitions had been filed with the secretary of state’s office, the first stop in a lengthy process that would also involve the courts.

Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash said the effort hasn’t been abandoned and the party would begin turning in signatures as soon as this week.

“We’ll get the activists out throughout the state that we know and start the drive for a recall petition for each of those seats,” he said Friday.

Given the process, the session could be long over before any recall election, assuming any meets the standards set out in law.

DFL takes control of the Senate again

Soon-to-be Sen. Doran Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, should have his election certificate in hand this week.

That will allow him to take office and break the 33-33 tie between the parties in the Minnesota Senate. Once he’s sworn in, that will likely be the end of the power-sharing we’ve seen there since Jan. 14.

The arrangement had meant committees were jointly run by the two parties, with the gavel switching hands between committee hearings. There were co-presidents on the floor, which meant both parties were at least consulted on key rulings. The Senate also limited action to two days a week on the floor and kept the agenda slim.

DFLers say they still hope to cooperate with Senate Republicans this session, but the shift would give the DFL a clear majority.

MPR News reporter Peter Cox contributed to this story.