In several elections last month, three state legislatures saw trifectas or supermajorities broken. Before the new lawmakers are sworn in next year, some state legislatures are working to eek out a few more agenda items in the lame-duck session.
Here is what the state legislatures in North Carolina, Michigan, and Minnesota are doing before their state house balances shift.
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North Carolina
In the Tar Heel State, Democrats will hold onto the governor’s office but Republicans will lose their veto-proof majority in the state House next month. As the clock ticks on the GOP supermajority, Republicans took action to try and thwart the power of incoming Democratic officials.
As the western part of the state still recovers from Hurricane Helene, the state legislature approved a bill which transfers $227 million in funds from the state’s savings to a fund for Hurricane Helene relief, but also undermines several of the powers of incoming Democrats.
Senate Bill 382 is poised to take appointment power for several state boards away from the governor, along with taking away various powers from the state superintendent of public instruction and state attorney general from siding against the state review board for charter school applications and the state legislature’s position on laws, respectively.
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Democrats will hold all of those offices in January 2025. In addition, the bill also moves appointment power for the state board of elections from the governor to the state auditor, who will be a Republican.
Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) vetoed the legislation, but the GOP supermajorities in both the state House and Senate successfully overrode the veto, meaning the bill became law. After the successful veto override, Cooper called the action “shameful,” while incoming Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) called it a “power grab.”
Michigan
In the Great Lakes State, Democrats won a trifecta in 2022 but in the state House elections last month, Republicans won back control of the chamber. With the next elections for the state Senate and governor, along with the state House, scheduled for 2026, the state will have divided government for the next two years.
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Democrats, who won their first trifecta since the 1980s with the 2022 elections, are looking to maximize their time with the majority in both chambers, before the state House flips in January.
The state legislature returned to a special session in Lansing earlier this month, with reforms to the state’s minimum wage and sick leave laws being top priorities after a state Supreme Court decision last year, but inaction on that matter led to Republicans in the state House storming out on Friday.
“Enough is enough. Democrats decided today that fixing the tip credit for the working people of MI is off the table. They would rather let violent criminals out of prison early and give driver’s licenses to illegals. Republicans are a hard NO until Michiganders are put first,” state House Republicans said in a post on X.
Democrats in the state House pushed forward other pieces of legislation, while Republicans were absent, including on bills regarding child labor laws and price gouging, among others.
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“House Democrats are here at the people’s house ready to do the people’s work. House Republicans? Well, they left the floor because they put politics over people,” Democratic state House Speaker Joe Tate said in a post on X.
If new legislation is not passed, the state minimum wage will increase on Feb. 21, 2025 to $12.48 per hour, and progressively move it to $14.97 per hour by February 2028, and the minimum wage for tipped workers would be eliminated. Several politicians on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns over how the changes could affect businesses, with a bipartisan proposal being pitched last month.
The state legislature is scheduled to be in session through next week, prior to Dec. 25.
Minnesota
In the North Star State, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) lost his bid to become Vice President Kamala Harris’s vice president, and the job he returns to in Minnesota will be more difficult next year.
Democrats held a trifecta before the November election, but will go into the next session without one, after Republicans flipped multiple seats in the state House to leave the chamber tied. In the state Senate, Democrats will maintain a one seat majority over Republicans.
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Unlike in Michigan and North Carolina, no lame-duck session was called or is planned to be called before the start of the new legislature, meaning Democrats will not have a chance to push through legislation before co-leading the state House next year.
