After taking their annual “spring break,” legislators were back at work April 6. A fixture in the legislative calendar, the break always coincides with the Easter and Passover holidays, traditionally a time to rest in God. For many legislators and staff, the break also means a respite from the tumult created by thousands of bills and the proponents or opponents of bills vying for legislators’ attention.
Since the start of the session in January, lawmakers have introduced nearly 5,000 bills. Introduced in a steady stream of nearly 100 to 200 bills per week, the proposals include requests for funding, changes in existing policies and ideas for new policies that could become law and impact some aspect of life in Minnesota. With so many bills, the return from recess marks a transition in which House and Senate committees shift their efforts from vetting new bills to working on final priorities.
Rarely used loophole keeps all bills alive
Typically, bills that had stalled or had not yet been heard by a committee would now be dead, but that may no longer be the case this session due to a rarely used loophole to keep bills alive. The day before recess, the House Rules Committee voted to waive the deadline required for four bills including H.F. 600, Rep. Ryan Winkler’s recreational marijuana legalization bill. In his comments supporting the use of the waiver clause, Committee Chair Winkler noted that the committee would likely waive the deadline for other bills that DFL leadership wants to move despite not meeting the established deadline.
From an advocacy standpoint, the House’s willingness to waive the deadline rule for select bills means that proposals such as the comprehensive sex education bill H.F. 358 (Jordan) and the reproductive health rights bill H.F. 259 (Morrison), may remain viable for the duration of session. These bills, which attack the dignity of the human person, require ongoing vigilance to ensure this loophole does not enable them to slip into law.
Not only will MCC keep a careful watch over any attempt to attack life, dignity and the common good, but in this “second half” of the session, the MCC — like other advocacy groups — will examine how the Legislature’s priorities align with MCC priorities and how to engage in end-of-session negotiations.
As the Catholic Church’s agent at the Minnesota Capitol, the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) is actively engaged with around 50 of the thousands of bills introduced this session.
The conference’s level of engagement ranges from submitting letters of support or opposition to working with various coalition partners and stakeholders, to reaching out to Catholics across Minnesota — through our Catholic Advocacy Network (CAN) — urging them to contact their legislators about a given issue. People who have not been contacted can register today by going to mncatholic.org/actioncenter/join-us. After registering, people can explore the MCC’s action center to track bills and contact lawmakers on key issues.
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