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Special Session III Brings Surprise Ending
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August 14, 2020
Special Session III

The third special session of the year began and ended on Wed., Aug. 12. The purpose for the special session was for the governor to renew the peacetime emergency for another 30 days, but a couple of bills were passed as well. The Senate again voted to end the peacetime emergency while the House did not. A peacetime emergency can only be ended when both bodies vote to do so.

The first of the two bills passed was SF1, which would appropriate about $30 million in federal COVID-19 funds for disability service providers. Similar legislation had been passed twice by the Senate in previous special sessions this year. This funding comes after months of warning by providers that they are coming close to shutting down due to financial strain, and during that time, some have already had to do so.

The second bill passed was HF2, which provided necessary fixes to pieces of the police reform package that passed during the July special session.

Some unexpected political maneuvering ensued in the Senate when the last item on the agenda was a call for a confirmation vote for Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Nancy Leppink. By a party line vote of 32-34, the Senate removed Leppink from her position. The Senate holds the unique power to decide whether to confirm the governor’s commissioners. The DFL as well as Gov. Walz were caught off guard by the move; they had not been notified ahead of time.

It is not a typical scenario that commissioners are not confirmed. The last time it occurred was in 2008. GOP senators cited numerous examples of how Nancy Leppink has not been meeting her duties as commissioner, which DFL senators countered with examples of the opposite. Sen. Gazelka stated that he told the governor earlier this year that they believed she was not suitable for her position and asked him to find her a new role.
Primary Results

While not all mail-in votes have been received and counted yet, there were some clear state primary winners and losers by Tuesday evening. Current DFL Senators Jeff Hayden and Erik Simonson, as well as current DFL Representatives Ray Dehn and John Lesch, were defeated by their DFL primary opponents. Both Rep. Lesch and Rep. Dehn hold committee chair positions in the House, and Sen. Hayden and Sen. Simonson are both assistant minority leaders for the Senate DFL.
Ewald Government Relations Team
David Ewald
651-290-6276
davide@ewald.com


Valerie Dosland
651-265-7857
valeried@ewald.com


Phil Griffin
651-791-0341
philg@ewald.com

Troy Olsen
651-288-3425
troyo@ewald.com


Becca Pryse

651-265-7858
beccap@ewald.com


Allie Spellman

651-285-3522
allies@ewald.com

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