Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Legislative News and Views - Rep. Dale Lueck (R)

Back to profile

Legislative update

Friday, May 21, 2021

Dear Neighbor,

Regular session ended on Monday May 17th and, to retain his emergency powers, the governor will have to call the legislature back for a special session no later than June 14th, otherwise his emergency authority will automatically expire.

On May 16th, about 24 hours before mandatory legislature adjournment the governor, the Senate Leader and Speaker of House behind closed doors agreed to overall state agency budget funding targets. The conference committees in possession of the agency finance bills are expected to informally reconcile their bills with the numbers that were agreed upon by two legislators and the governor, ahead of the governor calling us back into session. That sidesteps the legislative process our Constitution sets forth and hides the decision making from the public.

All three individuals involved need to check the Minnesota Constitution and reexamine the rolls it sets forth for each. By that agreement, the governor was given preemptive veto authority over what the other 199 legislators are allowed to put in those final agency finance and policy bills. Very disappointing to see a continuing erosion of the legislature’s responsibility as set forth in the MN Constitution.

Despite the majority leaders in both the House and Senate failing to steer their respective ships into port on time, please be assured I will continue to soldier on, as we still must get a common-sense, two-year state budget in place before July 1, 2021.

On more a more exciting note, as a newly appointed member of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), I have started working on reviewing about 220 LCCMR funding proposals that are now before the committee for consideration.

The LCCMR consists of 17 members: 5 Senators, 5 Representatives, 5 citizens appointed by the governor, 1 citizen appointed by the Senate, and 1 citizen appointed by the House. The LCCMR makes funding recommendations to the legislature for special environment and natural resource projects, that are primarily funded from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF).

The ENRFT was established by a constitutional amendment that dedicated Minnesota State Lottery proceeds and investment income toward projects that help maintain and enhance Minnesota's environment and natural resources. The LCCMR Commission will work through the summer narrowing down the project proposals and by the end of the year put together a recommended project list for the 2022 legislative session.

Sincerely,

Dale