House deadlocks on emergency-powers overhaul after hours of debate; measure ultimately tabled

House File 21, a bill that would change Minnesota law so a governor-declared peacetime emergency would automatically expire after 14 days unless extended by a three-fifths vote of both the House and Senate, prompted extended floor debate on Feb. 26 and a series of amendments and procedural contests. The bill did not pass on initial final passage and was later laid on the table after a reconsideration vote.

Representative Kristen Robbins, the bill’s author, said the proposal would ‘‘fundamentally change the orientation of the governor's emergency powers’’ to require bipartisan legislative support for extensions beyond 14 days. ‘‘This bill will change that fundamental orientation so that the governor can still declare an emergency, but after 14 days, the emergency would expire automatically unless it was extended by a 3/5ths vote of both the House and the Senate,’’ Representative Robbins told the chamber.

Opponents warned the change would hamper rapid executive response to certain emergencies. Representative Bonner emphasized cybersecurity risks, citing recent incident counts…