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Minnesota Legislature | |
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| 94th Minnesota Legislature | |
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
Term limits | None |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 201 (67 senators, 134 representatives) |
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Senate political groups |
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House of Representatives political groups |
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| Elections | |
Last Senate election | November 8, 2022 |
Last House of Representatives election | November 5, 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Minnesota State Capitol Saint Paul | |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of Minnesota | |
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| Constitution |
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TheMinnesota Legislature is thebicamerallegislature of theU.S. state ofMinnesota, composed of aSenate and aHouse of Representatives. The legislature originally met at the oldTerritorial Capitol in Saint Paul and now convenes at theMinnesota State Capitol. The Senate currently has 67 seats and the House has 134 seats, a configuration in place since the 1970s. Minnesota legislators serve without term limits. House members are elected to two-year terms and Senators to four-year terms in years ending in 2 and 6 and two-year terms in years ending in 0, with all Senate seats up for election after each decennial redistricting.
Both houses of the legislature meet between January and the first Monday following the third Saturday in May each year, not to exceed 120 legislative days per biennium. Floor sessions are held in theMinnesota State Capitol inSaint Paul.
Minnesota’s state constitution was adopted in 1857, and the first state legislative session convened in late 1857, shortly before formal statehood in May 1858. Thatinitial legislature was unusually large (80 representatives and 37 senators). After these first sessions, the legislature’s size was soon adjusted: by 1861 the House had only 42 members and the Senate 21. Legislative elections were partisan, and the Republican Party dominated state politics during and after the Civil War.
Early in Minnesota's statehood, the legislature had direct control over thecity charters that set the groundwork for governments in municipalities across the state. In the early period, many laws were written for specific cities. The practice was outlawed in 1881, though attempts to enact municipal legislation were still made.[1] For instance, the long-standingMinneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the city's now defunctLibrary Board were both created by the legislature in the next several years.[2][3] TheMinnesota Constitution was amended in 1896 to give cities direct control over their own charters.[1]
In the 19th century, the Minnesota Legislature initially met annually. Early legislatures often met every year for several months at a time. A constitutional amendment approved in 1860 introduced a 60-day limit on each session, prompting the legislature to convene briefly each year. Beginning in 1879, the legislature met in regular session only in odd-numbered years. The biennial session pattern persisted for nearly a century, even as the allowed length of sessions was later extended to 90 legislative days in 1888 and to 120 days in 1962.
From 1913 until the mid-1970s, Minnesota legislators were elected on nonpartisan ballots. This was a historical accident that occurred when a bill to provide for no-party elections of judges, city, and county officers was amended to include the legislature in the belief that it wouldkill the bill.[4] While Minnesota legislators were elected on a nonpartisan ballot, they caucused as "Liberals" or "Conservatives," roughly the equivalent in most years to Democratic or Farmer–Labor (laterDemocratic–Farmer–Labor) and Republican, respectively.[5] In 1974, House members again ran with party designation; in 1976, Senate members did the same.[6]
GovernorJesse Ventura advocated the idea of changing the legislature to beunicameral while he was in office, but the concept did not obtain widespread support.[7]
In 2004, the legislature ended its regular session without acting on a majority of the planned legislation, largely due to political divisiveness on a variety of issues ranging fromeducation tosame-sex marriage (Seesame-sex marriage in the United States for related events during the year). A proper budget failed to pass, and major anticipated projects such as theNorthstar Corridorcommuter rail line were not approved.[8] GovernorTim Pawlenty, an opponent turned advocate of the line, was expected to request aspecial session but ended up helping the coordination of other funds to continue the development of the line.[9] The lack of action in the 2004 session is said to be one reason why a number ofRepublican House members lost their seats in the November election. TheDemocratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) minority grew from 53 to 66 and the Republican majority was reduced from 81 to 68.[10]
