Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: Minnesota Senate DFL leaders held a press event focused on the expected overturning of Roe v. Wade and what they described as the urgent need to protect abortion access, contraception access, and broader reproductive rights in Minnesota. Minority Leader Melissa Lopez Franzen said the leaked Supreme Court draft had changed the political landscape and that the caucus brought bills to the floor because the Republican majority was not acting on the issue. Senator Lindsey Port said the caucus advanced nine bills addressing reproductive health, maternal mortality, family support, and care for people from neighboring states who may seek services in Minnesota if surrounding states ban abortion. Senator Mary Kunish criticized GOP senators for not engaging in debate or asking questions on the bills, saying their silence showed a refusal to participate in urgent issues affecting women and families. Senator Erin Murphy said she has worked since 2014 on contraception access and affordability, including 12-month dispensing, and argued that preventing unintended pregnancies should be a bipartisan priority. She and others said the debate was about autonomy, equality, privacy, and economic security, not only abortion. Several speakers framed the issue as an election matter, warning that control of the governor’s office and legislature could determine whether Minnesota codifies protections or faces future restrictions, including a possible constitutional amendment effort. They also discussed the economic effects of restricting reproductive rights, citing higher costs for childbirth and child care, reduced earning power, and financial distress for women denied abortions. Toward the end, senators said there was still time left in session for compromise on other major issues such as bonding, public safety, mental health, and taxes, and noted ongoing talks with the House.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The House and Senate K-12 Finance Conference Committee met on May 12 to review the side-by-side spreadsheet for House File 4300 and begin discussion of literacy-related items. Staff walked through the House proposal line by line, covering major general education, education excellence, teacher, special education, early learning, lifelong learning, licensing, and levy provisions. Among the larger House items were voluntary pre-K, early learning scholarships, Grow Your Own, special education cross-subsidy reductions, student support personnel aid, full-service community schools, and multiple literacy and support programs. The committee also noted a House general fund revenue change allowing state academies to retain certain rental revenue, and reviewed special revenue and levy impacts tied to several provisions. Members asked about items that had been removed from the side-by-side and about the ECFE staff appropriation at MDE. The chair said only the formal proposal would be discussed at that time, and staff clarified that the ECFE staffing item was a direct general fund appropriation rather than the earlier more “creative” funding structure. Representative Erickson raised concerns about future costs and school-district planning, especially for linked funding items; staff responded that the current linking had no cost because there was no formula increase, but explained how future increases could affect certain categories. There was also a correction that the state academies rental revenue impact on line 121 was $3,000, not $3 million. The committee then heard from Commissioner Mueller, who was asked to identify the department’s top priorities and rationale. He highlighted ongoing mental health supports, a multi-tiered system of support, and bold literacy as key areas. He described multi-tiered supports as a framework for providing tiered interventions to all students, improving literacy, math, behavior, and social-emotional supports while reducing over-identification for special education. He also said the literacy proposal complements the chair’s letters plan and emphasized implementation and professional development as important to making it effective. No formal votes or final actions were taken in the portion provided.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee on the Jobs, Labor, Energy, and Commerce bill was called to order, with members from both chambers introducing themselves and agreeing to work through the bill comparisons section by section. Staff noted a hard stop at 4:00 p.m. and began with the energy and utilities portions of the spreadsheet, followed by jobs/workforce, labor, and commerce. Members also received testimony letters in their packets. In the energy section, staff reviewed Senate and House differences on Solar for Schools, advanced nuclear study funding, Granite Falls hydropower cost overruns, solar panels at the National Sports Center, community energy transition grants, and several Renewable Development Account and withholding provisions. The House side included larger appropriations for weatherization, solar on public buildings, EV charging, energy benchmarking, clean energy training, climate grants, and other energy-related programs. Members asked about whether any of the bill’s provisions would return money directly to ratepayers; staff said there were no explicit ratepayer-return provisions. The committee also briefly noted a $250 million frontline worker bonus item that was in the Senate bill only because it had already been spent in a separate unemployment bill. The jobs and labor sections covered DEED business development, workforce programs, paid family and medical leave, and labor standards. House provisions included funding for Main Street revitalization, SPARK loans, small business recovery grants, child care business startups, redevelopment, workforce boards, youth technology grants, and the school reimbursement account for unemployment insurance. In labor, the House and Senate compared funding for LEAP grants, apprenticeship administration, prevailing wage education, logger safety, veterans liaison support, youth skills training, construction codes, combative sports safety, agricultural worker protections, warehouse safety enforcement, and earned sick and safe time implementation. Staff also