Minn. House speaker says House File 24 should pass; power-sharing, budget issues loom after tied chamber

House Speaker Lisa Demuth told reporters before a Thursday House floor session that House File 24, a bill to require medical care for infants born alive, should receive bipartisan support and likely will pass, while House File 25, which would restore funding for pregnancy centers and maternity homes, has less certain backing.

"We would expect at least that, House File 24, providing care if a child, if an infant is born alive would be bipartisan," Demuth said at a media briefing. "So I would expect that you could see that one passed today." She said Representative Niska would move to lay a number of bills on the table and that most bills would be laid over, but House Files 24 and 25 were slated to receive full debate and votes.

Demuth described House File 24 as a narrowly focused measure to ensure "medical professionals should be able to just give that basic human care, to a baby that might survive," and said the language differs from previous statutes. "If it was the same, we wouldn't have to even bring this forward," she said. The transcript shows she told reporters the bill's authors would present the legislation on the floor.

On House File 25, which the speaker described as restoring prior funding for pregnancy centers and maternity homes, Demuth said committee support was weaker than expected and that floor votes could differ from committee outcomes. She urged members to consider "what makes sense to Minnesotans" when they vote.

The briefing addressed a changing House dynamic after a special election returned a Democrat member who will be sworn in, creating a 67–67 tie. Demuth said the chamber's organizational agreement automatically triggers power-sharing if a tie returns and that committees will operate with co-chairs and rotating gavels. "We will be swearing in a new member, a Democrat member, so we'll be back to a tie," she said. "What we do know is there will be an equal number of committees chaired by both Republicans and Democrats as we go forward to the end of session." She added that equal committee membership will make bipartisan support necessary to move measures out of committee.

Demuth said she and "Leader Hortman" meet weekly to coordinate work, but that she had not been able to secure regular meetings with the governor's office. "Deadlines are coming up," she said, and she expressed concern about the governor's responsiveness to scheduling talks on targets and priorities.

Asked about the state's budget, Demuth described a projected shortfall and stressed fiscal restraint. "We are limited. You know, we have a $6,000,000,000 deficit," she said. She said education funding and mandates enacted in prior sessions have increased costs for districts and that committees are exploring changes, including potential amendments or repeals to some provisions. On the specific question of backfilling unemployment insurance costs for hourly school workers such as bus drivers, Demuth said the House would not commit additional funds at that time.

Other topics touched on at the briefing included high turnout in a recent special election and scheduling for the remainder of the session. Demuth said many bills that do not advance on the current day remain live for the session and can be brought up later if sponsors can secure the votes required for passage.

No formal floor votes or final actions were recorded during the media briefing itself; the comments previewed items expected to reach the House floor later in the day.