Latest news with #Demuth
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth reflects on 2025 session, historic speakership
Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth hands off a booklet of revisions from the Minnesota Senate near the end of a late-night special legislative session Monday, June 9, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, was elected to the Legislature in 2018, and she's served as the House's Republican leader since 2023. Before Demuth could even grasp the speaker's gavel, the 2025 legislative session had a rancorous start. A judge ruled one of the newly elected Democrats ineligible for office because he didn't live in the district, and Republicans sought to use a temporary 67-66 advantage to win full control by threatening to unseat another Democrat, Rep. Brad Tabke, who won a contested race. To prevent this usurpation, Democrats boycotted the session for three weeks and litigation ensued until the two sides came to an agreement: seat Tabke and Republicans could claim the speakership for the whole two-year session. Demuth won the speakership under extraordinary circumstances, and she used her caucus' power of exactly half of the House to force the DFL to roll back one of their signature policies — state-subsidized health insurance for undocumented immigrants. House Republicans also blocked numerous tax increases proposed by the DFL. Long negotiations in the split Legislature caused the session to go into overtime, and lawmakers wrapped up their work and passed a $66 billion budget in a one-day special session on Monday. The Reformer interviewed Demuth this week and asked her to reflect on the unorthodox session. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Because of the special session and so many things, it has been full of learning all the way through. There hasn't been a time that I'm like, 'Okay, I got this.' Things kept changing, and the historical nature of a tie for the second time in history. When the Democrats decided to finally show up, I was elected as speaker. I don't usually go down this road, but there was a historical piece: me being elected speaker as the first Republican woman to ever hold that role. But not just that, the first person of color to hold that for either party ever in the chamber. But unfortunately, our Democrat colleagues chose not to appreciate the historical nature of that and voted against me, even though I still became the speaker for two years. They literally voted against the first person of color to ever hold that office, even though they say that is a very important thing. Watching us come together and being able to, as I mentioned, do good work before the deadline. Democrats and Republicans coming together, making sure that our state has what it needs to be safe and to make some meaningful changes that will strengthen that going forward. We really tried to attack the overspending that we saw over the last two years, trying to get ahold of the state budget, not wanting Minnesota families to experience higher costs. We heard Democrats say on the last day of special session, 'We needed more revenue.' That translates to me that they missed the opportunity to raise taxes like they wanted to. The other thing is, again, I was sworn in as speaker. Being the first Black speaker ever, I was also sworn in by Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, who is the first Black president of the Senate. I think that moment was very historic. I appreciate you saying that I've emphasized merit, and I will always do that. When I'm reflecting over this session and looking at the historical things that have happened, that is a historical piece. I'm looking forward to when people are no longer surprised by the fact that a woman is the first whatever or the first person of color or Black person being where I am. But somebody needed to start it, and in this case — the first Republican woman and the first Black speaker, Republican or Democrat — I have set that standard now, and I'm looking forward to others following after me. You're right. I don't lead with that. My Democrat colleagues always focus on race or gender, and in this case they chose to completely ignore it because I'm a Republican. We really rejected the tax increases that would cover Minnesota families overall. Yes, there is a tax increase from 10% to 15% on cannabis. But Democrats wanted a fifth income tax tier. The governor had pushed for new sales taxes on services that were never taxed before. We really held the line on that. On data centers, we were able to secure a longer timeline for their sales tax exemption. That is a true sign of a compromise. Perfect? Probably not, but a true sign of a compromise is that no one side gets absolutely everything they wanted. I always have to laugh when I get that question. If you would have asked me back in the early 2000s if I would ever think about running for school board, I would have told you I haven't thought about it. Yet I did run for school board. I remember when I was asked about running for the Legislature, I had never thought about it. And so I'm telling you, I'm not saying I'm running for governor at all. I'm not telling you that, but I would have been foolish to have said 'no' to anything in the past. So I'm not telling you yes. Obviously, we're looking at the 2026 election and so I'll be doing a lot of heavy work. Even though the tie has been great for Republicans in the House, we want an outright majority. That has been our laser focus for quite a while. I'm also looking forward to spending time with family and decompressing a little bit, but I'm not sure when that gets to start.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Walz calls special session with lots of work in short timeframe
