A Historical Snapshot of Minnesota’s Legislative Special Sessions

Governor Tim Pawlenty delivered a shot across the DFL’s bow Thursday afternoon, or perhaps it was the dropping of an A-bomb, when he declared there would be no special sessions to resolve the state’s budget matters and that, if need be, he would use his executive power of line-item vetoes and unallotments to balance the budget this summer.

Although governors are democratically elected in the Gopher State with such enumerated powers, charges came flying from DFL Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher that Pawlenty’s proposed actions would be antithetical to the democratic process by making decisions, “Alone, with unelected people whispering in his ear.”

DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller hoped that the governor would “calm down” and “get his wits about himself” in the next few days in order to “get back to a reasoned discussion.”

To be sure, the specter of a special session has loomed from the early days of the 86th Legislature. But how frequently have such sessions been called by governors in the past, and how long do they usually last?

A Smart Politics analysis of Minnesota Legislative Reference Library records finds there have been 44 special sessions called since the 1st Legislature convened back in 1857. However, exactly half of these special sessions have been called during the past 29 years – with 10 in the 1980s, 7 in the 1990s, and 5 in the 2000s.

Minnesota Legislative Special Sessions by Decade, 1850s-2000s

Decade	# Sessions
2000s	5
1990s	7
1980s	10
1970s	2
1960s	4
1950s	5
1940s	1
1930s	4
1920s	0
1910s	3
1900s	1
1890s	0
1880s	1
1870s	0
1860s	1
1850s	0
Total	44

Note: Data from Minnesota Legislative Reference Library compiled by Smart Politics.

However, the convening of many of these special sessions, 16 in fact, were simply one day legislative affairs. In recent years, 1-day sessions have been called to provide special disaster relief (September 2007) and flood relief (September 2002, August 1997). However, some 1-day sessions have been called to address meaty budget bills (May 1993, April 1986) and revenue raising measures (April 1957, April 1955), such as those facing the current legislature.

Overall, 30 of the 44 special sessions have adjourned after less than 10 legislative days. Of those that have convened for more than 10 days, just two have occurred since the early 1970s. From December 1981 to January 1982, a session was convened to consider reduced appropriations and financial state aid shifts to address the state’s cash-flow needs. In Pawlenty’s first term, from May to July 2005, 23 legislative days were needed to pass unresolved budget bills from the regular session.

Length of Special Sessions in Legislative Days

Legislative days	Frequency
1 day	16
2 days	2
3 days	5
4 days	3
5 days	1
8 days	2
9 days	1
11 days	1
13 days	1
17 days	2
18 days	1
23 days	1
24 days	1
28 days	1
29 days	1
33 days	1
36 days	1
44 days	1
48 days	1
54 days	1
Total	44

Note: Data from Minnesota Legislative Reference Library compiled by Smart Politics.

The three longest special sessions on record in the Gopher State have involved revenue issues and the debate over whether and how to enact new tax measures. Such issues prompted a 54-day special session in 1971 (across 159 calendar days), a 48-day session in 1959, and a 44-day session in 1937. No other special session has taken more than 36 legislative days before adjournment.

Overall, the calling of special sessions is a late 20th Century phenomenon. During the Gopher State’s first 100 years, from 1857 through 1956, just 13 such sessions were convened. However, during the next 51 years, from 1957-2007, 31 special sessions were called.

Minnesota Legislative Special Sessions, 1857-2009

Year	Convened	Adjourned	Calendar Days	Legislative Days
2007	September 11	September 11	1	1
2005	May 24	July 13	51	23
2003	May 20	May 29	10	8
2002	September 19	September 19	1	1
2001	June 11	June 29	19	9
1998	April 20	April 22	3	3
1997	October 23	November 14	23	4
1997	August 19	August 19	1	1
1997	June 26	June 26	1	1
1995	May 23	May 25	3	3
1994	August 31	August 31	1	1
1993	May 27	May 27	1	1
1989	September 27	September 29	3	3
1987	June 25	June 25	1	1
1986	April 2	April 2	1	1
1985	June 19	June 21	3	3
1982	July 9	July 9	1	1
1982	December 7	December 10	4	3
1982	March 30	March 30	1	1
1981-2	December 1	January 18	49	17
1981	July 1	July 2	2	2
1981	June 6	June 6	1	1
1979	May 24	May 24	1	1
1971	May 25	October 30	159	54
1967	May 23	June 2	11	8
1966	April 25	May 19	25	17
1961	December 18	December 19	2	2
1961	April 24	June 8	46	33
1959	April 25	July 1	68	48
1958	June 23	June 26	4	4
1957	April 30	April 30	1	1
1955	April 26	April 26	1	1
1951	April 24	April 24	1	1
1944	March 8	March 11	4	4
1937	May 24	July 23	61	44
1936	December 17	December 23	7	5
1935-6	December 2	January 25	55	36
1933-4	December 5	January 6	33	24
1919	September 8	September 19	12	11
1916	October 28	October 28	1	1
1912	June 4	June 18	15	13
1902	February 4	March 11	36	29
1881	October 11	November 19	40	28
1862	September 9	September 29	21	18
Total			675	421

Source: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

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