Minnsights Blog

I’m coming to you this week from Washington, D.C., where we’ve been hosting our annual D.C. Fly-In. We’ve had a great group – more than 60 business leaders from Minnesota – joining us for meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration and our congressional delegation. It’s a chance to elevate Minnesota’s business priorities on the national stage.

As you know, the Legislature wrapped up their work on May 19, but they didn’t really finish. We’re anticipating a special session so they can complete the budget and other policy priorities. Before we jump into the specifics of the special session, I want to give you a quick update of where our economy stands, which relates directly to the important considerations ahead.

It's been an interesting and challenging week, and we are now in special session mode at the Legislature for the 2025 legislative session. Big progress has been made on a number of fronts related to the business community's priorities as well as the Chamber's priorities. Two things I want to mention today on the podcast.

It’s Friday and we're preparing for Memorial Day weekend. But, the Legislature has not completed its work for the year. Earlier this week, the Legislature adjourned as they were required to do by the Constitution, but they did not complete their work as they didn't complete their budget. The budget is required this year, and the state must balance its budget and produce a new budget for the upcoming fiscal year and biennium, which will start on July 1. The Legislature is working to complete that. And a special session is expected to be reconvened by the governor and go through the remaining budget items yet-to-be-completed and do so in a timely way.

It is May 16, and the required adjournment of the Legislature is May 19. This week at the Chamber, in addition to tracking progress at the Capitol, we also released an important and very timely report from the Minnesota Chamber Foundation called Fueling Prosperity through productivity and innovation. You'll find that the report has some interesting data to share, and it's relevant to the work happening at the Capitol this weekend leading up to the required adjournment on May 19.