Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The committee discussed two main policy changes: repeal of the antler point restriction and changes to the shotgun zone. Members said the Senate language on the antler point restriction would be accepted, along with two repealers from the Senate side. On the shotgun zone, the compromise would eliminate the zone statewide, but counties in the former shotgun zone could pass an ordinance to opt out. Because the normal deadline had already passed for the year, there would also be transition language extending the local action deadline into August for the first year. The meeting also confirmed that previously adopted provisions were still included in the conference committee report, including the lands bill items, the Rosemont provision, rough fish management writer language, and other spreadsheet-related technical and policy items such as the Red River feasibility assessment, events promotion account language, and lottery in-lieu changes. The rough fish item was described as writer language replacing an appropriation by directing DNR to increase management activities in the next fiscal year. After some technical difficulties with Zoom and members not having the report in hand, the committee proceeded to a vote. The conference committee report was adopted on a 7-1 vote, with three votes on each side recorded, and the committee adjourned.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Committee on Rules and Legislative Administration met with 12 members present and a quorum. The committee first approved the minutes from May 19, 2022, on a voice vote. The main item was 2022-DFC-1, a resolution presented by Kelly Knight, Director of House Human Resources. She explained that the resolution would align the House deferred compensation plan with MSRS by changing the conversion and match cycle from a calendar year to a fiscal year, effective July 1, 2022, at the start of fiscal year 2023. During the transition, staff could convert twice in the calendar year, but if they did so they would not be eligible to convert again until fiscal year 2024. Members asked no questions, and the committee adopted 2022-DFC-1 on a voice vote. After adoption, the committee recessed.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee report on House File 3420, a drought relief and agriculture package, was presented and adopted. Representative Sundin explained that the conference committee had combined items from separate drought, agriculture housing/broadband, and broadband negotiations under Joint Rule 2.06, and described the report as a joint package of supplemental agriculture finance, disaster recovery assistance, and broadband funding. He thanked the conferees and staff and urged support for the compromise. Sundin outlined the bill’s main provisions, including supplemental agriculture funding, animal disease response money, additional support for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota Vet Diagnostic Lab, Forever Green and soil health funding, emerging farmer and down payment assistance grants, livestock processing grants, a meat processing education pilot, and ag innovation campus funding. He also summarized statutory changes in the bill, such as pollinator fund changes, cooperative grants, ACRE adjustments, small solar installations on ag-preserved land, and a narrowed exotic animals provision. Article 3 provided disaster recovery aid, including drought grants, rural finance authority disaster loans, and DNR funding for seedling replacement and well interference issues. Representative Eklund described the broadband portion as a record $210.703 million package, including general fund, ARPA, and BEAD dollars, plus a low-density pilot and line extension funding. Several members spoke in opposition, arguing the package was too late, too expensive, or misplaced in priorities, while others defended it as necessary drought relief and broadband investment. After debate, the House adopted the conference committee report and repassed the bill as amended by conference. The roll call was 69 ayes and 64 nays, and the bill’s title was agreed to.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House took up Senate amendments to House File 4065, a human services policy bill. Representative Schultz, the author, urged concurrence, saying the House and DFL members had worked hard on the bill, which included about $3 million in spending, and expressed hope for a future special session to complete a health and human services finance bill. Representative Liebling also supported the bill as a good policy measure, but criticized the lack of a budget agreement and said the House had made multiple offers to the Senate over eight days without success, leaving out funding for child care, homelessness, public health, food support, long-term care, and nursing homes. Representative Albright opposed the bill, arguing it failed to address urgent needs in long-term care, disability services, and non-emergency medical transportation, and objected that the conference committee bill included hemp and cannabis regulation instead of more critical health care funding. He also thanked nonpartisan staff for their work. After discussion, the House voted on the bill and repassed House File 4065 as amended by the Senate by a vote of 68 ayes to 65 nays, with its title agreed to.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House took up concurrence on House File 2725, a judiciary-related bill that the Senate had amended to add mental health provisions. Representative Edelson moved concurrence and explained that the Senate changes included loan forgiveness for mental health providers and other mental health initiatives intended to help communities and the state. With no further discussion, the House agreed to the motion and the bill was advanced for third reading as amended by the Senate. Representative Daudt spoke against the bill, arguing it was rushed at the end of session and did not adequately address Minnesota’s mental health crisis. He said the bill lifted a cap on mental health beds but did not provide the funding hospitals need, and he criticized the process as too limited and late to handle such a large issue. He urged members to vote no and suggested the topic needed more serious study, possibly through a subcommittee next year. The House then took a roll call vote on repassage. After the clerk called remaining members and several votes were recorded or changed, the bill passed 68 to 60. House File 2725 was repassed as amended by the Senate, and its title was agreed to.