House and Senate Announce Committee Structures and Chairs

Full committee membership of the Minnesota Legislature is expected to be finalized by mid-December.
(Published Dec 6, 2012)

The 88th session of the Minnesota Legislature convenes on Jan. 8, and the structure of the session is taking shape as the House and Senate have announced their committees and chairs.

House of Representatives
The House will have 30 committees, up from 26 in the previous session. Some committees were eliminated while some new ones were created.

House leaders eliminated both the Redistricting Committee and the Data Practices Subcommittee as well as the stand-alone committee on veterans issues.

The House will now have two transportation committees—one dealing with finance and the other with policy. It will also have two committees dedicated to jobs and labor issues: the Jobs and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee, and the Labor, Workplace and Regulated Industries Committee.

Leaders added two new House committees: the Housing Finance and Policy Committee and the Early Childhood and Youth Development Policy Committee.

The House committees and chairs are:

  • Agriculture Policy—Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin)
  • Capital Investment—Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul)
  • Civil Law—Rep. John Lesch (DFL-St. Paul)
  • Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy—Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights)
  • Early Childhood and Youth Development Policy—Rep. Joe Mullery (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Education Finance—Rep. Paul Marquart (DFL-Dilworth)
  • Education Policy—Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul)
  • Elections—Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-St. Louis Park)
  • Energy Policy—Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park)
  • Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance—Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Environment and Natural Resources Policy—Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake)
  • Ethics—chair to be named
  • Government Operations—Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park)
  • Health and Human Services Finance—Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth)
  • Health and Human Services Policy—Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester)
  • Higher Education Finance and Policy—Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona)
  • Housing Finance and Policy—Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Jobs and Economic Development Finance and Policy—Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL-St. Paul)
  • Judiciary Finance and Policy—Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center)
  • Labor, Workplace and Regulated Industries—Rep. Sheldon Johnson (DFL-St. Paul)
  • Legacy—Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Public Safety Finance and Policy—Rep. Michael Paymar (DFL-St. Paul)
  • Rules and Legislative Administration—Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul)
  • State Government Finance and Veterans Affairs—Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown)
  • Taxes—Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington)
    • Property Tax Division—Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Transportation Finance—Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Transportation Policy—Rep. Ron Erhardt (DFL-Edina)
  • Ways and Means—Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL-Crystal)

Senate
The Senate will have 11 committees, one subcommittee, six finance divisions, and one tax division, for a total of 19. All spending legislation will be referred to the Finance Committee, which will refer bills to the respective divisions.

All legislation that is passed by a division must also be heard by the Finance Committee before being passed to the full Senate for consideration. The Taxes Committee and Tax Reform Division operate in the same manner.

The Senate will have three more committees in the 2013 session than it had in the 2012 session. The incoming Legislature will add an E-12 Education Finance Division, an Election Subcommittee, and a Tax Reform Division to the committee structure.

The Senate committees and chairs are:

  • Rules and Administration—Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook)
    • Subcommittee on Elections—Sen. Katie Sieben (DFL-Newport)
  • Capital Investment—Sen. LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-Plummer)
  • Taxes—Sen. Rod Skoe Skoe (DFL-Clearbrook)
    • Tax Reform Division—Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope)
  • Finance—Sen. Dick Cohen (DFL-St. Paul)
    • E-12 Education Finance Division—Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood)
    • Environment, Economic Development & Agriculture Finance Division—David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm)
    • Health and Human Services Finance Division—Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL-Kerrick)
    • Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance Division—Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka)
    • State Departments and Veterans Finance Division—Sen. Tom Saxhaug (DFL-Grand Rapids)
    • Transportation and Public Safety Finance Division—Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Commerce—Sen. James Metzen (South St. Paul)
  • Education—Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis)
  • Environment and Energy—Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville)
  • Health, Human Services & Housing—Sen. Kathy Sheran (DFL-Mankato)
  • Jobs, Agriculture, and Rural Development—Sen. Dan Sparks (DFL-Austin)
  • Judiciary—Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park)
  • State & Local Government—Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul)

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