Sturdevant: How should the Minnesota Legislature respond to the June shootings?

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The shock has eased at the Minnesota State Capitol. But one month on, the heartbreak of the Hortman murders and Hoffman shootings lingers — as do questions about how the Legislature ought to respond.

What now? What’s the most fitting way for the Legislature to honor the sacrifices of fallen House DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and grievously wounded DFL state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette? All were victims of the same politically motivated gunman during the early hours of June 14.

I’ve been collecting proposed answers. They fall into three categories:

Proposals to tighten security and/or ban firearms in the Capitol have been coming on strong. They bump into a tradition of openness that has been a defining feature of this state’s government.

But most other states have done more than Minnesota in shielding those who toil in government chambers from gun violence. And no welcome to a public space can be deemed genuine without an assurance of safety.

The Hortman name could go on the newly enlarged State Office Building (which now bears no nickname other than its unfortunate acronym), Hortman campaign manager Jerry Gale proposes. Or a statue of Hortman could be installed on Capitol grounds, where images of women are scarce.

That latter idea emanated from the fertile mind of former state Rep. Betty Folliard, who is also intent on putting Hortman’s name on legislation that would send a state constitutional Equal Rights Amendment to the voters. Folliard noted that as speaker, Hortman engineered House action on differing ERA measures on three occasions, in 2019, 2023 and 2024. Adding the Hortman name to the latest version might help get it on the ballot in 2026.

Can the Legislature’s rules and norms be altered to tamp down the penchant for violence in American politics? That’s a very big ask. In this century, toxic national trends have washed over state politics, eroding its distinctiveness and heightening partisan hostilities. One can fairly argue that remediation should focus on the way Americans practice politics rather than how politicians behave.

But that does not excuse the Minnesota Legislature from standing as forthrightly for civility as possible. Not now. Not when this state has seen the horror that political extremism can trigger.

Longtime lobbyist Luci Botzek is proposing the creation of a broad-based task force this fall to accept, review and recommend proposals for changes in the Legislature’s code of conduct for debate — both on the floor and on social media. She and others are asking whether the Legislature’s traditional opening convocation, lately called “Our State/Our Future,” could include sessions on how best to practice civil discourse.

Former state Rep. Frank Hornstein, renowned for his bipartisan grace, notes that a “civility caucus” was created some years ago. It could become more than a coffee klatch, he said.

Former Minnesota Commissioner of Management and Budget Myron Frans is thinking bigger. His notion is to create a new, explicitly nonpartisan forum for crafting state policies. He would create “The Annual Minnesota Summit: Remembering Melissa and Mark Hortman” — a series of citizen meetings around the state each summer that would culminate in a summit hosted by the Humphrey School.

A far simpler — but maybe more potent — idea has been offered by former state Rep. Todd Otis. He would break up the partisan seating blocs on the House and Senate floors, compelling DFLers and Republicans to sit next to each other and build relationships.

That’s a variation on something touted, without success, by state Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, during construction of the Senate Office Building a decade ago. She suggested assigning offices by seniority, not caucus, so that officemates might not necessarily be party-mates.

I checked with Rest as I compiled this list. I count her among the victims of the June 14 tragedy. Her home was among those visited in the wee hours that morning by the suspected gunman. Smart action by New Hope police likely spared her.

Rest has served in the Legislature for more than 40 years, and is both a pragmatist and a devoted institutionalist. She considers items on my “protectionist” list the most likely to be implemented, and the most urgent. She didn’t pooh-pooh the rest. But she suggested a test for evaluating their merit:

“I would want us to do something that recognizes the contributions Representative Hortman made while she was here,” Rest said. “I want to remind people not how she died, but how she lived.”

Hortman would not favor running away from politics, Rest said. She did not shrink from partisan disagreement. “She was a politician from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes … but she showed brilliance as a manager of people. Doing that well is an extraordinary gift.”

Anything that enlarges that gift at the Capitol is in order now, Rest said.

“Ultimately, everyone has to come to a resolve on their own that they are going to behave better. I don’t know whether more preaching would lead to that. But acts of kindness, reaching out, realizing that others are dealing with the same responsibility you are for shaping the state’s future — those are things that can’t be taught. But they can be learned.”

Lori Sturdevant is a retired Star Tribune editorial writer and author. Her latest book, “Martin Sabo: The Making of the Modern Legislature,” published by Minnesota Historical Society Press, is due for release next month.