One day after a bipartisan vote by the Minnesota Senate to end the peacetime emergency declared by Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats blocked a similar vote in the Minnesota House.

As I’ve done many times before, I once again voted to end the peacetime emergency and return to regular legislative order. Ending the peacetime emergency does not mean ending the state’s response to COVID-19. Instead, it would move Minnesota away from the “emergency” phase of our response and into a posture that allows the state to manage the crisis more effectively and with more decisionmakers at the table.

The legislature returned to St. Paul Monday for the start of another special session. Gov. Walz called the special session because state law requires the governor to bring the legislature back to St. Paul every 30 days to extend a peacetime emergency.

In addition to the peacetime emergency extension, negotiations are ongoing between the House and Senate on a handful of other issues like bonding, tax cuts, police reform, and supplemental budget spending.