Honoring Melissa Hortman: Bill to rename state's solar garden program heads to governor's desk

The Brief

• Minnesota lawmakers have cleared the way for the state’s community solar garden program to be named after the late House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman.

• Rep. Hortman wrote the bill that created the program in 2013, giving people communal access to solar energy even if they couldn’t install their own panels.

• Rep. Hortman and her husband Mark, along with their dog, were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14, 2025.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) — A bill to rename Minnesota’s community solar garden program in honor of the late Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman is officially on its way to the governor’s desk.

READ MORE: Honoring Melissa Hortman: MN House passes bill to rename state solar garden program

Melissa Hortman solar garden program

Big picture view

The Minnesota State Senate voted on Thursday to rename Minnesota’s community solar garden program after the assassinated speaker emerita.

Hortman wrote the bill creating the program back in 2013 to give people communal access to solar energy even if they couldn’t install panels on their own property.

The House voted unanimously last month to name the program after Hortman, and only seven senators opposed it.

Dig deeper

A community solar garden, or CSG, allows a subscriber to participate in a solar energy system along with others, who then share the electricity generated by the project as a credit on their electric bill.

Supporters of CSGs tout benefits such as predictable electricity rates, potential utility bill savings and increasing renewable energy resources.

Minnesota lawmaker shootings

The backstory

Rep. Hortman and her husband Mark, along with their dog, were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14, 2025.

Shortly after, Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also injured in their Champlin home.

The suspect also went to two other Democratic lawmakers’ homes that night disguised as a police officer during the attack.

At the Hortman home, authorities say they confronted the suspect and exchanged gunfire with him, forcing him to flee on foot and leave behind his vehicle, which resembled a police cruiser.

In the aftermath, the suspect was indicted on six counts, including murder. He has since entered a not guilty plea to all charges against him, but could potentially be sentenced to the death penalty if convicted.

Minnesota lawmakers have since sought increased security measures around the state capital complex for upcoming legislative sessions.

The Source

This story uses information gathered by FOX 9 reporter Corin Hoggard and previous FOX 9 reporting.