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Senate first took up Senate File 181, a bill relating to the state building code and the replacement and repair of load control receivers used by electric utilities, co-ops, and municipals for off-peak equipment. Senator Rarick said the bill reflected a long-negotiated agreement with utilities and would allow the work to be done by Class A electrical contractors without requiring electrical permits for each device. The A4 amendment, which put the bill into the agreed-upon form and limited the work to co-ops and municipals with a completion deadline of December 31, 2030, was adopted without objection. After third reading, Senate File 181 passed on a roll call vote of 66-0, and its title was agreed to. The Senate then recessed briefly and held a retirement recognition for Senator David Tomassoni, who gave an extended farewell speech reflecting on his legislative career, colleagues, the Iron Range, the ALS bill, and his staff and family. He thanked members on both sides of the aisle and said he was grateful to finish his career with dignity and pride. The Senate then moved to Senate File 3266, which would create a stadium refinance fund to use excess stadium reserve revenues to defease or refinance the U.S. Bank Stadium bonds once callable. Senator Rosen argued the bill could shorten the stadium debt by many years and generate significant savings, while also addressing MMB concerns about arbitrage and Minneapolis’ debt obligations. The A6 amendment, described as technical, was adopted. The A8 amendment, which would have provided temporary payment relief to Minneapolis, prompted discussion with Senators Champion and Dibble about the city’s role, the amount of savings, and whether Minneapolis was receiving a fair share of the benefits; Rosen then withdrew the A8 amendment. The debate continued with differing views on the city’s obligations and the value of refinancing the stadium debt early.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Appropriations Conference Committee met remotely on May 21, 2021, but initially lacked a quorum and recessed until members arrived. Once reconvened, staff walked through the conference committee spreadsheet for the FY23 trust fund bill, outlining agreed-upon appropriations across several subdivisions, including foundational natural resource data, water resources, environmental education, invasive species, air quality and climate, habitat and recreation, and other projects. The projects discussed included research and restoration efforts for species and habitats, PFAS and water quality work, environmental education programs, trail and park projects, invasive species control, and climate-related initiatives. Staff also noted that no land acquisition projects were included, and that some prior appropriations were being repurposed to support state parks and trails maintenance and development, an emerging issues account, and a contract agreement reimbursement. Members asked about the practice of transferring canceled or expiring projects to new purposes, and staff explained that this is done to keep funds within the constitutional appropriation limit rather than letting them return to the corpus of the fund. Senator Westrom said the committee had worked through the agreeable projects and moved adoption of the spreadsheet. The motion passed on a roll call vote, with all members voting aye. He then moved to direct nonpartisan staff to work with the reviser on a conference committee report and make technical corrections; that motion also passed unanimously. The committee then recessed, with notice to be given before reconvening to adopt the final conference committee report.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House opened with prayer by Representative Mary Murphy, who read an excerpt from *Old Turtle* emphasizing unity, the misuse of power, and recognizing God in one another and in the natural world. The Speaker then administered the Pledge of Allegiance, the clerk called the roll, and a quorum was declared present. The journal of the previous day was read and approved as corrected after an objection was raised. The main legislative business was a Senate message on Senate File 4476, the redistricting bill. The Senate refused to concur in House amendments and requested a conference committee. The House agreed to the Senate’s request and moved to appoint a conference committee to resolve the differences between the two chambers. After that action, members announced party caucuses, with DFL members meeting in Room 120 and Republican members caucusing downstairs. A motion to recess to the call of the Chair was adopted, and the House stood in recess.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House File 1829 Conference Committee met on May 21, 2020, with all members present and a quorum established. Staff explained that the conference report language was identical in both versions of the bill except for the effective date, which differed between the House and Senate versions. The discrepancy was described as an oversight related to enrollment in a prior biennium. A motion was made to adopt the conference committee report on House File 1829, and there was no substantive discussion beyond brief remarks noting the importance of correcting the effective date. The committee then took a roll call vote. The report was adopted unanimously by the conferees present, with three ayes and zero nays from the Senate conferees and three ayes and zero nays from the House conferees. Staff was directed to make any needed technical corrections, and members were asked to watch for emails from revisers to approve the report electronically. The meeting then adjourned.