Frequently Asked Questions About the Minnesota Legislature

The Combined Calendar includes listings of House, Senate, and Commission meetings. For further information on daily activities in the House and Senate, you may also want to see the FAQs about Calendars and Procedures (Parliamentary).

The House and Senate publish schedules of committee hearings and floor sessions on a daily and weekly basis. Paper and electronic copies of the daily schedules are available from House Public Information Services at 3300 Centennial Office Building (3rd floor), 658 Cedar Street, 651-296-2146, and Senate Information in Room 231, State Capitol, 651-296-0504.

If you're tracking a bill and would like to know if it's going to have a hearing, use the MyBills service. Note that MyBills will not send you an email so you'll need to log in every 24 hours or so during the session.

To state up-to-date, you can also subscribe to one or more email notification services.

To subscribe to the House schedule, go to Subscribe to House Mailing Lists and follow the instructions. In the Senate, go to the Minnesota Senate Email List Subscriptions. You will receive an e-mail welcoming you to the lists with instructions about unsubscribing. Schedules are sent via e-mail on a daily basis during the session and weekly during the interim. In addition, you can subscribe to most House and Senate committees for updates and agenda items.

See additional lists on the Legislative Electronic Notification Services page.

The Combined Legislative Meeting Calendar will show you upcoming hearings, floor sessions, and commission meetings. You can find schedule, calendar, and legislative business information on the Legislative website on the Schedules page.

Paper copies of daily and weekly schedules are available at House Public Information Services at 3300 Centennial Office Building (3rd floor), 658 Cedar Street. House Public Information can be reached at 651-296-2146. Paper copies of daily and weekly schedules are available through Senate Information, which is located in Room 231 of the Capitol and G204 of the Minnesota Senate Building. Senate Information can be reached at (651) 296-0504.

The Senate and House each have an agenda that is prepared for floor sessions known as the Order of Business: House Order of Business | Senate Order of Business

These agendas include lists of bills that may be discussed. The House and Senate have different names for those lists; they also have somewhat different operating procedures.

In the House, the list of bills that are ready for discussion is called the Calendar for the Day. Bills that appear on the calendar are chosen from the House General Register by the House Rules Committee. The bills that are selected from the calendar for discussion may be amended and given a third reading—all on the same day. A noncontroversial bill may be placed on the Consent Calendar.

In the Senate, the process is a bit different. Bills that are eligible to be discussed and amended are placed on either the General Orders calendar or the Special Orders calendar. That decision is made by the Senate Majority leader or their designee.

When discussing bills on the General Orders calendar, the Senate forms itself into what is known as a Committee of the Whole. Bills on General Orders can be amended and recommended to pass. That passage is considered preliminary passage. Those bills are then placed on the Senate Calendar for a third reading and final passage at the next floor session. Bills on the calendar cannot be amended except by unanimous consent. A bill can bypass the General Orders calendar by being designated a Special Order. It can then be debated, amended, and given a third reading, all on the same day.

For more about what's happening in the Legislatures, see our Combined Legislative Meeting Calendar.

According to Minnesota Statute 3.011, the legislature shall meet at the seat of government on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in January of each odd-numbered year. It shall also meet when called by the governor to meet in special session.

In the even numbered years, it convenes on a date set by joint agreement of both bodies.

During this time, the House or the Senate may not adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other body.

The state constitution limits the Legislature to meeting 120 legislative days during each biennium. In addition, the Legislature may not meet in regular session after the first Monday following the third Saturday in May of any year. For constitutional provisions concerning the length of session and special sessions, see Minnesota Constitution, Article IV - Legislative Department).

There is no yearly deadline for the introduction of bills. However, each year the Legislature establishes deadlines for committee action on bills by concurrent resolution. The deadlines do not apply to the House committees on Capital Investment, Ways and Means, Taxes, or Rules and Legislative Administration, nor to the Senate committees on Capital Investment, Finance, Taxes, or Rules and Administration.

Committee deadlines are announced during the first half of a session in order to winnow the list of topics to be dealt with that year.

The Minnesota Constitution sets a deadline for the end of each year's session: the first Monday after the third Saturday in May.