But now that Minnesota Dems have significant majorities in the House (77 Dems, 57 GOP) and Senate (39-28) this next biennium, they have plenty of margin for error to allow some of their less proggy members to vote nay.
And they've already been signaling what they have in store for 2027, specifically within areas they consider "unfinished business."
First up is an oldie but goodie: draconian gun control.
DFL Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar told reporters last week she believes a sweeping gun control bill will pass in Minnesota. That bill, should it become law, would be one of the most wide-reaching gun control statutes in the nation.
Earlier this year, Democrats in the Minnesota Senate passed a sweeping gun control bill, SF 4067, in response to the 2025 shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School and the murders of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.
That bill, passed in a 34-33 party-line vote, included funds for mental health services, anonymous threat reporting systems for schools, and other items. However, the thrust of the bill was restrictions on so-called “semiautomatic military-style assault weapon[s].”
SF 4067 would have banned gun stores from selling a wide swath of firearms, including the AR-15, the most popular firearm in America. The bill also would have banned gun stores from selling firearm magazines with more than 17 rounds.
Under the bill, private transfers of the restricted semiautomatic firearms would be allowed as long as certain requirements are met.
However, one of the most significant parts of the bill is its creation of a gun registry. Under SF 4067, people who own one of the restricted semiautomatic firearms would be required to tell the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) that they own one of those guns.
Those gun owners would need to obtain a “certification of ownership” from the BCA and renew it every three years. Failure to obtain a certificate of ownership would result in a misdemeanor, a second violation would be a felony.
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus has been gearing up for this the millisecond the DFL officially attained another trifecta. Basically, there will be lawyers.
“The Legislature has repeatedly demonstrated little regard for the constitutional limits on its authority to restrict Second Amendment rights,” said Rob Doar, President of the Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center. “We’ve successfully challenged those restrictions in court, and we’ll continue to do so.”
And then there's the so-called "Equal Rights Amendment" which the DFL wanted to get passed in the 2024 session but ran out of time. But it's definitely going to get prioritized this upcoming session.
Lawmakers and activist groups are preparing for what might be their best chance yet to add LGBTQ and abortion rights to Minnesota’s constitution after years of efforts at the state Capitol.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers will control the House and Senate in 2027 — their second trifecta this decade — and activist groups and DFL leaders are optimistic the Legislature will put the state version of the Equal Rights Amendment on the 2028 ballot for voters to have the final say.
Supporters from women’s and LGBTQ rights groups gathered Thursday at the Minnesota Capitol to kick off their campaign for the amendment — two years before it would appear on the ballot if approved in the upcoming legislative session.
The Minnesota Family Council correctly notes how the "ERA" is a trojan horse for more insidious purposes.
If the ERA passes, judges would likely interpret the state constitution to protect the forcing of females to share private spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms, and dorms; state grants; scholarships; athletic opportunities; prison facilities; and women’s shelters with males who reject sexed identity and cosplay women and girls. It also would likely create constitutional protection for taxpayer funding of sex-rejecting procedures.
In states where other ERAs have passed, judges have interpreted the state constitution to protect taxpayer funding of abortion. Since the state constitution is the highest legal protection of the state (beside federal law,) protecting abortion access and funding and public accommodation of sex rejection would be given the highest legal protection in Minnesota.
In Minnesota, proposed state constitutional amendments must pass majorities of both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate before voters in a general election must approve of the amendment to the constitution. Overturning a part of the constitution is a generational undertaking, unlike regular state statutes, which are more easily changed from legislative session to legislative session by lawmakers alone.
And because a ballot initiative only needs to be approved by the Legislature, Gov.-elect Klobuchar can engage in her usual sleight of hand by not making any definitive statements of support or opposition.
Klobuchar has said she has supported ERA efforts in the past, although she does not appear to have weighed in publicly on this particular version of the ERA.
The only mystery this next biennium is how far left Klobee will be dragged by the DSA-affiliated members, who very clearly are the loudest voices among the DFL caucus.
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