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The meeting appears to have been a brief committee session focused on policy language and several amendments, with members waiting for documents and additional conversations before proceeding. The chair noted that the topics were non-controversial, but there were delays in posting all materials and in obtaining the needed amendments. During the discussion, there was mention of a motion to adopt, but it was not fully acted on because of concerns raised about two specific items, identified as the Zuckerbox and vaccine-related provisions, and the chair said they would need to rescind the motion and consult further. The chair also relayed that they had received a call from the governor’s office asking them to hold off on taking action that night, and indicated there were not enough votes on their side to move forward. Members were told the committee would adjourn for the day and wait to hear from the House. It was also announced that the committee was tentatively scheduled to meet again the next day at 2:00 p.m., with notice to follow. Before adjourning, members discussed whether any items could still be taken up, including the 101 and 30 items, but no final action was recorded on those matters. The meeting ended without a vote on the main pending issues.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Senate and House tax conference committee met to continue work on the conference spreadsheet, beginning with a pass-through entity tax amendment. Members adopted Representative Davids’ oral clarifying amendment to the A57 language, then adopted the A57 as amended and the underlying Senate Article 2, Sections 4 and 6 provision. Staff said the change was clarifying only and did not make a substantive policy change. The committee then reviewed the property tax aids and credits section of the spreadsheet. House fiscal staff explained the major items, including local government aid, county program aid, workforce career academies, county pandemic rental assistance, electric generation transition aid, soil and water conservation district aid, housing development fund workforce and affordable housing account funding, a polar vortex energy credit, Cook and Lake County property tax refunds, and Housing Finance Agency administration. Members discussed the conversion of the renter’s refund to an income tax refund and the resulting negative amounts in the tails, and staff noted a math error on page 9 that would be corrected, changing the 2022-23 total to $74.315 million. Chair members emphasized the overall property tax relief package, describing it as significant relief for homeowners, renters, and businesses, including reductions in the commercial-industrial general levy and increased homestead exclusions. The committee also received a high-level walkthrough of federal conformity and nonconformity items. Staff said the conference agreement largely followed the House approach to retroactive federal conformity, with special adjustment rules for certain provisions such as principal residence debt discharge, disaster-related retirement fund rules, SBA loan assistance, shuttered venue grants, student loan discharge, EIDL advances, and restaurant revitalization grants. The agreement also conformed to some retroactive charitable deduction provisions the House had not included, increasing the cost. Staff reported the federal conformity revenue reduction at $101.88 million in fiscal years 2024-25, with a $30.5 million reduction in the later years. Members then discussed a scaled-down child and dependent care tax credit, with staff explaining that maximum eligible expenses and phaseout thresholds were reduced from the House version, lowering the fiscal impact substantially.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee on Senate File 4091 met to adopt amendments and move the bill forward, beginning with the jobs and labor portions. House Fiscal and Senate staff walked through the appropriations in the jobs section, including funding for DEED programs such as Main Street Economic Revitalization, border county economic relief, Launch Minnesota, redevelopment, immigrant and refugee workforce liaison work, youth technology grants, adult tech training, and numerous workforce grants to community organizations. Labor-related appropriations included LEAP grants, logger safety, a veterans liaison coordinator, youth skills training, workers’ compensation court of appeals funding, and a small one-time workforce development appropriation. Staff also summarized policy changes in the bill, such as reporting requirements for DEED, prioritizing high-wage/high-demand training, creating an immigrant and refugee affairs liaison, changes to pay-for-performance training grants, Main Street program adjustments, and technical changes to several labor and workforce programs. The committee then reviewed Article 6, the commerce policy article, which included notice and disclosure requirements for health mandate reviews, dental provider contract transparency provisions, and homeowner association notice requirements for fines or assessments. The A4 amendment covering that article was adopted by voice vote in both chambers. The committee next moved to the energy portions under the RS 122-11 amendment, with staff describing appropriations for Solar for Schools, weatherization assistance, the State Competitiveness Fund, community energy transition grants, Renewable Development Account projects, and related Xcel Energy withholding provisions. Policy testimony also covered solar rewards, a Ford site contingency account, community energy transition eligibility, cold weather reporting, utility securitization, asset sale thresholds, weatherization grants, Solar on Schools eligibility, Commercial PACE expansion, and other energy-related provisions. Representative Swedzinski then offered the A60 amendment, requesting a roll call and explaining it as a response to high energy costs and the burden on businesses and families. The transcript cuts off during his remarks, so no final vote on that amendment is shown in the provided text. Earlier, the committee had already adopted the S22-38 amendment by voice vote in both the House and Senate, and later adopted the A4 amendment the same way.