Frequently Asked Questions About the Minnesota Legislature

A legislator's salary is $51,750 per year, effective July 1, 2023. The Legislative Salary Council prescribes salaries of Minnesota Legislators. The Council issues a report by March 31 of odd-numbered years with any recommendations for changes to legislator salaries, which take effect July 1 of odd-numbered years.

Lawmakers are also allowed to collect a per diem for living and travel expenses seven days a week during the regular legislative session. Per diem rates are typically set by the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee and the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.

For more information, see the House Research Department publication State Elected Officials Compensation and the Legislative Reference Library's web page on Compensation of Minnesota Legislators, 1872 - present.

You can use the Who Represents Me? page from Geospatial Information Services to find out who your elected officials are based on your address.

Additionally, you can contact the Senate Information Office, Room 231 State Capitol at 651-296-0504 or House Public Information Services in Room 175, State Office Building at 651-296-2146 to learn who represents you in both the Senate and the House.

The Minnesota Legislature has 67 senators and 134 representatives for a total of 201 members.

The State of Minnesota is divided into 67 legislative districts, with about 85,172 people in each district. Voters elect one senator from each of these districts. Each senate district is divided into two sections. Voters elect one House member, or representative, from each section, making a total of 134 representatives. These districts, which are made up of about 42,586 people each, are identified with an "A" or a "B."

Please see the Geographic Information Services pages for more information.

There is a printable PDF roster of current members, which shows House and Senate Legislators' room numbers and phone numbers.

To find additional contact information, including downloadable lists, please see the House member information page and the Senate member information page. On each page, additional contact information for individual members is available by clicking on their name. There are links to downloadable lists of contact information for all members in Excel or CSV (which can open as an Excel spreadsheet) documents in the member information section in the right-hand column.

There is not a bulk email list available for Minnesota legislators. While email is an effective way to contact your representative or senator, it is best to address your concerns to the legislators that represent you.

You can use the Who Represents Me? page from Geospatial Information Services to find out who your elected officials are based on your address. Every member of the Legislature has an email address based on the member's name. For example, Representative Jane Doe's email address is rep.jane.doe@house.mn.gov. Senator John Doe's email address is sen.john.doe@senate.mn.

To find out a specific member's email address, you can look several places. The House and Senate websites have pages for each member that includes his or her email address (Members of the House of Representatives and Minnesota Senators). The Official Directory of the Minnesota Legislature (often referred to as "the red book") and the Members Directory ("the green book") contain contact information, including email addresses, for all legislators. To receive a free copy of the red or green book, or to ask for a member's email address, call either House Public Information Services at 651-296-2146 or Senate Information at 651-296-0504.

Senators are elected for a four-year term and representatives are elected for a two-year term. However, in election years ending in 0, such as 2010 or 2020, Senators serve for a two-year term in order to provide for the redistricting process done in conjunction with the United States census.

For more information on the members of the House and the Senate, see State Lawmakers: Minnesota State Government Series.

In many cases, the vacancy is filled by a special election, called by the governor. If the vacancy occurs close to the date of a general election and the Legislature is not in session, then the vacancy is filled at the next state general election. See Minnesota Statutes, section 240D.17-240D.27 for further details.

Minnesota Representatives and Senators must be qualified voters of the state, be 21 years of age, and must have resided one year in the state. In addition, state legislators must have lived the six months immediately preceding the election in the district from which they are elected.

Candidates for the Minnesota Senate or House of Representatives must file during the designated time period, usually in May and June of the election year, and pay a fee. Candidates cannot file for more than one office at the upcoming primary or general election.

The Office of the Secretary of State's candidate qualifications and the Minnesota Constitution article 4, section 6 are resources for these qualifications. Visit the Office of the Secretary of State's website for more about election laws, election calendars, and voter lists on the Elections and Voting page of their website.