explained that the Workforce Development Fund is funded by a separate surcharge on unemployment insurance premiums, not by general fund appropriations, and that the earlier UI-related bill did not affect that fund. In commerce, the House fiscal review included funding for senior fraud prevention, additional insurance and financial services staff, a student loan advocate, automobile theft prevention, insurance fraud enforcement, preliminary licensing applications, and gambling regulation. Staff summarized the net general fund impact for the commerce section and then moved from spreadsheets to policy articles. The House walkthrough began with energy policy articles on weatherization, energy benchmarking, municipal adoption of updated commercial energy codes, consumer dispute resolution at the Public Utilities Commission, utility resource planning for retiring fossil facilities, securitization for extraordinary utility costs, higher thresholds for utility asset sales requiring PUC approval, participant compensation in PUC proceedings, siting authority for electric generating facilities, alternate site review for transmission lines, and energy storage provisions. No votes were taken in the portion provided.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House took up Senate File 4476, an act relating to redistricting and the unofficial engrossment. Representative Murphy explained that the bill was based on court-released legislative and congressional maps and on requests from local governments and residents who identified technical issues in the maps, especially problems that could affect election administration or voter privacy. He said the redistricting process had included meetings with House and Senate members, the Secretary of State’s office, and nonpartisan staff, and that the committee narrowed the changes to a few targeted corrections intended to prevent small or isolated voter groups from being identifiable. Murphy described three main map adjustments: a change between House Districts 15A and 16A involving Granite Falls Township, a boundary change between House Districts 58A and 58B to move a single isolated household in Northfield Township and avoid a one-home district, and a minor congressional boundary adjustment between the Seventh and Eighth Districts in an unpopulated area to protect privacy if development occurs later. He also noted a deadline extension to June 17, 2022, so local voting district officials could update precinct lines in response to the law. Representative Torkelson supported the bill, saying the changes did not benefit any incumbent and were solely to protect voter privacy. There were no amendments. After third reading, the House voted 126 ayes and 0 nays, and Senate File 4476 passed with its title agreed to.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee reviewed side-by-side economic development provisions and then moved to dissimilar labor and workforce articles. In economic development, the discussion covered DEED reporting requirements, job training grants, creation of the Office of New Americans, changes to the Community Energy Transition Grants Program, revisions to the paper performance job training grant program, Main Street Economic Revitalization changes, new small business and emerging developer loan or investment programs, targeted community capital grants, and several reporting and technical changes involving pathways, dislocated worker, uniform outcome report cards, employee notices, wage penalties, unemployment insurance overpayments, and a remote recreational business loan program. House-only items also included border county economic relief, a small business recovery grant program, and changes to eligible expenses and capital project rules for certain grant programs. For labor and workforce development, House Research presented the dissimilar articles. House articles 3 and 4 would create a paid family and medical leave benefits program. House article 5 would extend unemployment eligibility to certain hourly school employees between school terms. Other House-only articles addressed OSHA penalty conformity and inflation indexing, labor standards for agricultural and food processing workers, technical changes to combative sports licensing, effective date and data treatment provisions, apprenticeship requirements for refinery contractors, creation of an ombudsperson and committee at the Department of Labor and Industry for agricultural and food processing worker wellness, earned sick and safe time enforcement, and warehouse distribution worker safety requirements. The Senate noted that article 6 was the previously enacted frontline worker bill (chapter 50), so it was not further discussed. No votes were taken during the meeting. After members had no questions, the chair said the committee would not go through commerce provisions that day because there was no matching bill. The committee adjourned with notice that it would reconvene on Monday at 1 p.m. to begin commerce and hear commissioner and other testimony.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Agriculture House and Senate Conference Committee met in a hybrid format to continue working through the conference committee spreadsheet and side-by-side language, focusing first on meat processing, AURI equipment, and soil health-related provisions. Members discussed meat processing training grants and secondary school meat processing education grants, noting that the House and Senate language was largely similar but differed on funding levels and, in the Senate version, reporting requirements. Support was expressed for both items as workforce and safety investments, with one member emphasizing training to prevent injuries and another describing the school grant as a way to expose students to a possible career path. The committee then took up AURI lab equipment funding, where the House proposed $1 million and the Senate $300,000. AURI representatives explained that the agency needs updated equipment for new laboratory demands, especially protein isolation, fermentation, pelleting, and drying, and said the larger amount would help them catch up on deferred needs. They identified Wasika as the first priority location, followed by Crookston, and said AURI’s annual report showed