At noon today, the Minnesota House and Senate gaveled in the 91st legislative session, electing Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) as speaker and House minority leader, respectively. This follows yesterday’s inauguration at the Fitzgerald Theater of Minnesota’s 41st governor, Tim Walz, and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.
At noon today, the Minnesota House and Senate gaveled in the 91st legislative session, electing Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) as speaker and House minority leader, respectively. This follows yesterday’s inauguration at the Fitzgerald Theater of Minnesota’s 41st governor, Tim Walz, and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.
On behalf of the University of Minnesota’s Office of Government and Community Relations, I’m pleased to provide you with the first Government and Community Relations Update of the 2019 session. These updates will review each week’s legislative events, with information on the University’s biennial budget and capital requests and how you can advocate for the University. We hope you’ll find these updates informative and useful.
As attention turns to the State Capitol, many new faces take office. Over 29% of the Minnesota House of Representatives are new legislators. Democrats hold a 75-59 seat majority in the House, and Republicans hold a 34-32 seat majority in the Senate. (There will be a special election on February 5 to fill the Senate seat in District 11, recently vacated by Tony Lourey, whom Governor Walz named as commissioner for human services.) With a DFL House and a Republican Senate, Minnesota now has the only divided legislature in the country.
There is new leadership in the House and Senate Higher Education Committees too. Rep. Connie Bernardy (DFL-New Brighton) is the new chair in the House, and Sen. Paul Anderson (R-Plymouth) is the new chair in the Senate. There is also a new chair of the House Capital Investment Committee: Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown). They will lead committees comprising many new and returning members, with new agendas and priorities. The University will have our first chance to present our Biennial Budget Request before these new committees on January 15, when President Kaler and others testify in the Senate Higher Education Committee.
We hope you will take a moment to learn more about the University’s FY20-21 Biennial Budget Request and 2019 Capital Request at our Government and Community Relations website. There you can learn more about the University’s impact on the state, and can access reports and information supporting our work.
We also encourage you to become an advocate for the University of Minnesota this legislative session. The University’s legislative request is designed to support your work, our students, and Minnesotans in every community across the state. Legislators need to hear from you—their constituents—about why the University matters. We’ve made it easy for you to engage through UMN Advocates, and the state makes it easy to identify your elected officials. Please take a moment to sign up as an advocate and share this resource with your friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
The 91st legislative session must adjourn by May 20 at the latest. Much will be done between now and then. We are grateful for your support for the University of Minnesota at the Capitol in the months ahead.