Some Minnesota lawmakers did bridge the political divide this year, report finds

There were some bright spots for bipartisanship in the fractious final year of the current legislative session, but there's lots of room for improvement, per a new report .

The big picture: A perfect storm of deepening national political divides , an election year, one-party control, and tensions over a scandal that imperiled Senate Democrats' majority didn't bode well for working across the aisle — especially in the raucous final hours of lawmaking .

Yes, but: The second-annual "State of Bipartisanship" report, released Thursday by the nonpartisan local nonprofit Majority in the Middle, did find examples of collaboration between Democrats and Republicans.

• All but two of the 201 members of the Minnesota Legislature signed onto a bill with someone from the opposite party in the last two-year biennium.

For a handful of lawmakers, bipartisan cosponsorship was the norm, not the exception.

• Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) led the way, with 83% of his bills having support from both parties this year, per a MinnPost analysis of the report's data.

Zoom in: While the percentage of GOP-led bills that got a hearing went down in both chambers year over year, more than a dozen committees increased the share of bipartisan bills they heard.

• The report authors said transportation and public safety policy committees' collaborative processes led to major packages passing unanimously.

Reality check: Most of the most consequential laws of the second year of the DFL's trifecta passed solely with Democrats' votes.

• That included the 1,400-page mega-bill that was introduced and passed in the final minutes of session after Democrats cut off debate over GOP objections.
• "I don't think anybody, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, is happy with that outcome," former GOP Rep. Sandy Lehman, now a Majority in the Middle board member, told reporters Thursday.

Plus: The member-by-member breakdown shows that some legislators rarely introduce legislation that attracts support from the other side.

• For about a dozen, the total was zero, per MinnPost.

The intrigue: The report also found that the number of new bills co-authored by Democrats and Republicans declined in both chambers year over year.

What they're saying: The group's recommendations for increasing bipartisan collaboration include prioritizing standalone bills over catch-all omnibus measures, setting "reasonable" limits on floor debate, and doling out committee seats in proportion to each caucus' overall numbers.

• They also encouraged lawmakers to spend more time debating and amending bills openly in committee, instead of at the last minute on the floor where the outcome is all but certain.

Their bottom line: The group is urging lawmakers to come together and commit to these rule changes before the November election determines which party has control next year.

Go deeper with the full report .