Shutdown Update: Five Bills Sent to Gov. Dayton

Last Update: Tuesday, July 19 at 9 p.m.: It took less than an hour’s work for Minnesota lawmakers, who reconvened this afternoon, to pass five bills, the first of several that Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign.

The House and Senate took their seats in the legislature at around 3 p.m., opened the special session, observed a moment of silence for the late Sen. Linda Scheid (D-Brooklyn Park) and then recessed for more than three hours.

When they reconvened at around 7 p.m., they got to work. Within an hour, the Senate had passed six bills; the House had passed five. The legislature then went into recess again; lawmakers are expected back at their desks later this evening.

As it stands now, listed below are the bills and the votes that passed them:   

Minnesota Senate
Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 57-7
Environment bill: 43-22
Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 42-23
Transportation bill: 38-27
Higher education bill: 35-30
Legacy bill: 65-0

Minnesota House of Representatives
Transportation bill: 71-56
Higher education bill: 71-57
Judiciary/Public Safety bill: 77-51
Environment bill: 71-57
Jobs and Economic Growth bill: 76-50

The remaining bills include some of the most complex and contentious pieces of legislation faced this session. They include: legacy (House only), health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, bonding, pension and state government.

Dayton has maintained that he will not sign any bills until all 12 have passed both the House and Senate.

First Post: The overarching message to Minnesotans is “Be ready.” That comes from Gov. Mark Dayton’s chief of staff, Tina Smith, and Minnesota Management and Budget commissioner Jim Schowalter.

Smith and Schowalter sounded cautious optimism in a conference call with media on Tuesday afternoon.

“There are a lot of assumptions right now,” Schowalter said. “But it is important to remind everyone that normal operations will not resume immediately. The bills must pass both bodies and then be signed into law by the governor.”

Schowalter said that while the timing and enactment of the bills is still uncertain, after Dayton signs them, money will become available to the respective agencies the following day.

It’s “unlikely,” Smith said, that state workers would go back to their jobs on Wednesday, noting the logistics of passing the legislation and contacting workers. Each agency will have its own process for resuming operations, and state employees will be given 24 hours notice to return to work, Schowalter explained.

Smith and Schowalter concluded the call by encouraging Minnesotans to check out the Be Ready website, created by the state to deliver real-time information.

“We are moving forward with two things right now: urgency and common sense,” Smith said.

“The goal,” Smith reiterated, “is to restart the government as quickly as we can and get Minnesotans back to work.”