As the constitutionally required adjournment date of May 19 passes, the Minnesota Legislature has not completed its work on time.
The 2025 session had a tumultuous start—vacant seats, quorum challenges, and a tied House chamber. That rocky start set the tone for a difficult path forward. With less than a week left in session, legislative leaders were unable to agree on joint budget targets, leaving conference committees without the direction needed to finalize omnibus budget bills. Now, with the clock ticking toward a government shutdown on July 1, a special session will be necessary.
The leadership agreement itself is not without controversy. Part of the agreement repeals MinnesotaCare health benefits for adult undocumented immigrants. A group of DFL legislators held a press conference denouncing the move, calling it a betrayal of the party's values. It remains unclear whether this issue will be resolved before the special session convenes.
Special Session on the Horizon
Under the Minnesota Constitution, the Legislature must adjourn its regular session by mid-May. Any work that remains unfinished after that date must be completed during a special session—an entirely separate session that can only be called by the Governor. However, once a special session is convened, the Legislature determines its duration and agenda. Because of this, the Governor and legislative leaders typically reach a pre-special session agreement on key issues before the Governor calls the legislature back for the special session.
When the 2025 special session is convened, it will mark the sixth time in the past eight budget-setting cycles since 2011 that a special session has been needed to complete the state budget. Most of these special sessions have lasted just a day or two, and a similarly brief session is expected this year.
Bill Already Introduced
If a bill has passed either the House or Senate but not both, it retains the progress it has made in the other body and remains in that body, where it can move forward in the next session. Bills not passed off the floor are returned to their most recent committee of jurisdiction. Bills receiving no further action beyond introduction are available for action in the next year of the biennium from the committee jurisdiction to which they were referred.
FAST FACT
The term Legislative Session or Session can have different meanings, such as:
- The entire biennial session— extending over parts of both years of a legislative biennium.
- An annual part of the biennial session.
- The daily activity of meeting as a full body in the house or senate.
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