It’s been just more than one week since police found Sen. Nicole Mitchell hiding in the basement of her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home before dawn on April 22 and subsequently arrested her on suspicion of felony burglary.
The first term DFLer from Woodbury — who says she doesn’t intend to resign her District 47 seat — appeared on the Senate floor Monday for the first time since she was charged with first-degree burglary seven days ago.
Senate Republicans filed a motion on the Senate floor Monday contending the body shouldn’t allow Mitchell to cast a vote while her criminal case and a related ethics complaint have yet to be resolved. On Thursday Republicans filed the ethics complaint against Mitchell, but were unable to get bipartisan support from any Democrats to expedite a hearing.
While 34 Democrats and 33 Republicans assembled to take up a handful of bills (including a bill that would require businesses to disclose junk fees), they spent more than 90 minutes debating whether Mitchell should be present or cast votes.
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