Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The conference committee continued its walk-through of S.F. 4410, focusing first on Department of Health and related health provisions in the spreadsheet. Staff reviewed a long list of governor, House, and Senate-only items, including 988 suicide prevention funding, health care cost controls, ASD grants, interstate compacts, assisted living and in-home care, climate resiliency, community health workers, community solutions, disability as a health equity issue, drinking water and wastewater advisory council funding, overdose and substance use prevention, family planning, healthy beginnings, lead service line inventory, long COVID, medical cannabis changes, public health system transformation, workforce revitalization, long-term care safety, school health, health data collection, lead testing and remediation, mercury in skin-lightening products, victims recovery, palliative care, nurse staffing and loan forgiveness, antigen testing and masks, and a transfer to the Public Health Response Contingency Account. Members also asked about Title V matching funds and whether certain public health items were coordinated with federal dollars; staff said they would follow up. The committee also noted several Senate-only provisions not printed in the spreadsheet, including the Board of Nursing and Board of Behavioral Health. The discussion then shifted to early childhood and child care provisions, with Representative Pinto explaining the House’s priorities and the rationale for major investments. He emphasized child care as essential both for children’s development and as the “workforce behind the workforce,” and described the sector as fragile without ongoing public support. He highlighted proposals to raise Child Care Assistance Program rates to the 75th percentile, expand eligibility for foster parents and guardians, continue child care stabilization grants, support family child care providers, fund shared services and technology, create a child care cost estimation model, improve data exchange across agencies, support school-based mental health grants, and fund a child care workforce study. He also pointed to a policy item in Article 19, Section 27, that would allow DHS to administer pilot programs to modernize child care regulations. Fiscal staff later summarized the early childhood portion as including about $79.6 million in general fund dollars in fiscal year 2023 and $474.6 million in fiscal years 2024-25, plus additional CCA and federal funds. A major portion of the meeting was devoted to homelessness and housing-related provisions. Representative Gomez described the crisis as urgent and statewide, citing inadequate shelter capacity in 80 of 87 counties, the need for shelter capital investments, and the importance of pairing new shelters with operating funds and case management. She highlighted investments in emergency shelter, emergency services, homeless youth and Safe Harbor services, shelter-linked mental health grants, transitional housing, and support for “chosen family” arrangements. Members discussed the intersection of homelessness with education, disability, and child welfare, including school mobility, learning gaps, and the role of counties and schools in connecting people to services. Several members emphasized that housing instability undermines other services and that the budget should address these needs rather than leaving people behind. No votes were taken during the excerpted discussion; the meeting was primarily a presentation, questions, and policy/fiscal review of the conference committee spreadsheet.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee met with a quorum present and approved the minutes from its May 9, 2022 meeting. The committee then adopted the chairman’s proposed calendar for May 12, 2022. The adopted calendar included Senate File 4476, a Murphy bill on redistricting adjustments; House File 4670, a Murphy bill on claims; and House File 7778, a Stevenson bill on sports betting. There was no substantive debate on the motions, and both were approved by voice vote. With no further business before the committee, the meeting adjourned.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Environment and Natural Resources Conference Committee met remotely on May 10, 2022, and focused largely on Explore Minnesota Tourism funding in the omnibus bill. Laura Bennett McGinty testified in support of the House proposal, saying the $10 million for tourism recovery grants and the $215,000 base-budget increase would help tourism businesses recover from the pandemic, expand grantmaking, and improve marketing and earned media efforts. She also noted Explore Minnesota had only received $4 million in EDA funding, had not received ARPA funding, and was competing with neighboring states that had much larger tourism marketing investments. Members asked detailed questions about who could receive grants and how the money would be used. McGinty said the program could support destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, tribal nations, and potentially festivals and events, with possible flexibility on matching requirements. She said the governor’s fishing opener traditionally requires communities to raise about $80,000 to $100,000, and Explore Minnesota has typically provided a $10,000 media grant for that event; she said the agency was open to discussing additional funding but wanted DNR and the Governor’s office included. She also discussed a separate Senate proposal for a large events grant, saying Explore Minnesota had contacted Minnesota Sports and Events and Senator Rosen about a strategic plan, and that major events can bring significant economic activity to both metro and Greater Minnesota. Committee members also reviewed prior grant activity and budget figures. McGinty reported that the previous $750,000 recovery grant program was exhausted in eight hours, supported 130 communities, and left 23 grants unfunded and one partially funded, with requests generally in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. Staff then clarified the bill language: the Senate side included a $1 million one-time appropriation and $450,000 ongoing, while the House side included $10 million for recovery grants, $250,000 for a Grand Portage Band grant, and $215,000 per year for administrative capacity. No votes were taken during this portion of the meeting.