By Luke Fischer

Since the November election, nearly every conversation I have with our members includes some discussion about what might happen this state legislative session. The curiosity and speculation are more specific and intense than in previous election cycles. And I totally understand why.

As of early January, the Legislature’s makeup is uncertain, with two special elections scheduled later in the month for seats in the House and Senate.

When the dust settled after the November election, we thought that for the first time since 1979 (or since the “nineteen-hundreds,” as the kids say), the Minnesota House of Representatives would be evenly split 67-67 between Republicans and Democrats (DFL). But with a seat recently vacated, Republicans will hold an ultra-slim, one-seat, 67-66 majority as the session begins, until we have the results of the Jan. 28 special election for House District 40B.

Regardless of the special election outcome, any legislation that has a chance of passing the House this session will need to garner bipartisan support. This means that both parties are going to have to work together differently than they have in recent memory to get the 68 votes necessary to pass legislation. Many are concerned that our politics today don’t lend themselves well to the give and take necessary to get anything done.

A special election will be held for the Senate District 60 seat, also on Jan. 28, to determine the Senate’s composition after former Senate DFL Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic tragically lost her battle with cancer in December. This race will be closely watched as the DFL currently holds a slim one-seat majority. This close margin means that the majority party needs to have every member present and voting to move bills forward — lest they’re able to garner support from the other side of the aisle. Just like in the House, this means that legislators are going to have to compromise if there is any hope of progress on a myriad of important issues affecting us all.

And the questions facing the Legislature this session are significant.

We’re in the first year of the biennium. Now is the time state lawmakers take up the two-year budget. Absent an adopted budget by June 30, the state faces a government shutdown — which hasn’t happened since 2011. This has the potential to impact aid payments to cities, Minnesota Department of Transportation projects, public safety, and a number of other important services cities (and the public) have come to rely on.

In addition to the required task of passing a budget this session, inaction on a bonding bill last session has many of our members hoping lawmakers can come together to support legislation that funds needed local initiatives and deposits money into accounts that support things like water and sewer projects. The prospect of a bonding bill is in question, considering that it requires a supermajority of lawmakers to move these needed investments forward.

The state’s fiscal picture looks considerably different with recent budget forecasts predicting a structural imbalance (or deficit) on the horizon. Lawmakers are going to be asked to do more with much less than the previous session — again with a political landscape that is daunting.

It’s no surprise that many pundits, observers, and even some lawmakers are already speculating about a dreaded special session.

Bleak as it may be at the state level, I find hope that our government can and should be able to get through challenges like this when I see the work that happens at the local level in your city halls.

In December, each and every city council in Minnesota passed a budget to ensure the local streets are plowed, public safety is funded, and our drinking water is clean. You did that by taking time to listen to the public, through compromise, and with a sense of duty — after all, you were elected to make your city better.

It’s important that you bring that same spirit of progress to every conversation you have with your state representatives and senators this session. Now is the time to call them to action to get their work done. As local leaders, you know just how important it is that our partners at the state level do their work.

As you talk with folks at the Capitol, call on them to set partisan differences aside, find areas of agreement and compromise, and encourage them to put their districts first. You can do this best by engaging with legislators, sharing your stories, and letting them know how important the city-state partnership is to the people we all serve.

And don’t let anyone blame the “other side.” Cities are the sterling example that compromise and progress are possible — despite differences of opinions.

Luke Fischer is executive director of the League of Minnesota Cities. Contact: lfischer@lmc.org or (651) 281-1279.