The Senate was not up for election in 2004 so the DFL was able to maintain its five-seat majority in the upper house. One state senator,Sheila Kiscaden ofRochester, was anIndependence Party member until December 2005 when she began caucusing with the DFL, although she had been an elected Republican in the past. The DFL majority increased to six senators when Kiscaden announced her re-affiliation with the DFL in preparation to run forlieutenant governor on a ticket with DFLerKelly Doran.[11]
There is a mandatory adjournment date specified in the state constitution: "The legislature shall not meet in regular session, nor in any adjournment thereof, after the first Monday following the third Saturday in May of any year." In 2005, the regular session ended without passage of an overall budget and a special session was subsequently called by Governor Pawlenty.[12] No overall budget passed by the end of thefiscal year on June 30, and much of the government shut down for the first time in the state's history. However, some essential services remained in operation and some departments received funding in legislation.[13] A compromise budget was approved and signed into law two weeks later.[14]
The2011 Minnesota state government shutdown was agovernment shutdown affecting theU.S. state ofMinnesota. The shutdown was the result of a fiscal dispute between theDemocratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL)GovernorMark Dayton and theRepublican-majority Minnesota Legislature, that was not resolved by theconstitutional deadline on June 30. The Republican caucuses and their leaders demanded bigger spending cuts, and for the budget shortfall to be met without tax increases, while Dayton demanded some tax increases. The shutdown started at midnight on July 1, and ended after a budget bill was passed and signed on July 20.
During the shutdown all less important parts of the state government, that were not identified as critical services before the shutdown or in several court cases, suspended their operations. Most state government services were identified as critical or otherwise allowed to continue, so as much as 80 percent of state government spending continued. The eventual budget agreement started to form after Governor Dayton announced on July 14 that he would "reluctantly" pass the last proposal of the Republican legislative leadership before the shutdown, but with conditions. The shutdown was disruptive to the government and some Minnesotans, but its ultimate economic impact was minimal. Politically, it could have influenced the Republican electoral defeat in the2012 state elections, although there were other factors that may have been more important.The November 2022 general election saw the DFL maintain the governorship and the state House, while regaining control of the state Senate. This produced the first DFLlegislative trifecta since 2014.
In the2024 election, the Minnesota House was tied with 67 members elected from each major party. After the election of Curtis Johnson was nullified due to a residency challenge, the2025 session began with a stalemate in the House. For three weeks, the DFL boycotted the session, denying quorum until a power-sharing agreement was reached.[15]
The2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators on June 14 resulted in the death of Representative and former SpeakerMelissa Hortman and wounding of SenatorJohn Hoffman, both members of the DFL.[16]
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Following the ratification of theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920, women began to be elected to the Minnesota Legislature. In 1922,Mabeth Hurd Paige,Hannah Kempfer,Sue Metzger Dickey Hough, andMyrtle Cain were the first women elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives.[17]
In 1984, the legislature ordered thatgender-specific pronouns be removed from state laws. After two years of work, the rewritten laws were adopted.[18] In the state laws, only 301 of 20,000 pronouns were feminine. "His" was changed 10,000 times and "he" was changed 6,000 times.[19]
When the legislature is in session, proceedings of both houses are broadcast on television via theMinnesota Channel and also online via the legislature's website. The Minnesota House YouTube channel is "MNHouseInfo". The Minnesota Senate YouTube Channel is "Minnesota Senate Media Services".
![The State Office Building, where members of the Minnesota House of Representatives have offices, adjacent to the Capitol. Currently under renovation[20]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aState_Office_Building_(S.O.B.)_seen_from_near_the_front_steps_of_the_State_Capitol_on_Aurora_Avenue_in_Saint_Paul%2c_Minnesota.jpg)
![The State Office Building, under construction. It is scheduled to re-open in 2027.[21][22] 166,000 square feet will be added.[23]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aState_Office_Building_construction_(cropped).jpg)
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301 20,000 pronouns minnesota.
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