Honoring Melissa Hortman: Bill to rename state's solar garden program heads to governor's desk

Minnesota lawmakers honor Melissa Hortman

On a day that marks the beginning of the legislative session, and the start to several arguments between Minnesota’s lawmakers, politicians on both sides spent time honoring the life of former speaker of the House Melissa Hortman.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A bill to rename Minnesota's community solar garden program in honor of the late Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman is officially on its way to the governor’s desk.

READ MORE: Honoring Melissa Hortman: MN House passes bill to rename state solar garden program

Melissa Hortman solar garden program

Honoring the Hortmans: Seven ways in one day

The adult children of Melissa and Mark Hortman gave seven ways for people to honor them after they were shot and killed early Saturday morning. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard set out to complete that list on Tuesday.

Big picture view:

The Minnesota State Senate voted on Thursday to rename Minnesota’s community solar garden program after the assassinated speaker emerita.

Hortman wrote the bill creating the program back in 2013 to give people communal access to solar energy even if they couldn’t install panels on their own property.

The House voted unanimously last month to name the program after Hortman, and only seven senators opposed it.

Dig deeper:

A community solar garden, or CSG, allows a subscriber to participate in a solar energy system along with others, who then share the electricity generated by the project as a credit on their electric bill.

Supporters of CSGs tout benefits such as predictable electricity rates, potential utility bill savings and increasing renewable energy resources.

Minnesota lawmaker shootings

The backstory:

Rep. Hortman and her husband Mark, along with their dog, were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14, 2025.

Shortly after, Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also injured in their Champlin home.

The suspect also went to two other Democratic lawmakers' homes that night disguised as a police officer during the attack.

At the Hortman home, authorities say they confronted the suspect and exchanged gunfire with him, forcing him to flee on foot and leave behind his vehicle, which resembled a police cruiser.

In the aftermath, the suspect was indicted on six counts, including murder. He has since entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him, but could potentially be sentenced to the death penalty if convicted.

Minnesota lawmakers have since sought increased security measures around the state capital complex for upcoming legislative sessions.