(St. Paul, MN) – The Minnesota Senate convened for our fourth special session last Friday, breaking the state’s previous record of 3 sessions held in a single year. The Senate once again voted on a resolution to end Governor Walz’s Peacetime Emergency Powers and the Veteran’s Restorative Justice Act. Additionally, the Senate took up the confirmations of Commissioner Joseph Sullivan of the Public Utilities Commission, Commissioner Janet Johnson of the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS), and Commissioner Stephen Kelley of the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
The resolution to end the Governor’s emergency powers passed the Senate for the fourth time this year 36 to 31. The Governor continues to cut out the legislature from decision-making and consistently ignores the needs of Greater Minnesota. I once again voted “yes” to end his emergency powers for this reason. However, without a majority “yes” vote from the House on this resolution, the Governor will continue to exercise his unilateral emergency powers.
The Veterans Restorative Justice Act passed unanimously in the Senate for the second time this year. The bill aims to divert at-risk and non-violent veteran offenders toward probation and social service programs, instead of jail time. The Senate approved the same bill in the August special session, but it did not pass in the House either session. I hope to see this bill passed and signed into law in the near future, as veteran court programs have an extremely high success rate for those that commit petty crimes and takes into account the mental health struggles of many veterans.
The final and most important aspects of our last session were the confirmation votes for three of Governor Walz’s appointed commissioners. Commissioners Joseph Sullivan (PUC) and Janet Johnson (BMS) were confirmed. In contrast, a bipartisan vote removed Commissioner Stephen Kelley from his role as the Minnesota Department of Commerce head. Former Commissioner Kelley lacked experience in the insurance regulatory field and authorized the MDC to weaponize regulations against businesses, market conduct exam discrepancies, and change the law through consent decrees, rather than through the legislative process. The last straw was his appeal of the Line 3 pipeline. The Line 3 pipeline has undergone a six-year process of review, including numerous route permit and environmental impact statement approvals from the PUC. Governor Walz looked to the MDC and Commissioner Kelley to hinder the Line 3 process once again, with claims that Minnesota’s oil forecast did not indicate a need for a new pipeline. Commissioner Kelley filed an appeal based on nonsensical data and hindered a project that offers tremendous job opportunities in Minnesota.
It is the legislature’s job to step in when a Commissioner fails to properly do their job and serve Minnesota as a whole. The Senate voiced concerns with Kelley’s performance in February, citing the reasons listed above. Further, there were several complaints that the Department of Commerce had effectively intimidated businesses into a corner. These businesses were afraid to speak out or complain about negative situations publicly for fear of retaliation. Agencies should serve and properly regulate, not threaten people into silence.
This has been a landmark year for both legislators and citizens. Unfortunately, I expect that to continue with a fifth special session next month, should Governor Walz continue to seek extensions of his dictatorial powers.