Budget bills start flowing to Walz in special session, adult undocumented immigrants lose health care
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Minnesota lawmakers quickly chipped away at a stack of bills and sent them to Gov. Tim Walz on Monday, approving a tardy budget as well as a measure to remove some immigrants from subsidized health coverage.
A special session featured a series of rapid votes and what-should-have-been gripes about the deal that led to a finalized budget just weeks before a partial government shutdown would occur.
The House completed its work and adjourned at 10:40 p.m., about 12 hours after the day’s action began. The House ended with a unanimous vote, which came on a routine bill to polish up previously passed legislation by fixing drafting errors.
The Senate had to wait on some of the bills to come its way so it was due for a later finish. But lawmakers avoided the all-night session many had come in expecting.
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The longest debates in the House and Senate came on a bill narrowing eligibility for MinnesotaCare. Adult immigrants lacking legal status will lose the premium-based coverage they got just this year while their children will retain that coverage.
Republicans made the restriction a priority of the budget negotiations, saying the costs are mounting and the priority is misplaced. They said Minnesota wouldn’t be alone in reeling it back.
“We cannot justify spending hundreds of millions on individuals who broke the law to enter the country while we face cuts to special education, nursing homes, and disability services,” said Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls.
Democrats challenged that estimate and said the change could wind up costing more than it saves because hospitals will have to absorb uncompensated care expenses and those might get passed onto others.
“Minnesotans come from every corner of the world and choose our state to make and make it a beautiful and incredible place to live because of them, we don’t have to be cruel and hateful,” said Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville. “We can do better. This bill does not make health care more affordable for anyone. It does not make health insurance more affordable for anyone.”
Both chambers started just after 10 a.m. They entered to shouts from protesters opposing the immigrant change outside the chamber rang in whenever the main doors came open.
Rep. Jeff Backer, R-Browns Valley, said Minnesota taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for all costs related to undocumented immigrants on the program.
“When we find undocumented illegal immigrants. That is 100 percent from the cost of Minnesota taxpayers,” Backer said, adding, “If we do not focus on the Minnesota health care system, our hospitals, are EMS and our dental then what’s going to happen is then the whole system will go into cardiac arrest and that doesn’t help anybody.”
Democrats dug in for a long debate even if the bill seemed on track for passage. Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, of Minneapolis, said the move lacks compassion in “a time of fear and scarcity.”
“We know that in the past our country has been wrong in the way we have scapegoated immigrants. Let's not repeat those same mistakes today,” she said. “Because this is how it starts: first it’s your health care, then it’s your documentation, then it’s saying you can’t move around at night.”
The bill cleared the House on a 68-65 vote — the smallest “yes” vote number possible for passage — after about four hours of debate. House DFL caucus leader Melissa Hortman was the sole Democrat in favor with 67 Republicans. Senate consideration was up next.
It passed the Senate by a 37-30 vote, with four DFLers joining Republicans.
Walz summoned the Legislature into the special session as part of an agreement with top legislators that it be confined to 15 bills and be wrapped up by 7 a.m. Tuesday.
That’s also when layoff notices would be sent to thousands of state workers if a completed budget isn’t adopted, just one of many preparations for service interruptions that would happen without a new two-year spending plan.
Walz said he and leaders from both parties contributed “hundreds of hours” in recent weeks working toward a final agreement.
Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Hortman — a leadership tandem in an evenly split chamber — helped grease the skids for a smooth finish after weeks of standstill.
The Legislature was supposed to be done with this work on May 19 but failed to get much of the budget done. That touched off weeks of off-and-on talks that resulted in a final deal announced on Friday.
Hortman said lawmakers did the best they could given the political circumstances — a Legislature divided between 101 DFLers and 100 Republicans.
“It is a frustrating process,” she said. “There’s the analogy of making sausage and that, that is how it kind of always is. It’s a little bit frustrating in terms of it’s not a very clean or pretty process.”
The Senate moved with a little more pace as the House debated the MinnesotaCare bill. Senators made light of their progress in relation to what was happening in the House initially.
House members might have gotten the last laugh by adjourning earlier in the night.
It wasn’t all smiles in the Senate.
“We’re still looking at something like a $3 billion in the out years. That wasn’t addressed, and that’s going to be a concern to Minnesotans going forward,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, a Republican. He referred to the two-year budget beyond the next one where a projected shortfall appears.
Republicans complained of being left out of key decisions. Democrats have a one-seat majority, which at times seemed tough to keep together.
The bills under consideration included:
An education package that funds preschool through high school programs while giving school districts an inflationary bump in their per-student allowances. A college support plan is also on the docket.
A human services plan that aims to curb fast-growing costs for nursing homes and disability services without affecting eligibility or shifting expenses to counties.
A transportation finance bill that provides funds to the State Patrol and vehicle services offices. The bill also adds a new surcharge on electric vehicle registration to partially offset lost gas tax revenues.
An environment plan that makes adjustments to permitting, boosts boat surcharges to fund invasive species control efforts and changes bass fishing regulations.
A change to data center regulatory programs to build in more environmental safeguards that also extends some tax exemptions while phasing out one for electricity use.
A $700 million public works construction package that focuses on core needs around water quality and transportation projects. That bill takes three-fifths majorities to pass, and leaders said sports teams seeking facilities upgrades were left out.
