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DFL leaders say GOP demands are stalling Minnesota budget; paid family and medical leave at center of dispute
Summary
DFL House leaders told reporters on the final day of the legislative session that House Republicans are reopening settled policy issues — most notably changes to paid family and medical leave — and holding budget conference reports “hostage,” delaying votes that fund state services and risk layoffs.
DFL House leaders said on the floor of the Minnesota House that Republican demands to reopen policy matters — particularly paid family and medical leave — are blocking passage of ready-to-go budget bills as the session entered overtime.
Representative Cedric Frazier, DFL–District 43A, said Republicans were drawing “a bright line” to reverse policies DFL lawmakers had won in previous sessions and that those reversals would prioritize corporate tax cuts over workers’ protections. “Paid family medical leave is still an open item. It should not be,” Frazier said, adding that the leave law is scheduled to take effect on 01/01/2026.
DFL House floor leader Jamie Long said Democrats had negotiated budget conference reports and were prepared to pass them, but that House Republicans were attaching unrelated policy demands. “We’re calling on our Republican colleagues to stop holding budget bills hostage with partisan demands unrelated to the work of passing a budget,” Long said. He warned that if budgets are not finalized, state agencies and workers face real consequences: “If we don’t actually get these budget agreements done by June 1, then layoff notices are gonna start going out.”
Democratic lawmakers described a leadership-level agreement on paid family and medical leave that they say was reached previously; they accused some Republicans of trying to reopen those talks and “moving the goalposts.” Representative Frazier said the Republican position would “take away from all Minnesotans paid family medical leave” and force workers to choose between a paycheck and caring for themselves or loved ones.
Lawmakers also raised MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented immigrants as a separate area of dispute. DFL leaders described that item as an additional policy fight that some Republicans are pressing in negotiations, but said it was not currently holding up the budget bills on the floor.
DFL members called for the House to vote on conference reports that they said are “ready to go” and urged GOP members to remove extraneous demands so funding for state services can pass before potential layoffs and other operational impacts take effect.
