Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders met for the first time Tuesday to discuss a possible special session to forge a policy response to a mass shooting in Minneapolis, with both parties expecting the Legislature to be brought back soon.
The state leaders came out of the private meeting expressing optimism about reaching a public safety deal in the coming days and vowed to continue discussions. Walz, who has sole power to call a session, said he doesn’t want to let down the families of victims who are demanding action.
“I will call the special session one way or another,” he said, adding that it should happen “sooner rather than later” to avoid the recent bouts of gun violence from fading from mind. “I feel the sense of urgency. I think Minnesotans feel the sense of urgency.”
Even if gun measures the Democratic governor wants to see enacted don’t pass, he said it’s important for people to see where all lawmakers stand.
Democrats and leading Republicans split on the biggest priority for DFL lawmakers: banning firearms and high-capacity magazines that can spray bullets in short order and inflict considerable damage.
Republicans have prioritized mental health measures and additional funding for school safety. Those issues could also have backing from DFL legislators.
“House Republicans are committed to making sure that we are keeping our schools and our communities safe, and that is a very broad way of looking at that and getting at the actual foundational root issues that cause someone to act out in such a horrendous way,” said GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth as she emerged from the meeting that lasted about 40 minutes.
Walz said the tragic events of the summer, including the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School and the assassinations of former House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, should spur lawmakers to action.
“We absolutely cannot live like this, and those of us who are entrusted with positions of authority or the ability to change things should do so. So the families of Annunciation and countless others have made it clear the expectation is to do something about this,” Walz said. “And I've made it very clear that in Minnesota, we are going to do a special session.”
The governor said that he’d continue meeting with legislative leaders over coming days but was determined to make a special session happen, even if the sides don’t reach an accord. Typically, leaders agree to the terms of the special session before a governor calls it. Once legislators start a special session, it’s up to them to decide what they take up and when they adjourn.
Demuth, of Cold Spring, said her caucus was open to ongoing discussions and committee vetting to prepare for a legislative session. But she didn’t think there were votes within her caucus — or the DFL caucuses — to advance new restrictions on firearms. She said her children were impacted by the 2003 Rocori High School shooting and can relate to the trauma that those who live through mass shootings face.
“It takes a generation and beyond to really be able to move forward. You do the next step. But as far as it being a passing news story, it's not going to be passing for those families of both the victims, those that are injured and the kids that were just in there,” Demuth said. “I can tell you that it does not just end.”
She emphasized that changes are possible but would require bipartisan backing in each chamber to pass. Republicans in the House hold a one-vote advantage, but the chamber could return to a tie next week after a special election to fill Hortman’s vacant seat. In the Senate, there are two vacancies that would require at least one Republican to vote with Democrats to move a bill forward.
“In the Senate, it takes 34, in the House, it takes 68 and no one has that in the makeup of the Legislature right now,” Demuth said. “We have to work in a bipartisan way.”
Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, expected a working group to being holding hearings in the next week on safety measures that could come up in a special session. The Senate is currently down two members, and Democrats would need Republican backing to get any traction on bills.
Just hours into his new role as House DFL Caucus Leader, Rep. Zack Stephenson of Coon Rapids said he wouldn’t be in the role if not for Hortman’s assassination months earlier. Now, he said, it was incumbent on legislative leaders to listen to the families affected by the Annunciation mass shooting.
“I hope that my colleagues on the Republican side will listen to the families, to the families of the victims of the shooting who are demanding action on guns, on weapons of war and getting those off of the street,” Stephenson said. “So I think what we need to do right now is listen to the people who were impacted by this tragedy.”