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Education Conference Committee met on May 10 for a walk-through of the side-by-side comparison for House File 4300. Early in the meeting, Senator Chamberlain questioned why the posted side-by-side had included provisions beyond the Senate floor version; the chair said that was an oversight and that the side-by-side was corrected to reflect only what had passed the Senate floor. Staff then began reviewing the bill article by article. House Research’s Tim Strom summarized Article 1, covering general education and finance provisions. Topics included replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, requiring menstrual products in schools with a per-pupil funding source, increasing consolidation transition aid, raising the earnings limit for school board members working for their district, changes to nonpublic pupil aid and transportation, revisions to online learning rules, tribal contract school participation, crisis and asynchronous learning, CTE travel reimbursement, English learner funding changes, American Indian student definitions, extended time revenue, compensatory revenue, a legislative work group on compensatory revenue, and a one-time declining pupil aid appropriation. He also noted several appropriation sections tied to those policy changes. Ms. Para then walked through Articles 2, 3, and 4, focusing on education excellence and literacy-related changes. Her summary included allowing data sharing with tribal nations, ethnic studies requirements, state-level art standards, indigenous education standards, graduation requirement changes including ethnic studies and personal finance, changes to the World’s Best Workforce statute, a closing opportunity gaps grant program, and a major literacy package requiring evidence-based reading instruction, screening, parent notification, intervention, staff development, and local literacy plans. She also described gifted and talented service requirements, attendance reporting changes, and other assessment-related updates. No votes were taken during the portion of the meeting provided; the committee was in a presentation and discussion phase.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The committee took up House File 3669, the Senate tax bill, first voting to remove the bill from the table and then adopting the A1 delete-all amendment and the A12 author’s amendment. Staff explained that A12 made technical corrections and added or revised several provisions, including federal conformity updates, changes to the K-12 education credit and paid family leave credit, clarification of the public safety pension subtraction, new markets tax credit language, spousal portability and estate-tax related clarifications, local sales tax changes for Moorhead and Oakdale, a higher allowable increase for certain local project sales taxes, changes to charitable gambling tax brackets, and a stadium reserve transfer adjustment. Fiscal staff said the updated spreadsheet reflected about a $5 million reduction tied to the paid family leave credit change, plus costs for the school-district construction materials exemption and the North Metro public safety training facility exemption. The committee also discussed possible conference committee changes for school construction projects affected by COVID-era cost overruns and local sales tax requests not fully covered in the amendment. Chair Nelson described the bill as part of a broader Senate tax package that, combined with earlier action, would provide ongoing tax relief, reduce the first-tier income tax, eliminate taxation of Social Security benefits, and include local option sales taxes. He argued the bill would help Minnesotans facing inflation and high taxes. Commissioner Robert Doty of the Department of Revenue said the department supported federal conformity updates, child and dependent care and K-12 credit changes, and technical items, but warned the bill missed opportunities for more targeted relief and noted the eventual repeal of the statewide general levy would cost about $1.5 billion over the biennium once fully phased in. Several outside groups testified. Youthprise supported the K-12 education credit changes and urged a higher income limit. Hospitality Minnesota backed federal conformity, the phaseout of the state levy, property tax provisions, and lodging tax protections, but asked for a restaurant equipment sales tax exemption. NFIB said small businesses would benefit from the income tax, paid leave, conformity, pass-through, and property tax changes. Advantage Capital supported the new markets tax credit. The Minnesota Budget Project praised the child-related credits but criticized the bill as too heavily weighted toward higher-income tax cuts and urged more targeted property tax relief and renter support. Minnesota Realtors supported conformity, historic structure credits, property tax refund changes, homestead threshold updates, and the state levy phaseout. No final vote on the bill itself was taken in the portion provided.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Senate took up procedural business, including closing the roll, prayer by former Senate chaplain Reverend Phil Young, confirmation that a quorum was present, and receipt of House messages transmitting House Files 3834 and 4221. The chamber then moved through first and second readings of several House bills, adopted committee reports and author motions, and designated Senate File 3885 as a special order for immediate consideration. The main substantive debate centered on Senate File 3885, authored by Senator Coleman, which would authorize the creation of paid family leave insurance in Minnesota. Coleman described it as a private-market option intended to expand access to paid leave, especially for small businesses, and said an A3 amendment clarified eligibility language. Senator Kent offered an A4 amendment to replace the bill with a broader paid family and medical leave proposal, arguing the current bill would not meaningfully expand access. Supporters of the amendment said it addressed the same overall purpose; opponents argued it was a much broader government program and not germane to the underlying bill. After debate on germaneness, the President ruled the A4 amendment out of order. Senator Kent appealed, and the Senate sustained the President’s ruling by a vote of 35 ayes to 30 nays. The chamber then continued with questions from Senator Torres Ray and Senator Johnson Stewart about what the bill would do for small businesses, costs, and whether the program was private or government-run. Coleman said the bill only authorizes the insurance product, with pricing expected to be similar to short-term disability insurance, and that a separate tax bill would provide credits for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The conference committee met for an introductory walk-through of the large health and human services omnibus bills and laid out a work plan for the week. Chairs said the committee would meet Monday through Thursday at 1 p.m., with no votes taken that day, and that the House