Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives voted against legislation that would end peacetime emergency declarations after 14 days unless three-fifths of both chambers in the Minnesota Legislature authorize an extension.
At present, state law allows the governor to declare a peacetime emergency in the event of a terrorist attack, cyber attack, civil disturbance, an act of nature, an industrial accident, a hazardous materials accident, or a technological failure.
When a peacetime emergency is declared, the governor has broad authority to issue orders that have the full force of law. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tim Walz issued executive orders which forced Minnesotans to stay at home, limited how many people could get together, and temporarily required certain businesses to effectively shut down.
According to current law, the governor is allowed to declare a peacetime emergency that can only last for five days unless it is extended by a resolution from the state’s Executive Council (the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, and attorney general). That extension lasts for 30 days and can only be terminated unless a majority of both chambers in the Minnesota Legislature vote to end the emergency declaration.
Extensions to peacetime emergency declarations, and the powers that accompany them, can be extended an unlimited number of times unless the legislature intervenes.
Walz issued his initial peacetime emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. That declaration was extended 15 times and ended in July of 2021. During that period, Republicans repeatedly voted to end the emergency and railed against the governor’s extended use of emergency powers.
However, the peacetime emergency only ended after the governor, the GOP Senate, and the DFL House came to an agreement about not renewing the declaration.
Wanting to avoid a similar situation in the future, House Republicans brought HF 21 to the House floor for a full vote on Thursday. Authored by Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, HF 21 would change the process for extending the peacetime emergency declaration.
“Minnesotans endured 16 months of unchecked emergency orders that devastated families, closed businesses, and robbed students of once-in-a-lifetime experiences like graduation and sports seasons,” said Robbins. “Minnesotans should never have to go through that again.”
Under Robbins’ legislation, an initial peacetime emergency declaration from the governor would last for 14 days. However, the only way a peacetime emergency declaration could be extended is if three-fifths of both the Minnesota Senate and the Minnesota House affirmatively vote to extend it.
In short, the bill still allows the governor to declare an emergency, but would give the state legislature the authority to extend that emergency.
At the beginning of Thursday’s floor session, Robbins offered an amendment to her bill which precludes the governor from declaring a peacetime emergency if a previous emergency declaration about the same incident has been allowed to expire. The amendment was adopted in a partisan 67-66 vote.
Another amendment, offered by Rep. Pam Altendorf, R-Red Wing, added language ensuring that constitutional rights of assembly, speech, religious belief, travel, and others are not violated by state emergency response laws. The amendment also decreased, from 14 days to 10 days, the amount of time an initial emergency declaration can last.
The amendment was ultimately divided and the chamber passed the language protecting constitutional rights in a bipartisan 127-6 vote. The portion decreasing the number of days was passed on a partisan 67-66 vote.
Rep. Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, also offered an amendment which would have deleted all the language of Robbins’ bill and replaced it with the “Never Again Act,” a separate bill authored by Rep. Drew Roach, R-Farmington, that reforms emergency response law.
Despite offering the amendment, Long said he would vote against it and that he supports current law. The Minneapolis legislator noted that he only offered the amendment to give legislators “a choice between two very different approaches.”
However, the “Never Again Act” alters more chapters of law than are involved in Robbins’ original bill. As such, Republicans successfully voted to uphold a ruling from Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, that found Long’s amendment out of order.
Following votes on the amendments, the chamber discussed HF 21 itself as amended. Long argued that HF 21 was partisan legislation that undermines emergency response, existing law already provides a check against the governor, Walz’s actions during the pandemic saved lives, and the legislature needs to focus on affordability issues.
Meanwhile, Republicans criticized Walz’s response to COVID-19. Majority Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said no governor should be allowed to unilaterally make long-term decisions without the input of the Minnesota Legislature, the people’s elected voice.
Discussing her bill, Robbins told the chamber, “We are not saying the governor can’t declare an emergency, we are just saying he cannot have an endless emergency.”
In the end, HF 21 did not pass. When the final vote was being taken, 67 Republicans voted for the bill and 66 DFLers voted against it. However, legislation in the House requires at least 68 votes for final passage. At present, there are 67 Republicans, 66 Democrats, and one vacancy in the 134-member chamber.
After it became apparent that the bill would not achieve the 68 votes required for passage, Niska changed his vote from “aye” to “nay.” This meant that HF 21 failed on a 66-67 vote.
An identical situation happened last week with a different bill. At that time, a spokesperson from the House Republican Caucus explained that Niska changed his vote in order to make a motion to reconsider the legislation being voted on.
House rules require a member to be on the prevailing side of the prior vote in order to offer a motion to reconsider. As such, the majority leader switched his vote at the last minute to bring the motion.
After changing his vote, Niska made a motion to reconsider HF 21. That motion passed and HF 21 was subsequently “laid on the table,” meaning the bill can be taken up again at any time for a second vote.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
