Despite all of Gov. Tim Walz’s talk of a special session in response to the shooting at Annunciation Church in August, the Democrat governor still hasn’t called lawmakers back to the capitol. Last week Walz and Democrats “proposed” a special session that would have started on Monday, but Walz never officially scheduled one.
According to Democrats, and far too many media outlets, it’s Republicans who are standing in the way. As KSTP-TV reported on Monday:
… Walz and DFL legislative leaders floated a proposal last week to hold a session this week with votes on a ban on assault-style guns and high-capacity magazines and binary triggers, along with closing a “ghost gun” loophole in state law. They also proposed expanding funding for school safety and mental health programs.
House Republicans responded with proposals for school and student safety, improving mental health access and generally improving public safety.
Walz says there needs to be votes on gun bills. “And I’m just asking folks to come back in, and because of the narrow, absolutely split legislature, I need some help from Republican legislators to at least take a vote on some of these gun measures,” he said.
Republican legislative leaders pointed out last week that even some Democrats haven’t committed to voting for any gun bans. “The governor’s talk of a special session has been a partisan political stunt from the beginning,” Republican House Floor Leader Harry Niska said last week.
KAAL-TV, meanwhile, reported, “that session, meant to discuss ways to address gun violence, did not end up happening because both sides of the aisle have not reached an agreement about topics to be discussed.”
Based on these reports, you’d think that Republicans are thwarting Walz’s plan for a special session; that lawmakers would be hearing bills right now were it not for those darn conservatives standing in the way. And while that’s undoubtably the narrative that Walz and his fellow Democrats want out there, it’s also demonstrably false. Here’s what the Minnesota House of Representatives has to say about the process of establishing a special session:
Some state legislatures are allowed to call themselves into special session. The Minnesota Constitution does not permit this: only the governor can call the legislature into special session. (Statutory law purports to allow the legislature to call itself into special session, but only when the state is under attack by enemies of the United States).
Statutory law directs the governor to call a special session by means of a proclamation, to notify all legislators of the time of the meeting, and to inform the legislature of the purpose of the session. The governor’s proclamation is filed with the secretary of state and is printed in the journal of each house and in the Laws of Minnesota (a compilation of legislative actions published each year).
Republicans have absolutely no say in whether or not Walz calls a special session. That decision rests entirely with the governor himself, and if he wanted to be in St. Paul yesterday working with lawmakers then he should have proclaimed a special session as he floated last week. Walz isn’t “asking folks to come back in”. He doesn’t have to do that. He can tell legislators when a special session will be gaveled in, and it’s up tot hem to be there.
If Walz doesn’t want to call a special session because he doesn’t have the votes for his proposed gun and magazine bans, that’s on him. Republicans like Niska are right to point out that some Democrats are either non-committal or opposed to those bans, but that’s not the whole story.
Yes, Walz’s comments reek of political theater, but voters don’t really care miuch about that. The Republicans in the legislature should be making it clear in every comment to the press that they’re ready to vote on bills that would give public and private schools grants to improve security, hire school resource officers, and improve access to mental health resources… and that it’s Walz himself who’s standing in the way.
Those measures stand a much better chance of passage in the divided legislature, but nothing can happen without Walz first calling a special session. That authority rests solely with him, and since the local media is apparently uninterested in educating its audience about that fact, Republican legislators need to make that part of every statement or response they give to the press.
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