Minnesota Senate passes rule change to allow children in chambers

Minnesota Senators vote to allow minors in chambers

The Minnesota Senate on Wednesday made one of the biggest changes to its rules to help members with families manage the job. They voted to allow state senators and their staff to bring their children onto the Senate floor, something members can already do in the House, for child care and breast-feeding purposes. The bill passed in a 41-25 vote.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Senate on Wednesday made one of the biggest changes to its rules to help members with families manage the job.

Senate votes to allow minors in chambers

What we know:

State lawmakers voted to allow senators and their staff to bring their children onto the Senate floor, something members can already do in the House. Lawmakers can bring kids into the chambers for the purposes of child care, and breast-feeding.

The vote passed by a 41-25 margin.

Two weeks ago, Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten was told to leave the Senate floor because she brought her young son, Leo. That set her into motion with Senator Julia Coleman to make a change.

"Every single woman in this chamber with small children has explained how this provision and rule change would make it so they don’t feel like they are juggling an unlimited burdening number of tasks, and treading water and drowning while trying to do this job. There is no space or time given for mothers who are trying to breast feed while serving in the Senate," Coleman said. "This rule won’t impact me, I would not subject this chamber to the three little munchkins I have running around, but this is about planting seeds for trees for the future parents coming after me to sit under. It is time to get with the times. There’s a long way to go, but this is the biggest change we’ve seen."

Change in ideology

Why you should care:

The Senate is considered the stodgy half of the legislature, where everyone has to be well-dressed and men have to wear a tie to get on the floor. They wouldn’t even allow senators bring a bottle of water until a couple years ago.

But supporters argued they should be more family friendly.