roughly an 80-to-1 return on investment. Members also heard from the Department of Agriculture on the House IT modernization request, a $2 million one-time appropriation to build a customer portal and modernize siloed systems for licenses, certifications, grants, and payments. A major discussion centered on the House Healthy Soil Program and the Senate Ag BMP Grant Program. Staff explained the differences in eligible recipients, program structure, and administrative limits, with the Senate version capping grants to a single recipient at 10 percent of the appropriation and allowing 5 percent for administration. The Department of Agriculture said both bodies’ proposals were welcome, though it raised concerns about naming the program to avoid confusion with an existing loan program and stressed the need for administrative funding. The House described its version as a competitive grant program likely run through the Ag Water Quality Certification Program, and Minnesota Corn Growers urged adoption of the Senate language, saying it was developed collaboratively and could help farmers de-risk new soil health practices and leverage future federal funds. The committee also reviewed a House-only request for additional funding to administer the Beginning Farmer State Income Tax Credit through the Rural Finance Authority, which the commissioner said was needed because the program’s transaction volume has grown substantially. Finally, the committee began discussing House changes to the bioincentive program, including additional funding and a shorter eligibility window for producers, along with a mechanism for certain producers to reapply for deficiency payments where prior claims exceeded available funding. No final votes or formal actions were taken in the portion of the meeting provided, and members indicated they would continue working toward agreement on the outstanding funding differences.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The conference committee on Senate File 4410 focused primarily on health care affordability and prescription drug costs. House members described the House bill as broader than the Senate version and argued that Minnesota should use its budget surplus to address urgent needs, including health coverage, out-of-pocket costs, and access to care. Representative Schultz outlined several health care provisions in Article 3, including a Health Affordability Board to monitor and set targets for health care cost growth, a MinnesotaCare buy-in option, changes to Medicaid managed care, elimination of some cost sharing, higher MA asset limits for older adults and people with disabilities, 12-month continuous eligibility for children, and expansion of the All Payer Claims Database to capture value-based payments. Members then debated the causes of high health care costs. Schultz and others emphasized that prices are the main driver, noting that about 4 percent of Minnesotans are uninsured, about 22 percent are underinsured, and Minnesota has very high out-of-pocket costs. Senator Abeler argued that provider behavior, prevention, and system design also matter, and warned that lower public-program rates could affect hospitals and clinicians. Representative Gomez said the system is fundamentally profit-driven, pointing to insurance and pharmaceutical company profits and claim denials. Senator Benson stressed that public programs already negotiate low rates and asked providers to state whether they would accept Medicaid or Medicare rates across the board. Several members agreed that the system is complex and that doing nothing is not an option. The committee then moved to Article 6 on prescription drugs. Representative Howard highlighted prior bipartisan actions, including PBM reforms, drug price transparency, and the insulin affordability law, and said the House bill continues those efforts. He cited rising drug prices and described provisions such as a drug affordability board, a price gouging measure, and a ban on PBMs and carriers preferring more expensive biologics over biosimilars. No votes were taken in the portion of the meeting provided; the discussion was informational and preparatory as members moved toward a final conference report.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House took up House File 4670, the annual claims bill, and Representative Murphy explained that the broader claims package had been split so the chamber could act on the exoneration claims separately. He said the joint House-Senate claims subcommittee had reviewed hundreds of claims and reached agreement on the disputed items, but that only the exoneration portion was moving forward because of unresolved concerns about the process for other claims. The bill would compensate three wrongfully imprisoned claimants: Brian Bamboom, Benjamin Joseph Hill, and Joseph Z. Livingston. During floor discussion, Representative Quam supported the bill and said exoneration claims should be judged by the law and facts, not by personal feelings about the individuals involved. He noted that the legislature should follow the established compensation rules and expressed disappointment that the full claims bill was not before the House, but said he would vote yes on the exoneration measure. No amendments were offered. The House then voted on the bill and passed House File 4670 by a roll call of 83 ayes and 43 nays. The bill’s title was agreed to.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House convened with prayer, the pledge, and a roll call that established a quorum. The journal from the previous day was approved as corrected, comparison reports and standing committee reports were adopted, and several bills were advanced to second reading, including Senate Files 1391, 2922, 3049, 3202, 3258, 3503, and 3850. House Files 4874 through 4879 were introduced for first reading. No substantive debate on the bills occurred in this portion of the session. The only notable exchange came when the Majority Leader briefly objected to being told he was out of order, prompting some applause and laughter. The House then moved to a recess at the request of the Majority Leader so the DFL caucus could meet, with Republicans also expected to caucus. The chamber agreed to recess to the call of the chair, and no further legislative action was taken before recess.