Transportation panel discusses, holds over expanded security for legislators, others

For Minnesota’s state legislators, the weekend of June 14, 2025, was not only a time of grief for the loss of their colleague, Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, but also a time of fear.

As recounted to the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee Monday, a lack of coordination and communication between branches of law enforcement resulted in some members quickly learning of potential danger while Hortman’s assassin was still at large, while others struggled to get information.

Rep. Julie Greene (DFL-Edina) hopes that such problems could be rectified by HF3791, a bill she sponsors that’s designed to enhance the security of legislators, state Supreme Court justices and state constitutional officers. It would modify and expand requirements for the Capitol Security section of the State Patrol — including creating a protective services unit — and appropriate $3.98 million in Fiscal Year 2027 from the General Fund for the purpose, setting an annual base for the unit of $3.25 million.

Rep. Julie Greene

After rejecting two proposed amendments, the committee laid the bill over for possible omnibus bill inclusion.

“This is a wakeup call,” said Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Mpls). “When that incident happened, there was lack of coordination. There was no clear command in who’s in charge of the safety of legislators.”

The bill would set out a potential timeline for creation and hiring for the protective services unit, and would require quarterly legislative updates for the first year.

Two amendments were rejected. One would have deleted the bill’s appropriation, while another would have restricted the unit’s duties and functions to the Capitol area.

Several members shared their experiences of that June weekend.

While Rep. Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont) suggested that local law enforcement would be best trusted to protect legislators, Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura (DFL-Mpls) said she’s heard from her fellow Minneapolis legislators that they had a particularly difficult time getting information on the threats to their safety.

“I do think we saw that night what can happen and what can fall through the cracks when we leave it to local law enforcement,” Sencer-Mura said. “Do I expect that, if a member of our body was shot, that maybe every legislator who lives within 20 miles of them would have police sent to their house in a timely manner? Yes, and we didn’t see that happen that night. If it had happened, we could have saved the life of our colleague.”

While Rep. Patti Anderson (R-Dellwood) expressed concern that “this could balloon into a huge cost,” she believes the bill could be shaped into something that would receive bipartisan support.