(ABC 6 News) – Two weeks into the legislative session, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled the House of Representatives needs 68 members to meet quorum requirements.

RELATED: Minnesota Supreme Court rules in favor of Democrats in House quorum dispute

The court’s ruling comes as Republicans in the House have continued with regular session activities, such as appointing Rep. Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) as House Speaker, forming committees and hearing bills.

“We’ve got about, little over 300 bills have been introduced,” said Rep. Duane Quam (R-Byron). “We’re doing the background work now, and we’re waiting for people to start showing up to work.”

While Republicans have gone on business as usual, the DFL has so far been absent from the floor this legislative session, denying Republicans a quorum to conduct business in protest of what they call an “illegitimate power grab.”

“Republicans have been basically playing house with 67 and just pretending that they could do everything by themselves,” said Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester).

After a judge ruled Rep. Curtis Johnson (DFL-Roseville) was ineligible to hold his seat due to not meeting residency requirements, there has been a vacancy in the House. With that seat empty, the House split went from a 67-67 tie, to 67-66 in favor of Republicans.

Republicans argued that means they hold the majority in the House, and therefore could continue with most House activities, other than passing bills, without the DFL present.

“Because somebody broke the law and illegally ran in the districts where they weren’t allowed to do, there are 133 total possible people to seat and vote, and a majority of that is 67,” said Quam.

However, the Minnesota Constitution Article IV, Section 13 says, “A majority of each house constitutes a quorum to transact business.” The state’s Supreme Court decision on Friday ruled “vacancies do not reduce the number required for a majority of each house to constitute a quorum.”

The court’s ruling means the legislature is back to square one, and none of the work already conducted by House Republicans has legal standing.

“A legislative coup has been stopped by the Supreme Court,” said Liebling.

Quam says he’s “disappointed, but not too surprised that a court filled completely with justices appointed by Dem governors, takes the Dem party line,” and the ruling doesn’t change the fact that everyone should be showing up for work.

“In the general, you should be there participating because that’s what the job of the people is,” said Quam.

However, Liebling says she and the rest of her party will be back at the table as soon as Republicans can agree to a power sharing agreement, and to not throw out Rep. Brad Tabke, who’s win in district 54A was upheld by a judge last week, despite Scott County officials saying 20 ballots in the district were accidentally thrown out before being counted.

“Honor the will of the voters. The voters gave us a split house, 67-67, and so power sharing is the only way to go,” said Liebling.

Typically, bills are not passed during the first few weeks of a session. This is usually a time for educating new lawmakers, forming committees and doing background work on bills that may eventually be passed into law.

Liebling is confident the ruling will help speed along negotiations over a power sharing agreement, and that it will not prevent the session from finishing on time.

Representatives on both sides of the aisle expressed wanting to get to work and do what’s right for the people of Minnesota, but nothing can officially be done until a quorum is met.

Reps. Hicks, Liebling, and Smith released the following statement on Monday, January 27 regarding the decision:

We are grateful to the Minnesota Supreme Court for deciding this important matter quickly and are relieved that the GOP power-grab has been stopped. Over the last two weeks, Republicans have wasted time and taxpayer dollars on fake Floor Sessions and committee hearings. While House Republicans have played “House”, Rochester’s DFL House members have been working in our community with our legislative partners, colleagues, and constituents to write bills that will benefit Rochester for years to come, including local infrastructure projects. In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, we urge Republicans to return to the negotiating table to work out a fair power-sharing agreement, an end to their reckless quest to unseat a duly elected DFL representative and callously discard the votes of 22,000 Minnesotans.