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee on the omnibus tax bill met on Saturday, May 21, and worked through a series of agreed-upon provisions, adopting several amendments and underlying sections before taking a brief recess to resolve remaining drafting issues. Early actions included adoption of the A53 amendment to the Beginning Farmer Credit Report section, which adds gender to the report’s demographic data, and approval of a film credit change allowing the $1 million threshold to apply over any consecutive 12-month period beginning when Minnesota expenditures are first made. The committee also adopted a clarifying single-member LLC tax credit provision and a property tax exemption extension for a Minneapolis property owned by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, using the A56 amendment after correcting a typo in the adoption paperwork. Members then approved an affordable housing market value exclusion package in Senate Article 4, Sections 5, 9, 14, and 17, with the A55 amendment removing reference to the ag buffer credit from the property tax statement. They also adopted House Article 4, Section 35 on the child protection cost study. On the income tax side, the committee returned to the pass-through entity tax provisions with the A57 amendment, which clarified allocation rules for resident and nonresident owners, excluded nonqualifying owners, and tied the provisions’ sunset to the federal SALT cap expiration; Representative Davids offered an oral correction to the ownership-interest language, and the committee paused to let staff review that change before final action. The committee also adopted House Article 10, Sections 1 and 2 on the Tax Expenditure Review Commission and Senate Article 9, Section 3 on deferred compensation withholding, with members noting the latter was an important technical fix. Additional adopted items included local government aid penalty forgiveness provisions for the cities of Bina and another city, both described as having no general fund cost and mirroring previously adopted provisions. The committee approved tax expenditure-related changes in Senate Article 9, including the A52 amendment on expiration dates and the A31 amendment conforming purpose-statement procedures, then adopted the related reporting provisions. It also adopted the taconite/production tax package combining Senate Article 9, Section 7 and House Article 10, Sections 14 and 15, which shifts the 5-cent-per-ton distribution and extends the Iron Range school account allocation before later directing funds to the taconite environmental fund. Finally, the committee approved House Article 10, Section 33 authorizing the Ely School District to issue up to $9.5 million in bonds without referendum and outside levy/bonding limits. The chair ended by noting the committee had exhausted its adoption list for the moment and would recess, with some property-tax refund language and other cleanup items still to be resolved when members returned.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House received a Senate message appointing conferees for House File 1825, a commerce bill, and then took up conference committee reports on House File 3420 and House File 3765. House File 3420 was described as a combined agriculture, drought relief, disaster recovery, and broadband package. Supporters highlighted supplemental agriculture funding, including money for animal disease response and avian influenza, the University of Minnesota veterinary diagnostic lab, Forever Green, soil health, emerging farmers, down payment assistance, livestock processing grants, drought grants, Rural Finance Authority disaster loans, DNR seedling replacement, and well interference work. The broadband portion was described as a record investment totaling about $210.7 million, including general fund, ARPA, and federal BEAD dollars, plus a low-density pilot and line-extension funding. Opponents argued the package was too large, too late, and misplaced in its priorities, while supporters said it was a compromise that would help farmers and rural broadband users. The House adopted the conference report on HF 3420 by a 69-64 vote and re-passed the bill as amended. The House then considered House File 3765, the LCCMR appropriations bill for natural resources. The author said it appropriates over $70 million from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, repurposes more than $2 million in unspent funds, funds 36 House projects and 21 Senate-only projects, and restores a merit-based approach for projects scoring over 70. Members highlighted funding for invasive species research, a prion research center to address chronic wasting disease, state parks and trails, scientific and natural areas, and conservation career diversity efforts. After debate, the conference report was adopted by a 115-19 vote and the bill was re-passed as amended by conference. After the bills, the House handled non-controversial motions and adjournment motions. Two proposed adjournment times were rejected before the House agreed to adjourn until 11 a.m. Sunday, May 22, 2022.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: Senate and House tax conferees held a press availability on May 21 to present a negotiated tax package they described as historic and part of a larger leadership agreement. Chair Karla Nelson, Chair Ann Marquart, Rep. Cheryl Youakim, and Sen. Bill Weber said the bill would deliver about $3.9 billion in tax relief, with most of it in income tax cuts, and urged other conference committees to finish their work so the full agreement could move forward. They emphasized that the package was intended to provide ongoing, permanent relief in response to inflation and high costs. The bill’s main provisions include ending state taxation of Social Security benefits, a roughly 0.25% reduction in the first income tax tier affecting all filers, an expanded child and dependent care credit, an expanded K-12 credit, a new Great Start child care credit, and an expanded renter’s refund. They also highlighted more than $600 million in property tax cuts over two years, including changes to the homestead value exclusion, targeted property tax refunds, reduced state general levy pressure, and increased local government aid and county program aid. Speakers said these changes were aimed at helping seniors age in place, supporting renters, and easing burdens on families and businesses. In response to questions, the conferees said the tax changes would take effect for tax year 2022, with benefits generally realized when taxpayers file returns rather than through immediate withholding changes. They said the bill stayed close to the agreed tax targets, though slightly over in the second biennium, and explained that the renter’s credit was simplified by moving it onto the income tax form and using adjusted gross income instead of household income. They also said the proposed one-time rebate checks were dropped because of cost and because the Senate viewed them as one-time gimmicks, while the final package focused on permanent relief. No formal vote was taken at the press event.