Week in Review Feb. 16-20

Phew, we made it to the end of the first legislative week.

The House began the 2026 session Tuesday with a somber remembrance of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman. House DFL Caucus Leader Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids), House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) and Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul), along with Gov. Tim Walz, shared their memories of the late leader before the full legislative body. Legislators then placed a flower on Hortman’s desk as they proceeded out of the chamber.

Regular session activity began on Wednesday with both parties hitting the ground running with their priority bills.

A DFL-backed bill to prohibit federal immigration officers from entering schools unless certain criteria are met failed on a tie vote along party lines Wednesday. A dispute in the House State Government Finance and Policy Committee Thursday on a bill to establish an Office of the Inspector General spilled over into the floor session later in the day, concluding in a failed vote on Republicans’ attempt to suspend the rules to take up the bill.