Dear Friends and Neighbors,

They say, “May you live in interesting times,” and we are certainly there. As we head into February and finish up week four of the 2025 legislative session, I am happy to see that the Minnesota House of Representatives has finally organized and now will be meeting regularly.

With the full legislature now assembled, the work of getting a two-year balanced budget can really begin.

We need to work together to get things done in these interesting and challenging times, and I remain committed to doing so. Helping Minnesotans with the high cost of living, reigning in wasteful spending, holding government accountable, keeping our communities safe, and strengthening families are all worthy goals my colleagues and I should be striving for this legislative session. It continues to be my goal to ensure the needs of Minnesotans are met in a prudent, responsible way. It is my hope that we can all work together to serve our great state.

Please pray we are successful. Stay tuned for more updates as the session progresses!

It is my honor to serve you. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Warmly,

Senator Jim Abeler

Minnesota Senate, District 35

The House Convenes

This week the stalemate in the Minnesota House of Representatives finally came to an end as they reached a quorum Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday, it was announced that DFL and Republican caucus leadership reached an agreement to organize the body.

The agreement includes:

• Rep. Lisa Demuth as speaker of the House for the biennium, the first female Republican and first Black person to hold the position;
• Republicans will chair committees for the time being until the March special election determines the House is tied, at which point there would be co-chairs and co-vice-chairs;
• Republicans will immediately have a one-seat advantage in committee membership, but committees will have equal party representation when the House has equal party membership. The lone exception is that the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee will have a 5-3 Republican advantage;
• the House must only appoint an even number of members to conference committees divided equally between the caucuses;
• shared decision-making on any administrative or nonpartisan functions, including member appointments to boards and commissions;
• Rep. Brad Tabke, whose 14-vote win in District 54A was upheld by a judge, will be seated.

It is my hope that both sides will continue to prioritize cooperation and compromise as we work towards passing our very complex and daunting two-year budget agreement before the constitutional deadline to adjourn in May.