The Brief Gov. Walz has called for a special session on Monday, three weeks after the regular session ended without a complete budget agreement. Republicans' push to cut undocumented adults out of MN Care will travel in a standalone bill, not in the health bill. But the health bill will include a provision that the Department of Health gets no funding if the standalone bill doesn't become law. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - It took 18 days, but Minnesota finally has a special session scheduled to finish a budget and avoid a government shutdown. One and only Monday is the big day and, if things go as planned, the only day. Legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz hammered out some details on what they said were the hardest bills to hash for instance, the Republican plan to cut MN Care for undocumented adults will be a standalone bill, not in the health the health bill will include language saying the Department of Health gets no funding unless that standalone bill and guarantees like that have them very close to the finish line. Short timeline House leaders Lisa Demuth and Melissa Hortman walked to the podium together Friday, poised to start a sprint to the finish line.A signed agreement shows the 14 bills they plan to pass in 21 hours starting Monday at 10 a.m., including a new bill and another previously on life support. "There will be a standalone data center bill and there will a bonding bill and so since some of those pieces came together pretty late last night," said Speaker Emerita Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park). Data centers will lock in some tax breaks for 35 years in exchange for losing an exemption on electricity. In total, the 2026-27 budget will cut about $5 billion from the last two years and leave almost a $2 billion surplus. Getting there hasn't come easy. "You'll hear that not everybody is happy about every part of it, and that's to be expected," said Speaker of the House Demuth (R-Cold Spring). Winds of change? And the bills could still change. County commissioners blasted the transportation agreement Friday for taking half their regional sales tax proceeds and giving it to the Met Council for Bus Rapid Transit projects. "I truly feel at multiple levels our partnership between the state and the local government is being betrayed and broken," said Scott County Commissioner Jody Brennan. Amendments are still possible, but all four legislative leaders and Gov. Walz would have to agree on any changes from now on."As far as other land mines, there could always be, but I feel confident in the agreements that we have," said Demuth. The special session agreement calls for them to get everything done in one day, which technically means they can go until 7 a.m. on Tuesday. Leaders say they can get it done, but it's possible they'll still need more time, which would bring about a whole new set of problems. Delayed for now Because a government shutdown would be 21 days away, furlough notices are supposed to go out to every non-essential state worker on Monday. But legislative leaders and the governor are working with unions to push that back a day.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers play blame game as session comes to end without major budget bills
Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, tells reporters her mouth is "full of cuss words" over the budget impasse on the last day of the legislative session on May 19, 2025. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer) Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, threw the first stone on Monday morning, telling reporters that the Legislature wasn't close to finishing its work on the last day of the legislative session because House Republicans were demanding ever more concessions, in violation of a global agreement reached last week. 'My mouth is full of cuss words right now,' Murphy said. House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, blamed House Democrats, who refused to show up for the first few weeks of session so Republicans couldn't use their temporary, 1-vote advantage to block a Democrat from being seated in a hotly contested election. 'Waiting 23 days of a stall out was not helpful,' Demuth said. The blame game was in full force on Monday as it became apparent that lawmakers might not even stay at the Capitol until midnight, an unofficial tradition on the constitutionally mandated last day of the session, because there'd be no budget bills ready to debate. 'I think we'll run out of things to do this evening,' said House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park. The Legislature has only passed seven, mostly noncontroversial bills out of some 20 bills in process, with the biggest pieces of legislation still outstanding, including the budgets for education, taxes, and health and human services. There haven't even been legislators assigned to hammer out agreements between the House and Senate in what are known as conference committees — a blend of representatives and senators of both parties — on education finance and taxes. Education alone comprises roughly 40% of the general fund budget. Lawmakers must pass a budget by June 30, or the government shuts down. Walz and lawmakers hope they can keep working on compromises on the most contentious issues and get to final deals, which would set the parameters for a quick special session, ideally before the Memorial Day holiday. Only Gov. Tim Walz can call a special session, but only lawmakers can adjourn once they're in a special session. While the governor and legislative leaders announced a global budget agreement last week, what exactly it entailed now seems to be up for debate. The governor and legislative leaders only released a single page with budget targets for state agencies, but no written record of their agreements on policy. Leaders said paid family leave would remain unchanged except for a 0.1% reduction in the cap on payroll taxes. Now, deeper cuts are back on the table. 'There is bipartisan desire to make additional changes to paid family medical leave before it even rolls out. That was not part of the global agreement,' Demuth said, noting support from DFL Sen. Judy Seeberger for cuts to the program set to launch next year. Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, reiterated to reporters that he never signed the global budget agreement on behalf of his caucus. 'We're not subject or held to that agreement,' Johnson said. 'We are going to fight to the very end.' Progressive Democrats seemed to have backed down from threatening to hold up budget bills over rolling back access to MinnesotaCare for undocumented immigrant adults, which was part of the global agreement. Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, said on Saturday that the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus and their allies don't plan to shut down government over that bill. With so much left to do and the Legislature no longer officially in session as of midnight, the negotiations will happen mostly outside of the public's eye in 'working groups.' Asked if the public would be able to watch the working groups debate the state's next two year budget, Murphy said she was 'very interested' in them working in public if she could get agreement from the other body.
