As a new legislative session begins Tuesday, lawmakers will be carrying the weight of an incredibly difficult eight months since they last met.

The time off has been marked by the assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, a deadly school shooting and the shooting deaths of two Minnesotans by federal agents during a large-scale immigration operation.

The son of the late Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman says her memory will inspire lawmakers to act more kindly toward each other.