Employment

Yes, they do have some special rights, mostly having to do with employment issues. In Minnesota, members of the Legislature are "citizen legislators" and many have jobs outside the Legislature. For example, a member of the Legislature who is employed in the private sector must be allowed to resume his or her old job or a position of similar seniority, pay, and status if he or she reapplies within 30 days after the end of the session. A member cannot be discharged because of time spent in legislative service, nor can they be denied their seniority or benefits.

In addition, no employer can discharge a member of the Legislature in retaliation for statements made or beliefs held in his or her capacity as a legislator.

If the legislator is employed by a public entity, such as a city or a school district, he or she must be restored to his or her original position or a position of similar status. In addition, that person is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence during any or all of his or her term of office.

Arrest Privilege

The state constitution provides that members cannot be arrested while the Legislature is in session or when they are on their way to or from session, except in cases of felony, treason, or breach of the peace (see Sec. 10. Privilege from arrest). This privilege applies to misdemeanors or gross misdemeanors, excluding what the courts consider a breach of the peace. (Examples: assault or threatened assault, breaking and entering, driving while intoxicated, speeding, violent verbal attacks, or other acts that cause serious harm to people in the vicinity.)

The privilege only prevents detaining a member during session; it does not provide immunity from prosecution after session ends. The protection is not automatic. A member can either assert the privilege in court or choose to waive it.

The Minnesota statute regarding gifts and officials is 10A.071.

For more information, several reports are available. The Senate Counsel, Research, and Fiscal Analysis office has two relevant reports from 2020 that go into more details: Gift Ban for Public Officials and The Gift Ban - A Quick Look. Additionally, House Research has done a "Short Subject" (from the perspective of the House of Representatives) report called "Gift Ban Law and Rules for House Members and Employees", 2013. The Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board also has information on their publications page on the "gift ban".

Each biennium the leaders in the House and the Senate set the number and scope of the standing committees and establish committee chairs according to which party is in the majority. Whichever party holds the most seats in either the House or the Senate is considered the Majority Caucus.

Senate

The majority caucus in the Senate elects a majority leader, who is also chair of the Rules and Administration Committee. Two other chairs are elected by the entire caucus, the chair of the Tax Committee and the Chair of the Finance Committee. Other chairs are selected by an organizational committee of the majority caucus. Membership on the committees is according to the proportion of each caucus. The minority caucus may offer suggestions of individual members for the minority representation on each committee. The minority caucus also names a "minority lead" on each committee. The Rules and Administration Subcommittee on Conference Committees selects members for conference committees. In addition, no Senator may serve as the chair of a specific committee or one under its jurisdiction for more than three Senate terms.

House

In the House, the Speaker chooses the committee chairs and appoints members of each committee. Each member is allowed to state his or her preference. In deciding on a committee chair, the speaker usually chooses a senior member with some expertise in the committee's work, but not always. A member cannot serve as the chair of the same standing committee or division during more than three consecutive regular biennial sessions. This Rule does not apply to service as chair of the Committee on Rules and Legislative Administration. Ideally, committee memberships reflect the balance of DFL and Republican members in the House. Each committee, therefore, would be a representative sample of the whole body. Conference committee members are also appointed by the Speaker.

Find out who represents you or if you know who represents you, use the House Member Information and Senate Member Information pages to see their contact information.

You can call, email, or write a letter to your legislator. To speak to your representative or senator in person, contact their office to make an appointment.

Email is most effective if it is not a blanket mailing to all members. When sending an email, remember to include your name, postal address, and phone number.

Address Format - Representatives
Representative's offices are located in the State Office Building West of the Capitol.

Honorable (Full Name)
Minnesota House of Representatives
(Room #) State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155-1298

Begin your letter: Dear Rep. (Last Name):

Address Format - Senators
Senator's offices are located in the Minnesota Senate Building North of the Capitol.

