Get to work

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The parable of King Solomon, the Old Testament sage who ordered a baby cut in half and shared equally by two women each claiming to be the mother, doesn’t apply to the recent Minnesota House experience. Not even close. Sol knew that a real mother would relinquish claims on the child rather than see it brutally destroyed.

No Solomon emerged before the Minnesota House agreed Wednesday night to end a divisive partisan impasse that has paralyzed a vital portion of state government for more than three weeks — time lost during a period when governance at the highest level is being shaken to the core.

During the needlessly extended House imbroglio, no wisdom or campaign for the greater good was strongly evidenced; just gamesmanship and unearned political PTO that only compounded the careless indifference that led to a virtual strike by House DFLers and a naked power grab by House Republicans.

As things now stand, House GOP leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring will be the chamber’s speaker through 2026. The Republican Party will undoubtedly register that as a win. Republicans will also chair all House committees for the next month while they hold a 67-66 advantage. They’ll call that a partial win.

But for whom? Certainly not Minnesotans.

Any temporary political advantage will undoubtedly end when a March 11 special House election sends a DFLer to St. Paul and the games begin anew, even as the Legislature is tasked with crafting a two-year budget before the May adjournment deadline.

Before business-as-usual resumes, however, lawmakers should use the current occasion to ask themselves why faith in government — at all levels — is often shaken or deeply discounted.

Why? There is an easy answer to that. Look in the mirror.

DFLers didn’t bother showing up to work in order to prevent the quorum needed to conduct the public’s business. The look was far more than bad optics — it was service avoidance and rank obfuscation of duty.

For its part, the GOP did everything in its power to elect a House speaker and take control of committees for the next two years. If the party had been successful, it would have been wrong on merit. The party would have also been properly accused of theft and only further deepened division in a state that has mounting intractable challenges that demand the wisdom of Solomon — not the machinations of would-be Machiavellis.

Rather than a power-sharing agreement that had previously been negotiated and agreed upon before the indefensible housing saga of DFLer Curtis Johnson scuttled the deal, Minnesota was instead treated to a state House spectacle that it didn’t deserve and can scarcely afford given the issues we confront.

Johnson, for those who’ve been on a news consumption fast, was the runaway winner in House District 40B who won the seat last November despite not living in the district as the law requires. His party never bothered vetting his residency and paid a steep price — as did all of Minnesota.

Perhaps, no one describes what we’ve witnessed better than Rep. Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, who spoke to reporters two days before the political impasse ended:

“We’ve really done a disservice to the citizens of Minnesota by not convening the House and getting to work.”

Agreed. That’s the universal sentiment of an entire state.

Now, get to work.