Welcome to the 2009 legislative session. Both the House and Senate will convene at 12:00 p.m. today with brief floor sessions. When the House convenes they will have 23 new members, 12 new Republicans and 11 new Democrats. Democrats increased their numbers by two seats and now hold 87 seats to the 47 seats held by the Republicans. In the Senate, there are two new Senators due to retirements. The split in the Senate is 46 DFL, 21 Republican.
The membership roster for 2009-2010 is available on line here.
Legislators must complete their work this session by Monday, May 18, 2009. This gives lawmakers approximately five months to solve the $4.8 billion state budget deficit. With tough decisions to be made, I don't think anyone would be surprised to see a special session this year.
As a reminder, here is the link to the Government Relations Web site. Weekly updates, state and federal information, committee information, etc. will be provided on a regular basis at this site.
And don't forget to check out the Government Relations blog here.
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