Walz says police oversight debate 'a little stuck' as rest of budget comes together

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota lawmakers have reached agreements to fund more than 90 percent of state government ahead of next Wednesday's deadline, but a deal on police accountability eludes them.

"It’s probably fair to say it’s a little bit stuck," Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Thursday afternoon of police changes.

If lawmakers don't pass a public safety budget by the June 30 deadline, courts and prisons would not be funded even if the rest of government keeps operating.

Lawmakers prevented rest stops and road projects from shutting down next week by sending a $7.3 billion transportation budget to Walz's desk Thursday. It's the fifth budget bill to pass, joining higher education, commerce, agriculture, and the state's Legacy fund projects.

The housing budget passed the House on Thursday and heads to the Senate. It will wind down Walz's eviction moratorium by this fall, allowing landlords to once again boot tenants for not paying rent.

Lawmakers also have deals to fund the biggest parts of state government: $21 billion for K-12 education and $16 billion for health and human services. Those bills are scheduled for votes over the weekend.

'Going to disappoint some folks'

Walz delivered a message to fellow Democrats that they are unlikely to get some of the police oversight changes they've sought in 2021.

"It's inevitable that this is going to be a deal that is going to disappoint some folks who are looking for more change that needs to be done," Walz said. "But my hope is that there will be enough things in there to say this is progress being made."

The governor said he hoped lawmakers would reach a public safety deal within the next 48 hours and not risk a partial government shutdown next week.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, the state's top Republican, is giving the same message to his side about tempering expectations. House Republicans have been frustrated that Gazelka didn't get more in end-of-session negotiations.

"We’re the only divided Legislature in the whole country," Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said this week. "For either side to assume they’re going to get everything is just not reality. Then you have that facing up against a shutdown that affects all of Minnesota now, you eventually have to give up on some things that either side cares about."

Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent criticized minority House Republicans for using tactics to delay budget bills over the past several days.

"It is not OK," said Kent, DFL-Woodbury. "I hope everyone will continue to put pressure on those who would stall this because every day matters."

Absentee ballot security

Voting restrictions sought by Republicans, including a requirement that Minnesotans have photo identification to vote, were tossed out during negotiations.

The state government and elections bill came together after lawmakers added new security regulations for absentee ballot drop boxes. Secretary of State Steve Simon said Senate Republicans demanded the additions or they wouldn't vote for the bill.

"Candidly, none of this language was heard by any committee in either chamber," Simon, a Democrat, told a House committee Thursday. "But it was made clear to us at the last minute – meaning in the last few days – that we needed, in order to get this bill done, to negotiate language over drop boxes."

The measure requires that absentee ballot drop boxes be bolted to the building, be resistant to tampering, and that elections officials empty them at least once a day.

Simon said additional regulations could be added in the next legislative session in time for the 2022 midterm elections. Current state law includes no regulations for the drop boxes, which grew in popularity during the 2020 elections as nearly 2 million Minnesotans cast absentee ballots in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eviction ban will end

Walz's eviction moratorium will slowly end over the next three and a half months under the housing bill passed by the House and sent to the Senate on Thursday. Minnesota has had an eviction ban since March 2020, a pandemic-era protection for renters.

If the bill passes and becomes law, landlords will be able to evict some problem tenants in July. Renters who are applying for rental assistance through the state's RentHelpMN.org program would be spared from eviction until June 2022.

"I would argue that we have a responsibility in this Legislature to make sure we don’t replace a health crisis with an eviction crisis," said state Rep. Mike Howard, DFL-Richfield.

Republicans unsuccessfully argued that landlords should be able to restart evictions right away, citing stories from landlords about tenants who refuse to pay rent.

"Their tenant has not paid them in over a year," state Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, said one landlord had told her. "They got a brand-new car, and a 75-inch TV was delivered to the property management office because the tenant wasn’t home at the time."

Democrats got a provision inserted that requires landlords to provide tenants with a 15-day notice before evicting them. The notice will also encourage tenants to apply for rental assistance.

The Rent Help MN program has paid out $8.8 million, less than 7 percent of the $136 million in applications, Minnesota's online dashboard indicates.