Leaders say immigrant health-care provision remains unresolved; Erin Murphy called for standalone bill

At the briefing, leaders identified health-care coverage for undocumented immigrants as a significant unresolved issue in the broader budget negotiations.

A reporter cited a comment by Senator Erin Murphy earlier in the day that "that needs to be a stand alone bill, period." The press conference speaker said that leadership has not yet decided whether that approach will be accepted and that the matter would be resolved at the leadership table. "It will be a leadership decision," the speaker said.

The speaker said that when the leaders negotiated global targets and the agreement supporting them, making immigrant health care a standalone bill "was never part of the conversation." The speaker added that, in leadership’s view, the preference was for the immigrant-health provisions to travel with the broader bill "as planned," noting concerns that a narrowly passed standalone provision could be vulnerable to a veto.

On the veto question, the leader told reporters that they had asked the governor about honoring the overall agreement; the leader reported the governor affirmed he "would not veto that" and that he would "take the actions to effectuate the deal that he signed."

Leaders also noted that both parties in the House expect to be heard on the issue and that DFL members in both chambers will press the matter. The speaker said those members are "entitled to be heard" on undocumented Minnesotans losing health care and that the topic remains a point of detailed negotiation.