# Metropolitan Governance Task Force *Minnesota legislative task force (2023–2024) on the governance of the Metropolitan Council* The **Metropolitan Governance Task Force** was a body the [[Legislature]] created under [[Minnesota Laws 2023, ch. 68, art. 4, § 123]] to evaluate how the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]] is governed.[^1] Its charge listed five options: direct election, hybrid appointment, replacement with a council of governments, reallocation of responsibilities, and home rule charters.[^1] It delivered its final report to the Legislature on February 1, 2024.[^2] The report records two votes. In its own words, the task force adopted, 15–0, a problem statement holding that "accountability is the basic issue."[^2] On January 24, 2024, it voted 14–3 to send all six competing proposals to the Legislature without endorsing any one of them.[^2][^4] A minority report filed in 2024 called the effort "the latest example of many previous reports to the legislature that failed."[^3] The task force's stated diagnosis and its output therefore sit in the same document: a unanimous finding on the problem, followed by a forwarding motion that selected no remedy.[^2] The pack does not record what the Legislature did with the six proposals after February 2024.[^1] ## Who The Minnesota Legislature created the task force in 2023 through its session law.[^1] The pack does not record the party composition of the enacting Legislature or the names of the members.[^1] The members' recorded positions appear as vote tallies: 15 in favor and none opposed on the problem statement, and 14 in favor and 3 opposed on the motion to forward all six proposals.[^2] A separate minority report dissented from the task force's work.[^3] ## What The task force was a legislative study body. Its charter was Minnesota Laws 2023, chapter 68, article 4, section 123.[^1] It was assigned five governance options for the Metropolitan Council.[^1] It produced a *Report to the Legislature*, dated February 1, 2024, which is its final report.[^1][^2] It produced a problem statement, adopted unanimously, and a set of six proposals, which it forwarded without a consensus choice.[^2][^4] A minority report was published alongside its materials.[^3] ## When - **May 2016**: The [[Citizens League]] published *Met Council Task Force: Recalibrating for the Future*, an earlier review of Metropolitan Council governance.[^6] - **2023**: The Legislature authorized the task force in Minnesota Laws 2023, ch. 68, art. 4, § 123.[^1] - **January 24, 2024**: The task force voted 14–3 to forward all six proposals.[^2] - **January 2024**: The Star Tribune and MinnPost reported on the six options and on whether any of them had enough support to advance.[^4][^5] - **February 1, 2024**: The task force issued its final report.[^2] The pack does not give the date on which the 15–0 problem statement was adopted.[^2] ## Why The task force described its own purpose in its problem statement: "accountability is the basic issue."[^2] It took up a question the Citizens League had examined in its May 2016 report.[^6] The minority report placed the task force in a sequence of earlier reports to the Legislature that, in its words, "failed."[^3] The record shows these statements. It does not establish why the task force declined to choose among the proposals, or why the Legislature acted as it did afterward.[^2][^3] ## How The task force first adopted its problem statement, 15–0.[^2] Its January 24, 2024 vote was 14–3 to forward every proposal rather than recommend one.[^2] Contemporary coverage reported that six options went to lawmakers.[^4] The coverage also raised the question of whether any option had enough support to move forward.[^5] The record does not show any selection procedure beyond these two votes.[^2] ## How many - **5**: governance options named in the 2023 charge.[^1] - **6**: proposals forwarded to the Legislature.[^2][^4] - **15–0**: vote adopting the problem statement.[^2] - **14–3**: vote forwarding all six proposals.[^2] ## In the at-issue record At-issue entry AI-Dakota-067 is dated February 1, 2024. It sets the 15–0 problem-statement vote beside the 14–3 vote to forward all six proposals.[^2] It cites a federal anchor document, [[Executive Order 14395]], *Establishing the Task Force To Eliminate Fraud*.[^7] That order was signed March 16, 2026, and published at 91 FR 13485 on March 19, 2026.[^7] Section 1 of the order names Minnesota and [[Feeding Our Future]]. Section 2(b) names the Vice President as Chairman of its task force.[^7] Federal actions against the State are pending in the same period. On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's "Affirmative Action" Regime*.[^8] In that release, Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^8] The case is [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]], filed in the District of Minnesota on January 14, 2026. The record lists it as a complaint-allegation before a three-judge panel, not an adjudicated holding.[^9] The pack does not carry the complaint's text or the statute it quotes, and it does not connect the case to the task force.[^9] ## Notes [^1]: Metropolitan Governance Task Force, *Official page and materials* (2023–2024) — authorizing law Minn. Laws 2023, ch. 68, art. 4, § 123; the task force's charge and five options; *Report to the Legislature* (Feb. 1, 2024). https://www.lcc.mn.gov/mgtf/ [^2]: Metropolitan Governance Task Force, *Final Report* (Feb. 1, 2024) — problem statement adopted 15–0, "accountability is the basic issue"; Jan. 24, 2024 vote of 14–3 forwarding all six proposals. https://www.lcc.mn.gov/mgtf/report/Final-MGTF-Report [^3]: Metropolitan Governance Task Force, *Met Council COG Minority Report* (2024) — "the latest example of many previous reports to the legislature that failed." https://www.lcc.mn.gov/mgtf/report/Met-Council-COG-Minority-Report-2024.pdf [^4]: Star Tribune, *Group tasked with reforming Met Council offers lawmakers six options* (2024) — six proposals sent to lawmakers without a consensus selection. https://www.startribune.com/group-tasked-with-reforming-met-council-offers-lawmakers-six-options/600340230 [^5]: MinnPost, *Task force has a range of ideas to change Met Council structure* (Jan. 2024) — coverage of the options and of whether any had sufficient support. https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2024/01/task-force-has-a-range-of-ideas-to-change-met-council-structure-but-is-there-enough-support-for-any-of-them/ [^6]: Citizens League, *Met Council Task Force: Recalibrating for the Future* (May 2016) — earlier review of Metropolitan Council governance. https://citizensleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/PolicyReportGovernmentMay-2016.pdf [^7]: The White House, *Establishing the Task Force To Eliminate Fraud* (Executive Order 14395, signed Mar. 16, 2026; 91 FR 13485, Mar. 19, 2026) — §1 names Minnesota and Feeding Our Future; §2(b) names the Vice President as Chairman; anchor of at-issue entry AI-Dakota-067. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/ [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's "Affirmative Action" Regime* (release No. 26-21, Jan. 14, 2026) — release title; Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^9]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) — docket; complaint-allegation; three-judge panel. https://clearinghouse.net/case/47712/