Rules committee calendars House File 12 for March 3 after 8-7 roll call

The Committee on Rules and Legislative Administration voted 8-7 on a party-line roll call to place House File 12 on the calendar for Monday, March 3, and to impose a pre-filing requirement for amendments, including a 24-hour pre-filing period.

The committee chair moved adoption of the calendar "pursuant to rule 1.21 and 3.33," and the motion passed after a roll call vote of eight in favor and seven opposed. The committee announced the 24-hour pre-filing requirement for amendments to House File 12 immediately took effect.

Why it matters: The calendaring moves House File 12 to the next floor consideration window and sets procedural limits on when amendments to the bill may be offered. Several committee members objected to the timing and referral pattern for the bill, saying it raises questions about whether the Judiciary Committee should have reviewed it because of possible interactions with the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Representative Jordan questioned whether House File 12 had been considered by any committee other than Education Policy, saying, "We heard this bill in ed policy, but my understanding is that is the only committee it was heard in. Is that correct?" Representative Scott replied that the bill was heard only in Education Policy and that "the statutes were only purely education policy statutes. There's no reference in the bill to anything that would apply to the jurisdiction of the Judiciary and Civil Law Committee." Representative Jordan pressed the point again, asking why House File 12‑33 had been referred to Judiciary; the chair said that bill is an amendment to the Minnesota Human Rights Act and therefore was referred to Judiciary.

Representative Lee Long told the committee he believed the two bills under discussion "were on the same subject" and said House File 12 "does say notwithstanding any law to the contrary and clearly the law that is being contemplated there is the Human Rights Act," and asked for a roll call on the calendar vote.

Representative Howard said the committee had not calendared bills addressing housing affordability or childcare and criticized the choice to prioritize House File 12, stating: "Instead, we have a bill to allow the bullying of our trans kids." Representative Engen defended moving some measures forward and said on the record that "women deserve protection in sports, I think that that's fairly mundane and we're gonna do that."

Roll call and outcome: The clerk conducted the roll call at the chair's request. The chair voted aye; Vice Chair Angen voted aye; Lead Long voted no; Representative Coulter voted no; Representative Frederick voted no; Representative Hollins voted no; Representative Howard voted no; Representative Jacob voted aye; Representative Cagle voted no; Representative Nash voted aye; Representative Purcell voted no; Representative Schultz voted aye; Representative Scott voted aye; Representative Steer voted aye; Representative Zolensa Carr voted aye. With eight votes in favor and seven against, the motion "to adopt the calendar for the day" prevailed and the calendar was adopted under rule 3.33.

What the committee did not decide: The committee did not take up or vote on the substantive provisions of House File 12, nor did it resolve the referral dispute between Education Policy and Judiciary; members flagged the jurisdictional concerns during debate but took only the calendaring action.

The committee adjourned after adopting the calendar and noting the pre-filing rule was in place.