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House first took up House File 3682, a local government/public notice bill, and agreed to concur with the Senate amendments. The author explained the changes were minor technical edits, while the bill’s core purpose remained to treat digital and print public notices as equally valid. The House then voted 104-22 to re-pass the bill as amended by the Senate. The chamber also handled several Senate messages and conference committee motions. It refused to concur with Senate amendments to House File 3669, the tax bill, and sent it to conference committee. It likewise agreed to a conference committee for Senate File 3008, the liquor bill. The House received Senate Files 3257 and 3288 and referred them for comparison with related House files. Later, House File 4670, the annual claims bill, was debated as a split-out exonerations measure covering three wrongfully imprisoned individuals; members discussed the claims process and fairness concerns, and the bill passed 83-43. The House then debated Senate File 4476 on redistricting. The author described the bill as a set of technical corrections to court-drawn legislative and congressional maps, aimed at fixing district boundary issues and protecting voter privacy. A member emphasized that the changes would not benefit incumbents. The House passed the bill 126-0. Finally, the House took up House File 778, legalizing sports betting in Minnesota. The authors said the bill would replace the black market with a regulated system, allow betting at tribal casinos and via mobile platforms, and dedicate revenue to consumer protections, problem-gambling treatment, and youth sports. Members adopted several amendments adding a waiting period after deposits, allowing self-exclusion, blocking push notifications, expanding gambling treatment hours, authorizing additional rulemaking on ads and app features, and adding guardrails around advertising to youth and vulnerable communities. The bill was still under debate when the transcript ended.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The committee took up House File 3718, an informational hearing on transit governance reform. Representative Hausman introduced the bill as part of a broader discussion about whether the metro area needs changes to how transit is governed, planned, and delivered. The chair framed the bill as one of several ideas for reform and invited public testimony, noting support from citizen advocates for regional transit. Testimony from Citizen Advocates for Regional Transit focused on two main goals: creating “unified transit governance” by placing full responsibility for planning, funding, implementation, and operation of metropolitan transit with the Metropolitan Council, while still involving counties and municipalities through comprehensive planning; and adopting a “universal transit mobility” goal so anyone in the transit taxing district can reach any other location in a reasonable time. Witnesses argued current transit planning is too centered on downtown commutes, too fragmented between counties and the Met Council, and has contributed to delays and cost overruns. They said the system should better serve local and non-downtown trips and use a mix of modes, including buses, BRT, LRT, shuttles, and on-demand service. A CART representative, Matt Holland, said the bill would improve access for non-drivers and pedestrians and described it as a regional mobility and equity issue. He argued that a single regional system is needed for efficient service and that counties are not suited to plan metropolitan transitways. Ryan Timlin of ATU Local 1005 said the union supports more effective transit expansion but urged lawmakers to consider the workforce, safety, and job quality implications. He praised Metro Transit’s apprenticeship programs and said frontline workers are essential to safe operations, especially as the system considers new technologies such as autonomous vehicles. The chair thanked the testifiers and the bill’s supporters; no vote or formal action was taken in the hearing.

Keywords: 1183, house

Keywords: 1183, house

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The conference committee for the Minnesota House and Senate Public Safety/Judiciary bill convened with a quorum, but the opening was marked by a dispute over the late delivery of the agenda and concerns about transparency. The House chair responded that the bill had been publicly available for weeks and outlined the day’s plan: a side-by-side walkthrough of the House bill, discussion of judiciary and public safety highlights, testimony from the BCA, and then motions on several provisions to begin assembling the final conference report. The chair also noted that some Senate conferees would be absent later in the week and said the committee would compress work to keep the bill moving. The House’s opening presentation described the bill as a balanced public safety package shaped by input from victims, law enforcement, local officials, service providers, and experts statewide. It emphasized multiple approaches to public safety, including policing, community interventions, corrections, and victim support, with attention to greater Minnesota and opioid response funding. The fiscal walkthrough by House staff listed major appropriations for courts, civil legal services, public defense, human rights, public safety, the BCA, the POST Board, corrections, and justice programs, including items such as judge and employee compensation, cybersecurity, body camera storage and grants, first responder wellness, violent crime reduction, youth intervention, victim assistance, sex trafficking response, clean slate implementation, and corrections programming. The House also highlighted several policy items, including body-worn camera disclosure timelines, victim notice in civil commitment cases, soft body armor eligibility for firefighters and EMS providers, a public safety innovation board, and direct wine shipment provisions. No votes were taken in the portion provided. The committee mainly heard the House’s fiscal and policy walkthrough and discussed how to align the side-by-side materials for members before continuing with the bill review.