Honorable (Full Name)
Minnesota State Senate
(Room #) Minnesota Senate Building
95 University Avenue West
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606

Begin your letter: Dear Sen. (Last Name):

Bills sponsored

The journal for each session has an index of bills by author. This is compiled at the end of the biennium so if you're looking for more timely information, you can search for House bills or search for Senate bills by author. Also, you can click on the Legislators Past and Present page for your Senator or Representative to find the recent bills they have authored.

Voting Records

There are no official compilations of voting records. To find all votes by a particular Senator or Representative, you must look up the final vote on each individual bill.

The votes that Senators and Representatives cast are a matter of public record and are recorded in the official journals of each body. You can find the votes on the Legislature's website for the years 1994 to present in the House Journal and 1995 to present in the Senate Journal.

Since 2001, the House has recorded all House floor votes cast in a database. From the bill status page for any House bill, click on Recorded Roll Call Floor Votes to get voting details. You can find the bill status pages by searching the Bill Search and Status system. Or go to the Recorded Roll Call Floor Votes page to find a vote by date or by bill number.

The Senate does not provide a similar service. To track how Senators voted from 1995 to the present, and how Representatives voted from 1995 to 2001, go to the Bill Search and Status page to locate the bill you are looking for. On the bill status page, you'll see a table of actions, which will include the final vote, when applicable. Next to the final vote should be a link to the journal page recording the vote. You can use the journal page to look up your Representative or Senator to see how they voted.

For years prior to 1995, you will need to use the print volumes of the House and Senate Journals. Minnesota House and Senate Journals are available at the Legislative Reference Library, Minnesota Law Library, Minnesota History Center, and various other libraries. The Legislative Reference Library digitized Journals from 1973-1996.

Some Senators and Representatives have their staff keep track of votes. In addition, interest groups following certain legislation compile such information. Be aware, however, that these compilations can be partisan in nature. A selection of Legislator Voting Records and Ratings can be found in a guide from the Legislative Reference Library.

In the House, members of each party caucus meet on an informal basis within a week or two after the general election to organize and elect leaders. Each caucus can nominate a speaker designate. The speaker is officially elected by members of the entire House on the opening day of the session. The majority caucus also elects a majority leader and assistant leaders. Likewise, the minority caucus elects a minority leader to express the caucus opinion on the House floor, and other assistant minority leaders. For a list of current leaders in the House, see the House of Representatives Leadership web page.

In the Senate, the leader of the majority caucus directs the business of the Senate and is considered the leader of the Senate. He or she is elected by the members of the caucus, which also elects the leader's chief assistant, called the assistant majority leader. The minority caucus also elects its own leaders, much like the House does. The President of the Senate, who presides over the activities of the Senate and assigns bills to committees, is elected on the opening day of each biennial session. Senate leadership positions are noted on the Senate member page.

Whichever party holds the most seats in either the House or the Senate is considered the Majority Caucus.

There is a set of buttons on the desk of every representative and senator—a green one for a "yes" vote and a red one for a "no" vote. Roll-call votes are recorded electronically and are visible on a board on each side of the Senate Chamber and the House Chamber.

A roll-call vote, where every member's vote is recorded, is required for the final passage of a bill or conference committee report. However, in order to have a roll-call vote for an amendment or, in the Senate, a bill on General Orders, a member must request a roll-call and be supported by a certain number of members. Otherwise, votes are taken by voice, in which case only the outcome of the vote is officially recorded in the House or Senate Journal. All roll-call votes are recorded in the House or Senate Journal.

If you have further questions, please contact House Public Information Services in Room 175, State Office Building, 651-296-2146, and Senate Information Office, Room 231, State Capitol, 651-296-0504.

Historical information about the Minnesota Legislature is available from the Legislative Reference Library and from the Minnesota Historical Society. For information about former members of the Legislature, see the Minnesota Legislators Past & Present database, call the Legislative Reference Library at 651-296-8338 or email the Library. A page with Historical Information About the Minnesota Legislature has facts on House and Senate leadership, party control, sessions, vetoes, women in the Legislature, and more.