6.2 ERMUSR 09-08-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The 2020 regular session of the Minnesota State Leg-ing bill, even given the demonstrated needs and contin- islature convened at noon on February 11, 2020. While ued low interest rates, is the fact that COVID-19 played each legislative session is different from past ones, at its a major role in the state going from a February forecast- beginning, nobody could have predicted just how differ- ent the 2020 session would become. induced loss of nearly $4 billion, resulting in a May Even though the even-numbered year of a legislative biennium is commonly referred to as the “short-session” requires the budget be balanced by then. With a lot of (because the members usually opt to start later than the tough choices to be made, more than a few legislators -expressed concerns about increasing the State’s debt ser- uary in odd-numbered years), no one would ever know vice, particularly when the ultimate economic impact of by looking at the number of bills that get introduced COVID-19 may not be known for some time. Of course, there are also many who see a bonding bill as a jobs bill year of the biennium. The House of Representatives saw due the construction projects it funds. 1,174 bills introduced in the regular session, and the Senate saw 1,708 new bills. In fact, the volume of bills The pandemic had another interesting role in the per- being processed forced the House and Senate to push ceived lack of urgency by some legislative leaders to pass their deadlines back a week to give more time for hear-a bonding bill or other bills in a rushed fashion. Gover- ing policy-based bills. nor Walz declared a peacetime emergency in mid-March in order to address COVID-19 related issues. By law, COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the Capitol literally shut days by the executive council, a group of all the state’s down. The legislature, which was scheduled to take its annual spring break about two weeks later, was forced to extend the Governor’s emergency powers in 30-day to stop processing bills virtually overnight, and with an increments. However, the governing statutes also pro- vide that the legislature can rescind the order. In order legislative business, including a bonding bill that is usu-to afford the legislature its right to rescind, the law ally the showcase piece of legislation in the even-num-provides that the legislature must be called into special bered years.session should a thirty-day extension be issued when the legislature is otherwise not in session. This meant that When the legislature “returned” from their hiatus, a new everyone knew the Governor would be forced to call a world of legislating, and with it a new world of lobbying, was unveiled. Lobbyists and the general public were emergency powers in place through the then expected prohibited from accessing the Capitol complex, and leg-peak in the pandemic. With a guaranteed special session islators participated from multiple locations within the looming, there was less pressure to rush through negoti- complex or from home. Due to the lost time for process-ations that would normally mark the end of a legislative ing bills and the passing of deadlines while things were session. shut down, the number of bills that received hearings was greatly curtailed. Public participation in hearings Another bill that was unfortunately left hanging when was essentially ended for anyone who could not access the session adjourned sine die on May 18 was MMUA’s the on-line streaming of proceedings and lobbying was limited to cell-phone access, “Zoom” discussions, and giv-Conservation and Optimization Act of 2020, (ECO). ing on-line testimony by invite only. This made it very This bill was a carefully negotiated piece of legislation -that took approximately three years of effort and was versial or not deemed essential. A key example of this supported by approximately 40 different organizations was the inability of the House to obtain the necessary ranging from MMUA and MREA on behalf of consum- er-owned utilities (COUs) and Xcel, Minnesota Power, The House bonding bill came in at just over $3 billion, and Ottertail Power on behalf of the Investor-Owned higher than the Governor’s requested $2.6 billion, and Utilities (IOUs), as well as environmental and energy much more than the $1.2 billion proposed by the Senate, conservation groups, low-income consumer advocates, and other consumer advocacy associations. The bill was requests. MMUA supported the inclusion of funding for also supported by the Minnesota Department of Com- water and wastewater projects and grant programs, and some utilities were trying to get their individual projects ECO would have repealed CIP’s minimum spending funded. and would have allowed additional efforts to qualify for In addition to the normal challenges to passing a bond- 3 99