Chaotic end to Minnesota legislative session

The Minnesota Legislative session came to a chaotic end overnight, yet one local lawmaker in encouraged with what came out of this year's session.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KVRR) – The Minnesota Legislative session came to a chaotic end overnight, yet one local lawmaker in encouraged with what came out of this year’s session.

District 4 DFL State Senator Rob Kupec described the end of the session Sunday night as a “45 minute screaming fest by Minnesota Republicans“.
He says it was “not a dignified moment” in Minnesota political history.
In the final hour, Democrats combined numerous bills into a single package, which angered many Republicans.
Senator Kupec says lawmakers did accomplish some things on at the end of the session.
They passed a compromise bill that will raise wages for rideshare drivers while keeping Uber and Lyft from leaving the state.
Kupec also pointed out a transportation omnibus bill, along with labor and housing legislation that passed.

He adds, “We moved the needle on a lot of things that will be impactful in the lives of Minnesotans across the state. I’m pretty happy with the work we got done. I didn’t get everything I wanted, so I think there’s a lot of people, you always feel bad for the things that you had to sacrifice and drop away, but in the overall end I think Minnesotans will see the positive things that have come out of this session.”

The Senate did not take up the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution. The amendment would guarantee equal rights for women, including making all pregnancy decisions. Senator Kupec says Democrats didn’t want to bring the proposal to a vote through a procedural move, and that some in the DFL didn’t want to put a constitutional measure on the ballot anyway.

House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth says the voice of Republicans was completely shut out during the end process.