Lawmakers return to St. Paul next week for the 2024 legislative session, with Democrats still in control of the House, Senate and Governor's Office.
In this installment of WCCO In Depth, Susie Jones has a look at what's likely to happen during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session.
For starters, it isn't expected to be as busy as last year. However, there are still some items that need attention.
"I think we'll see some kind of cleanup bills, maybe clarification on the school resource officer issue, maybe some cleanup on the marijuana legalization," says Twin Cities public television political reporter Mary LaHammer.
There was disagreement between lawmakers and law enforcement over SRO's last summer with a growing number of law enforcement agencies pulling school resource officers out of schools due to confusion in the newly passed state law, and what allowable restraints they could use.
Governor Walz and other lawmakers have said they need to take another look at how those were written in order to clarify it for law enforcement.
LaHammer says there also could be some controversy over an end of life bill.
"We've already had a House Committee vote on the End of Life Options Act, or physician-assisted suicide," LaHammer explains. "So that could end up being one of the bigger issues of session if they tackle it. The other major issue that lawmakers didn't get all the way to the finish line last session was the Equal Rights Amendment, the ERA. So I think those could be the two most interesting, controversial issues."
An update to Minnesota's equal rights amendment, which would add language to the state constitution if approved by voters on a 2024 ballot question, has been pushed for by some in the legislature for a number of years. It would also include provisions aimed at protecting access to abortion when it comes up in this year's session.
A version without the abortion language passed the Minnesota Senate last May but failed in the House. Adding the extra language could make it even more difficult to get through the legislature.
See the rest of WCCO In-Depth here.