Neighbors,  

Things have evolved in the Minnesota House since my last update.  

Last Tuesday, I joined my colleagues in denying quorum to the Republicans due to their refusal to work together on a power-sharing agreement, their intent to unseat a duly elected member of the House, and now, their unlawful activities that are not authorized by the Minnesota Constitution. 

Tuesday, after Secretary of State Steve Simon declared no quorum was present and adjourned the House, Republicans unlawfully seized control and “appointed” themselves to the Speakership, to Chair positions of all committees (leaving all DFL members off of committees entirely), and began pretending to conduct official proceedings. Minnesota state law and our Constitution are clear that this was not legitimate House business, and the DFL has since filed lawsuits against the GOP, asking the Supreme Court to confirm that all of their actions are null and void.    

I refuse to participate in sham proceedings that violate the Minnesota Constitution, which I took an oath to uphold. I also refuse to allow the disenfranchisement of thousands of Minnesotans. Doing so would be a slap in the face to democracy and would undercut the work we did last session to make our voting processes more transparent, fair, accessible, and secure. As your state representative, one of my duties to you is to defend Democracy. None of us thought we would have to stand up to such an imminent threat right here in Minnesota, but House DFLers are being called on to stand up and fight.  

As the House DFL Co-Lead of the Civility Caucus, bipartisanship and civil co-governance is personally a priority for me. I want nothing more than for things at the Capitol to return to business as usual. I want to start committee work and Floor Sessions. I want to work with my Republican colleagues on moving Minnesota forward, which is what Minnesota voters expect from us. It’s time to work together, but to do that, Republicans need to return to the negotiating table. DFL Speaker-designate Melissa Hortman submitted a generous power-sharing offer to GOP Rep. Demuth last Monday, and Republicans have not returned to the table to so much as submit a counter.   

We must not let evolving situations in Washington DC and in the Minnesota House halt our progress towards a more inclusive state. My heart breaks to see both national and state elected officials advance policies that are harmful to our sense of being a community that can thrive if we support one another. Policies that aim to call out whole groups of people based on their gender identity or immigration background intentionally divide us from our neighbors and create an us-versus-them narrative that holds us back from proactive, positive collective action towards the greater good.  

I am proud to be a signatory to this article by my colleague, Rep. Leigh Finke. To quote her words of hope, "As legislators in Minnesota, we are proud of what we have accomplished, and we are prepared to fight to protect those accomplishments."