Today Senate Democrats failed to find bipartisan support to pass a bonding bill off the senate floor. The bill requires a 3/5 majority vote, which is 41 votes, and required 7 Republican senators to vote for the bill. It failed to garner even one Republican vote.   

“Democrats could have had a win-win today. They could have worked with us to put together a package that would be good for all Minnesotans, but instead, they pushed through a bill they knew would fail,” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) said. “It was a waste of not only our time but more importantly, the taxpayers’ time.  

“We can do both bills. We can invest in our state and invest in the people who gave us the surplus. It would be a win-win: critical needs will get funded; taxpayers will get relief. That’s our goal for this session. That didn’t happen today, but we will continue to put the taxpayers first and I hope we can get there,” Johnson promised. 

“It is just so disappointing to see Democrats refuse to work with us to deliver tax relief and let this bonding bill fail,” Bonding Committee Republican Lead Karin Housley (Stillwater) said. “We are ready to work with Democrats in the Senate, House, and with Governor Walz to deliver real, meaningful tax relief to Minnesotans. That’s what it will take to get the bonding bill done, and we are here and ready for Democrats to work with us to bring Minnesotans what they really want, tax relief.” 

After failing to pass the bonding bill, the Senate immediately voted to reconsider the bill and lay it on the table. This procedural move allows the bill to be brought up again without having to go through the committee process.  

Two weeks ago, Senate Republican Leaders made clear they needed to see movement on tax relief before they voted for a bonding bill. Last week, Republicans attempted to bring a bill to eliminate the tax on Social Security to the floor, which was defeated on a party-line vote. Senate Democrats today brought their own bill to eliminate the tax on Social Security in a procedural vote to move it one step forward. However, Democrats failed to take the bill up for an actual vote that would pass it off the Senate floor and send it to the House for consideration.