Minnesota Legislature
Panel begins work on proposal to create new state park at State Capitol honoring Hortmans
By Lisa Kaczke
A working group tasked with making recommendations for a proposed new state park within the Capitol Area met for the first time Wednesday.
The park would be named for the late Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were killed in June 2025.
“Speaker Hortman had a great love for the Capitol building and the Capitol campus,” House DFL Caucus Leader Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) told the Melissa and Mark Hortman Memorial State Park Working Group. “On long sessions, she was known to walk the grounds. If you joined her, she would share her opinions, both positive and negative, about the way the grounds were kept and what trees were there in particular. She had a very strong feeling about the trees.”
More broadly, Hortman wanted the Capitol to be accessible to the public and for people to understand and appreciate its history as much as she did. Turning the Capitol Area into a state park was her long-term goal to make it even more accessible to people, Stephenson said, and seeing that through would be a way to preserve her legacy.
Recent Dailies
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Week in Review: April 27-May 1
By Lisa Kaczke
— UPDATED at 4:40 p.m.
Bills were moving this week as the clock ticks down to the final day of the 2026 session.
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Bill regulating HOAs, common interest communities passes House
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By Margaret Stevens Technology is great until it isn’t, a testifier told the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee when it heard a bill aimed at addressing payment problems for landlords and t...Session Daily Home
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Could 2026 retirements lead to record turnover in the House?
By Lisa Kaczke
In the final weeks of the legislative session, House members not seeking re-election to the body have taken a turn at gaveling in a floor session.
It’s an opportunity to loo...
How short are the Legislature's short sessions?
By Lisa Kaczke
Rep. Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls) was ready to end the session March 25, making the motion to adjourn sine die. But not enough of his colleagues shared that sentiment, defeating ...
