Drama in St. Paul

Since the Republicans have a temporary one-seat majority in the Minnesota House, Republican leader Lisa Demuth said there is no longer the need for committee co-chairs. “Right now, knowing that there’s not a power-sharing agreement that’s needed because of the fact that we have 67 members and they have 66, we don’t need co-chairs if there is not a tie. Our expectation is Republicans will be chairing the committees.” Meanwhile, House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said her caucus will not be at the Capitol without a power-sharing agreement. With the DFL members, there would be no quorum. “Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, right?” said Hortman. “When you think about what’s going on right now, we’re in negotiations with Republicans, very similar to labor and management when they have negotiations. We are united in our resolve to negotiate with the Republicans and to achieve a power-sharing agreement before the first day of session.”