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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 consists of 67 seats, the House 134 seats and the legislators serve without term limits.
The legislature meets 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.
In the 94th Legislature (2025-2026) theDemocratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party controls the Senate with 34 of the 67 seats and the House evenly split between the DFL andRepublicans, with both parties holding 67 of the 134 seats.[1][2]
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Portions of the area that would become the State of Minnesota have been part of the United States since theTreaty of Paris 1783 established the boundaries of the newly independent nation. In 1787, the region was organized under the control of the expansiveNorthwest Territory, but portions of this region were in dispute with British North America until1818. TheLouisiana Purchase in 1803 brought in the remainder of the territory into the control of the US. Over the next few decades the area would be organized under theIndiana,Illinois,Michigan,Missouri,Wisconsin, andIowa territories. Due to the lack of European settlement the exact boundaries of the region was not a major concern. Following the statehood ofIowa in 1846 andWisconsin in 1848, there was a desire for reorganization centered around the remaining unorganized populace which was based inSt. Croix County. Settlers held a convention inStillwater and passed resolutions to congress calling for the establishment of a new territory. This request was granted with the creation of theMinnesota Territory on March 3, 1849. St. Paul was selected as the territorial capitol, theUniversity of Minnesota was placed inMinneapolis, and theTerritorial Prison in Stillwater.Alexander Ramsey was appointed as the first territorial governor. The territorial legislature organized with 18 members of the House of Representatives and 9 members of the Territorial Council.
Policy involving thenative population of the territory were a focus of the territory. Minnesota was rare in thatmixed race native persons were explicitly granted citizenship and allowed to participate in the political process.[3] In 1851 the legislature oversaw the major land cession of native tribes through the treaties ofMendota andTraverse des Sioux which opened up the southern half of the territory to white settlement.[4]
The territory also highlighted national debates onslavery as it served as the setting for theDred Scott v. Sandford supreme court case asScott, an enslaved person, had been brought into the non-slaveholding territory by his owners, and lived there for several years.
The population of the territory grew rapidly from around 6,000 in 1849 to over 120,000 over the next decade.[5] The growing population and the debate around atranscontinental railroad brought the issue of statehood to the fore.[6] Nationalsectionalist debates over the issue of slavery made the admission of the state highly contentious, but it was decided that Minnesota would be admitted as a free state helping to disrupt the balance betweenslave and free states which had existed previously. A constitutional convention began in 1857, but internal partisan divisions between theDemocratic and Republican parties resulted in delegates from each party writing separate constitutions. The two documents were nearly identical with only minor differences in punctuation and grammar.[7] The joint documents were approved by popular vote, but the territorial secretary, who was a Democrat, sent that copy to Congress for approval. However, there is evidence that Congress was able to view both versions as they sent the copy of the Republican version back with the enacting legislation.[8] Minnesota was granted statehood on May 11, 1858.
The state legislature convened prior to the ratification of their constitution by Congress with 80 members of the House of Representatives and 37 Senators. The first regular session lasted 254 days, which still ranks as the longest of any meeting, and was so long that it was determined that it was not necessary for the legislature to meet for a year following the 1858 election.[9] The size of the legislature was soon decreased; by 1861 the House had 42 members and the Senate had 21.[10] Representatives served a one year term, Senators served two year terms with elections being staggered so that half the body was elected every year.[11]
During theCivil War, Minnesota contributed several regiments to support theUnion, including the1st Minnesota Infantry which famously captured aConfederate battle flag during theBattle of Gettysburg, which has remained in possession of the despite multiple requests fromVirginia to return it.[12] While the state was far from the frontlines of the war, it did not escape conflict because in 1862 theDakota War took place. As a result of the war the protections on native voting rights were removed and somereservations were abolished.[13]
Following the Civil War and start ofReconstruction, Minnesota was an early leader onAfrican American civil rights. In 1868, African American men were granted the right to vote (two years before the adoption of the15th amendment), and in 1869 the legislature bannedsegregation in state schools. In 1885, the legislature expanded this protection by prohibiting segregation in all public accommodations.[14][15]
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.[16] 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.[17][18] TheMinnesota Constitution was amended in 1896 to give cities direct control over their own charters.[16]
In 1898, the legislative process for amending the state constitution changed. Prior to this point after receiving majority votes in both chambers it had to be ratified by a simple majority in the next general election. After this point, the requirement changed to require a majority of all voters in the election to approve, not just those voting on the question. Meaning that voting "no" and not voting on the amendment now can produce different results, and amendments which have a majority "yes" votes can still fail if they don't meet the threshold of a majority of the total votes.[19]
In 1860, the legislature set a limit of 60 days on their annual legislative session. Starting in 1879, the legislature shifted to a biennial calendar in which they would meet only in odd numbered years. By 1889, the length of the session was extend 90 legislative days.[9] The 1879 legislature also saw the length of members terms be extended to two years for representatives and four years for senators, with the entire body being up for election at the same time.[19][11] This era was marked by Republican dominance in the legislature and notable figures from the time include:Ignatius Donnelly (Lieutenant governor, 1860-1863, and congressman, 1863-1869),John S. Pillsbury (Governor, 1876-1882),WilliamR. Merriam (Speaker of the House, 1887-1889, and Governor, 1889-1893), andJohn Francis Wheaton (State Rep., 1899-1900) who was the first African American elected to the legislature.
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.[20] 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 (later Democratic–Farmer–Labor) and Republican, respectively.[21] In 1974, House members again ran with party designation; in 1976, Senate members did the same.[22]
GovernorJesse Ventura (1999-2003) advocated the idea of changing the legislature to beunicameral while he was in office, but the concept did not obtain widespread support.[23]
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.[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]
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.[27]
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.[28] 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.[29] A compromise budget was approved and signed into law two weeks later.[30]
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.[31]
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.[32]
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.[33]
In 1984, the legislature ordered thatgender-specific pronouns be removed from state laws. After two years of work, the rewritten laws were adopted.[34] 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.[35]
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The Senate currently has 67 seats and the House has 134 seats, a configuration in place since the 1970s. 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. A legislative day is defined as a day in which a bill passes a third reading, a rule is adopted, or some other legislative task such as the confirmation of an appointment or the overriding of a veto. The governor can call special sessions of the legislature outside of the normal schedule.[36]
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[37]](/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.[38][39] 166,000 square feet will be added.[40]](/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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