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Senate votes 34-33 to end temporary power-sharing agreement
Summary
The Minnesota Senate on Feb. 3 adopted Senate Resolution 8, terminating the temporary power‑sharing agreement that governed committee co‑chairs and co‑presiding officers; several amendments to extend or limit the agreement failed on tie votes.
The Minnesota Senate voted 34-33 on Feb. 3 to adopt Senate Resolution 8, a measure that terminates the temporary power‑sharing and responsibility‑sharing agreement entered at the start of the legislative session and rescinds powers previously granted to co‑presiding officers.
Senator Cinnamon Murphy introduced the resolution, saying the action “terminates Senate resolution number 1” while preserving two parts of that earlier agreement: temporary senate rules and a clause covering future agreements. Murphy told colleagues the move was meant to “respect the will of the voters” after a special election produced a new certified member for Senate District 60 and to restore a single majority and the conventional committee and leadership structure.
The resolution drew hours of debate. Opponents argued the arrangement had produced more bipartisan committee work in recent weeks and urged a longer transition. Senator Mark Johnson said the power‑sharing experiment had allowed committees to “dig deep” into issues such as education and human services and warned that ending it was “a vote to delve back into partisanship.”
Senator Gary Rasmussen offered an A1 amendment that would have kept the power‑sharing agreement in place through 7 a.m. on Feb. 10 to allow scheduled bipartisan committee work to finish. Rasmussen described the amendment as “simply continu[ing] the power sharing for an additional week.” The A1 amendment failed on a roll call that the secretary recorded as 33 ayes and 33 nays.
Two other targeted amendments also failed on tied votes. Senator Mary Housley’s A4 amendment, which sought to preserve co‑chairing of the Capital Investment Committee, failed, recorded as 33 ayes and 33 nays. Senator Carrie Dames’s A5 amendment, to continue co‑sharing for the Commerce Committee, likewise failed on a 33‑33 tie. Following the failed amendments, the Senate returned to the underlying resolution and adopted it 34-33.
Throughout the debate, members on both sides of the aisle emphasized the recent weeks’ cooperative work while disagreeing on whether that cooperation would continue without the formal agreement. Supporters of termination said restoring a single majority and a single presiding officer would restore institutional stability; critics said the abrupt move risks returning to partisan procedure.
Votes at a glance: the A1 amendment (Rasmussen) — failed, 33 ayes, 33 nays; A4 amendment (Housley) — not adopted, 33 ayes, 33 nays; A5 amendment (Dames) — not adopted, 33 ayes, 33 nays; Senate Resolution 8 (termination of power‑sharing) — adopted, 34 ayes, 33 nays.
The resolution’s immediate effect is to rescind the special powers assigned to co‑presiding officers and end the temporary power‑sharing arrangement; two sections of the original agreement remain in force, as Murphy specified: the temporary rules and the clause on future agreements. Additional, specific committee reorganizations and schedules were addressed later in the session under separate resolutions.
