On Jan. 14, lawmakers will convene in St. Paul for what is sure to be an unusual session. That said, and at a most basic level, lawmakers’ charge remains the same. They need to pass a new, balanced, two-year budget for state government—and it will need to be bipartisan. As with every new year, MFU’s leadership and legislative team has already begun meeting with lawmakers and agency officials to discuss legislative priorities defined through our grassroots policy process. We’ll work hard to ensure that the needs and perspectives of MFU members are reflected in that final agreement.

The big news coming out of St. Paul this week is the fight over how the House will organize when that body convenes. Following November’s election that resulted in a historic 50-50 split in the state House, leaders for both caucus spent months negotiating a power sharing agreement that would allow them to conduct work in a bipartisan way that preserved equal power for each caucus. In previous updates, we’ve shared how House DFLers and Republicans announced lists of co-Chairs, committee membership, and plans for staffing.

However, a district court ruling that then Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson, DFL-Roseville, didn’t meet residency requirements resulted his resignation, leaving the House with a 67-66 split. This gives Republicans a plurality of votes until the Jan. 28 Special Election can be held to fill that safely Democratic seat. While 68 votes is required to pass legislation, House Republicans shared that they would use those two weeks to elect a Republican Speaker, and potentially name new chairs and change the partisan balance of committees.

Potentially even more consequential, Democrats have raised concerns about Republicans using this temporary majority to expel Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, who won his seat by 14 votes. A judge is currently considering a challenge to that election given that an election official likely threw away 20 ballots in that razor thin race. That said, 6 of those voters testified under oath that they voted for Tabke, making a win for his opponent mathematically impossible.

House DFL leaders are in turn urging Republicans to honor the power sharing agreement and are threatening to prevent a quorum by not showing up to the Capitol for the first two weeks of session.

“Minnesotans voted for equal numbers of Democratic and Republican state representatives. Honoring the will of the voters means governing together under shared power,” said DFL Speaker-designate Melissa Hortman in a press release earlier this week.

In the Senate, lawmakers are faced with the tragic news that Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, had passed after a long battle with cancer. She led the DFL Senate Majority through the 2023 session, including through her diagnosis. Her passing was met with bipartisan celebration of her character and commitment to Minnesotans.

“She will be remembered for her integrity and her compassion for Minnesotans, something that we all saw as she continued to serve even as she battled cancer,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks.

Dziedzic was also a good friend to MFU, serving as the Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee and more recently helping craft a reauthorization of the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit. Her door was always open to MFU.

This puts the Senate into a 33-33 tie until a Special Election that will be held on Jan. 28.

These developments will create challenges for lawmakers as they work to come together around a new state budget. Even beyond that, lawmakers will need to balance a constrained budget outlook, constrained space with the reconstruction of the House office building, and potential federal changes that could affect state funding and programs.

What does it mean for MFU?

So, what does this all mean for MFU and our advocacy this session? Well, for one it will be important! There will be a lot of big picture partisan jockeying, but even outside of ties or narrow margins, agriculture has often been a bright spot of strong bipartisan work. In the past, that’s even meant getting our bill done early.

Showing up early in session and keeping in touch with your representatives will be as important this session as ever. And that can start with our Annual Lobby Day Drive-in on Feb. 4! Please consider registering to join us: bit.ly/MFULobby25. And bring a friend too. It’s an important way that we set the tone for session and ensure that lawmakers understand our priorities.

It’s also important that we have clearly defined priorities. As a reminder, County Presidents and delegates to MFU’s State Convention approved six Special Orders of Business, reflecting resolutions that came in from counties across the state. These call for:

• Passing a Farm Bill and Funding Agriculture Programs, calling on lawmakers to update the 2018 Farm Bill, strengthening the farm safety-net, defending conservation programs and promoting competition. This also calls for preventing a shortfall in Minnesota’s AGRI Program; expanding Minnesota Grown, farm to kids initiatives, and other opportunities to build new markets; and investing in programs that help farmers become more resilient to the effects of climate change.
• Ensuring Affordable and Accessible Care in rural Minnesota, including childcare, healthcare, elder care, and emergency services. This calls on lawmakers to continue work to expand healthcare programs, support independent pharmacies, invest in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), address childcare shortages, and prevent nursing home closures.
• Promoting Land Ownership and Access including by improving access to credit, targeting tax benefits toward owner-operators, expanding the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit, and defending Minnesota’s longstanding ban on corporate ownership of farmland.
• Supporting Cooperatives and leveraging the 2025 International Year of the Cooperatives to educate Minnesotans on the current and future value of the cooperative model.
• Ensuring Fair Markets including by opposing tariffs that would negatively affect family farms and rural communities and curbing monopoly power across our economy including through enforcing the Packers and Stockyards act and passing Right to Repair for farm equipment.
• Opposing Project 2025, a plan that calls for cutting many of the core Farm Bill programs related to the farm safety-net, conservation, and market development and making harmful changes related to issues from healthcare to individual rights.

For state lawmakers, the state issues are then incorporated into this new Legislative Priorities document. Please use it as you connect with your representatives in St. Paul.

As the legislature convenes and moves ahead we’ll continue to provide regular updates via e-news. Reach out to Stu at (320) 232-3047 (C) or stu@mfu.org if you have questions, thoughts, concerns, or topics you’d like to see addressed.