SAINT PAUL, Minn. (GRAY) – Among the 15 bills passed in Monday’s Minnesota Special Session, one stood out as a clear point of contention. A bill that will cut access to MinnesotaCare benefits for undocumented immigrants over the age of 18 is on its way to Governor Tim Walz’s desk, and the governor has indicated he intends to sign the bill to uphold the will of the legislature.
The bill was part of a budget compromise among leadership.
Faced with a split legislature—a tied Minnesota House and DFL-controlled Minnesota Senate—leaders negotiated for weeks on a deal that would ensure enough votes from both bodies to get a budget finished.
According to DFL lawmakers, Republicans placed the revocation of benefits for undocumented immigrants above all other compromise offers.
“There wasn’t really anything that they wanted more than to make this cut, and there wasn’t anything that we were going to do that was going to satisfy them. This was the thing they wanted to do,” said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL – Saint Paul).
DFL leaders indicated that Republicans were offered changes to paid family and medical leave, earned sick and safe time, and non-compete restrictions, but the House GOP stood firm on making the repeal a part of the deal.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R – Cold Spring) said they weren’t content with the other offers.
“We looked for changes in paid family medical leave and earned sick and safe time, and what was being proposed was talked about with a very high price tag of additional revenue,” said Demuth, “This was not the issue with the undocumented piece and what we were able to handle today. That was not the trade-off whatsoever.”
Republicans argue that the bill will save the state money as it eyes an impending budget deficit. The final budget projects a total savings of roughly $56 million in the current legislative biennium. The state’s total human services budget is $16.8 billion.
DFL members argue that the costs incurred by allowing access to the program are offset by a decreased number of ER visits. ER visits can cost both providers and patients substantially more than preventive care, and unpaid bills can cause providers to rack up significant costs in uncompensated care.
Where DFL caucus leaders reluctantly negotiated a deal, their colleagues felt left behind. After a four-hour debate in the House, Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL – Brooklyn Park) cast the sole DFL vote, allowing the bill to pass.
“I know that people will be hurt by that vote,” said Hortman through tears, “and we worked very hard to get a budget deal that didn’t include that provision.”
The House DFL leader was visibly distressed with the vote she cast, one that separated her from her colleagues in the House.
“We are tremendously disappointed in and gut-wrenched at this decision,” said Rep. Liish Kozlowski (DFL-Duluth) before the House gaveled in, “at this compromise that compromises our communities that are most vulnerable.”
Hortman says she voted for the provision solely to uphold the deal.
“I did what leaders do, I stepped up and I got the job done for the people of Minnesota,” she said.
Still, she understood the frustrations voiced by her fellow caucus members.
“They’re right to be mad at me,” she said, “I think some of them are pretty, pretty angry. I think that their job was to make folks who voted for that bill feel like crap, and I think that they succeeded.”
Over in the Senate, a similar situation unfolded.
Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy was also forced to vote for a bill she disagreed with to uphold the integrity of their compromise.
“This one hurt. This one is a wound because of its reason,” she said, “my colleagues across the aisle set this as their number one priority.”
Unlike in the House, Murphy wasn’t the only DFLer to vote for the bill. She was joined by Senators Ann Rest (DFL – New Hope), Rob Kupec (DFL – Moorehead), and Grant Hauschild (DFL – Hermantown).
Asked whether the move would drive a wedge between her and her caucus, her DFL colleague, Senator John Marty, quickly stepped to her defense.
“As a member of the caucus, she clearly was fighting against that every step of the way in negotiations,” said Marty, who was part of the budget discussions, “If we wanted a budget, we had to agree to that. She agreed to put one vote for us because of that.”
The bill now heads to the governor, who has indicated he will not veto it.
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