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Democrat David Gottfried easily wins Minnesota House special election, restoring a 67-67 power split
Advertisement The parties reached a new power-sharing agreement in February that assumed Democrats would win the special election and restore the tie. Under the terms of the deal, Republican Lisa Demuth will remain House speaker for the next two years. Once Gottfried is sworn in, the two parties will have even strength on most committees, with cochairs who will take turns holding the gavel, except for an oversight committee that Republicans will control to investigate fraud in government programs. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate. Given the tie in the House, some degree of bipartisan cooperation will be required to get the 68 votes needed to pass the big budget measures to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Updated budget projections released last Thursday suggested difficult negotiations ahead. The projected surplus for the next two-year budget slipped to $456 million, while the projected deficit for the two years after that grew to $6 billion. Gottfried's 40-point margin of victory exceeded Johnson's 30-point win in November. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried the district with 68% of the vote over President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Gottfried said his win is a victory for the voters in his district, who haven't been represented in the House since the session convened in January. 'The President is sowing chaos that is increasing the price of basic needs like food, energy, and healthcare,' Gottfried said in a statement. 'It's never been more urgent that we work together in Saint Paul to shield Minnesotans from the chaos, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and make a smart plan to protect our shared futures in Minnesota.' Advertisement House Democratic Caucus leader Melissa Hortman said Gottfried's win confirms that they'll be working under the power-sharing agreement they negotiated with House Republicans. 'Democrats have been ready to work in a bipartisan way for months,' Hortman said in a statement. 'It's time for our Republican colleagues to leave the partisan games behind and work with us to craft a budget for the people of Minnesota.' Demuth said it was always going to be an uphill battle for a Republican to win in the district. 'While the House will return to a 67-67 tie after tonight, House Republican priorities remain unchanged: we will continue our effort to stop the fraud, protect Minnesotans from harmful tax increases, and work with our Democrat colleagues to pass a responsible and balanced budget,' Demuth said in a statement. Ken Martin, a Minnesotan who chairs both the Democratic National Committee and the state party organization, congratulated Gottfried for what he called a 'crucial' victory for the party. Gottfried's win comes on the heels of special election victories earlier this year in Virginia and Iowa, and it shows that Americans are already rejecting President Donald Trump, the DNC said in a statement. 'Since November's election, Democrats continue to fight and win in communities across the country,' Martin said.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Speaker Lisa Demuth named among USA Today's 2025 'Women of the Year'
Minnesota's Speaker of the House and Rep. Lisa Demuth has been named among USA Today's 2025 "Women of the Year." Demuth, a Republican representing Cold Spring, became the first person of color to become Speaker of the House this year, having previously made history as the first African American and first biracial Minnesota House minority leader in 2023. The publication has selected 61 women across the United States who are "breaking barriers, pushing for change, and making communities better." The program was first launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. In an interview with USA Today, Demuth spoke about her journey to politics that started in 2007, when she joined the ROCORI Public School District's Board of Education. Demuth then launched her school board campaign and was elected to office as a write-in candidate. She served on the board through 2018 before she made the transition to the Minnesota Legislature. "When [I was] looking at running for a bigger office, or running as a state representative, the footprint is bigger as far as the area that we serve," Demuth told the publication. "I have multiple school districts and multiple constituents." Demuth, who lives in Cold Spring, is also a breast cancer survivor. According to USA Today, the Republican credits her mother for instilling in her values of hard work, independence and integrity, which she considers crucial for leadership. This past November, she was re-elected with 75.4% of the vote. She will be Minnesota's House Speaker at least through 2026 after the DFL and GOP reached a power-sharing agreement after the 2024 elections resulted in a 67-67 split. What followed was controversy when a judge ruled a winning DFL candidate was ineligible for his district, sparking a special election and a power struggle as the Minnesota GOP sought to take advantage of its temporary one-seat majority. The GOP initially refused to seat Rep. Brad Tabke after it emerged 20 votes had been mistakenly thrown out in the Shakopee district, with the DFL boycotting the House in response, denying the GOP a quorum. The struggle ended when a deal was reached towards the beginning of February.
