Minnsights Blog

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.

Sustainability is at the core of Niron Magnetics’ success. Whether it’s protecting ducklings in the parking lot, gathering plastic bags for recycling, or creating innovative rare earth free magnets, the Niron team is proving that business and sustainability are attractive forces!

Here we are, friends – 10 days out from the required adjournment of the 2025 legislative session, and quite a number of big-ticket items are still on the table for consideration as they wrap up this budget year. Of course, there's always speculation, which is a hot topic at the Capitol right now: whether or not they can finish on time. They do need to produce a budget, and if they don't by the required adjournment date of May 19, it means they'll have to come back in a special session, which only the governor can call, but only the Legislature can adjourn. They'll need to negotiate a deal on what a special session will look like. But we're not there yet. What we want to do is keep pressing forward with the time we have left – just a short 10 days – and they will work through the weekend to complete whatever they can. Leadership has been meeting, the two bodies have been meeting, and progress, I believe, is being made. But there are a few things, as I mentioned, that we want to get done.