Minnesota GOP leaders won't pass infrastructure bill if opposition party moves on ERA, gun control, other measures

With just a few days left for the Minnesota Legislature to pass bills, it’s still unclear whether there will be action on some of the biggest items at the state Capitol.

There’s still no sign of success in persuading Uber and Lyft to stay in the state, and a deal still needs to be made on close to a billion dollars in infrastructure investments. The last day to vote on bills is Sunday, and lawmakers can only hold floor sessions on four of those remaining days.

Republicans are using the limited time, and a supermajority threshold on public borrowing votes, to pressure Democratic-Farmer-Labor majorities in control of the Senate and House to concede to some of their demands.

While action on rideshare isn’t on the list, their demands include dropping a bill to put a version of the Equal Rights Amendment to Minnesota voters that would put the right to an abortion and protections for gender identity and sexual orientation in the state Constitution.

Infrastructure bill

After a late night of filibustering on a DFL-backed bill to ban “junk fees” in the House, GOP leaders on Tuesday told reporters that they wouldn’t back a $900 million or so infrastructure bill unless DFLers leave behind the ERA amendment, gun control measures and offer more funding for rural emergency medical services.

“Bipartisanship is going to be the spoonful of sugar that makes this whole end of session go down,” said Sen. Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, who briefed reporters on negotiations at a Tuesday capitol news conference with House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring.

Despite being in the minority, borrowing money for infrastructure, which traditionally happens in even-numbered years, requires a three-fifths majority in both chambers in order to pass. That’s one of the few leverage points available to Republicans — though it doesn’t just inconvenience DFLers. If Republicans kill a bonding bill it means they won’t be able to deliver local projects in their districts either.

In a joint statement Tuesday, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, called Republican demands unreasonable and said that emergency services funding and the bonding bill remain a priority.

“Republicans have jeopardized the completion of important work by intentionally throwing up roadblocks and delays on the floor, in negotiations, and again today by attempting to score political points with the press and public,” the leaders said.

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