would need to leave for floor session later in the afternoon. Members emphasized that staff and nonpartisan revisers were still preparing materials, including side-by-sides and a Senate policy document posted that day. Most of the discussion focused on long-term care and workforce funding. Senate and House members described major spending items for nursing facilities, disability waiver rate system (DWRS), elderly waivers, PCA rates, homemaker/home care providers, and ICF/DD services. They highlighted the need to address staffing shortages, low wages, inflation, and “tail” costs in future years. The House noted its bill includes nearly $500 million for health care workforce efforts such as loan forgiveness, retention bonuses, and education pipeline funding. Members also discussed child care as a related workforce issue and asked about the impact of these proposals in 2026 and 2027; the Senate chair said future costs were reflected in 2025 and there was no known hidden ballooning. The committee then turned to Senate-only policy items, including allowing some capacity increases for ICFs and group homes within moratorium limits, service termination notice and ombudsman notification, nursing assessments for customized living and brain injury/CADI, case manager review, co-signed leases, substance use disorder paperwork reduction, informed choice upon closure, and recovery community organization certification. The Senate also proposed creating a standalone Department of Behavioral Health to elevate recovery and behavioral health work. No amendments or votes were taken, and the meeting ended with general agreement that the committee would continue working through the bills and spreadsheets in the coming days.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee heard staff walk through the House and Senate positions on the housing portions of House File 4366, along with related statutory changes. House Fiscal staff outlined the House’s larger housing package, including appropriations for the Economic Development Housing Challenge Program, housing trust fund rental assistance, Homework Starts with Home, Family Homeless Prevention, local housing trust fund grants, a new Community Stabilization Program for naturally occurring affordable housing, supportive housing, lead-safe homes, mediation grants, first-generation homebuyer assistance, manufactured home lending grants, and funding for income discrimination investigations. Senate staff described a smaller housing package centered on a one-time $50 million in new general fund spending, including the Workforce Home Ownership Program, Home Ownership Investment Grants, and a targeted loan pool, plus Housing Affordability Fund allocations for manufactured home park purchases and sprinkler grants for certain nonprofit high-rise buildings. House Research then reviewed the side-by-side policy provisions. The housing sections would expand eligibility for Homework Starts with Home, create a Lead Safe Homes grant program, authorize $400 million in housing infrastructure bonds, establish the Community Stabilization Program and a supportive housing grant program, extend affordability covenants beyond 30 years in some cases, create a stable housing mediation grant program, establish a first-generation homebuyer down payment assistance fund, create a manufactured home park cooperative purchase program, and set up a local housing trust fund grant program. Senate Counsel also described Senate-only provisions limiting future gubernatorial eviction moratorium authority, restricting some municipal development conditions, adding reporting requirements, changing rent control authority, prioritizing lower-cost projects in bond allocations, extending a shelter task force deadline, prohibiting use of grant funds for lobbying, and requiring reports on corporate purchases of single-family homes and rent control. House Research and Senate Counsel then compared the remaining shared and differing provisions, including changes to rehabilitation loan limits, accessory dwelling units, tribal eligibility, housing disparity goals, county eligibility for workforce and homeownership grants, and refunding authority for nonprofit and housing infrastructure bonds. The committee also heard a detailed House-only landlord-tenant package that would prohibit discrimination against tenants receiving public assistance, expand expungement options, ban certain ongoing fees, remove a 14-day termination provision, require minimum heat and limit landlord entry hours, allow lease termination for certain disability-related needs, extend rental-assistance eviction protections, require notice before nonpayment evictions, and add rules for unlawful exclusion and emergency repair cases. No votes or final actions were taken in the portion provided; the discussion was informational and comparative.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The conference committee on House File 4366 opened with remarks from House and Senate leaders emphasizing the importance of agriculture, housing, and broadband, the need to compare the two bills side by side, and caution about the state’s supplemental budget. House members stressed housing as a crisis, citing rising evictions and the shortage of affordable housing, while Senate members highlighted the need to be fiscally careful and noted the importance of agriculture to the state economy. The committee then moved into staff presentations and a detailed walk-through of differences between the House and Senate proposals. On the housing side, House staff outlined a much larger House package with major appropriations for the Housing Challenge Program, Housing Trust Fund rental assistance, homeownership counseling, local housing trust fund grants, a new Community Stabilization Program for naturally occurring affordable housing, supportive housing, flexible financing, lead-safe homes, mediation grants, first-generation homebuyer assistance, manufactured home lending grants, and a Human Rights Department appropriation for income discrimination investigations. Senate staff described a smaller package centered on workforce homeownership, homeownership investment grants, a targeted loan pool, and two Housing Affordability Fund allocations for manufactured home park loans and sprinkler grants for certain nonprofit-owned high-rise buildings. The committee also reviewed policy provisions on HOME eligibility, lead-safe housing, housing infrastructure bonds, affordability covenants, mediation, first-generation homebuyers, manufactured home parks, local housing trust funds, eviction limits, zoning and design restrictions, reporting requirements, rent control, rehabilitation loan limits, and landlord-tenant protections such as anti-discrimination, expungement, heat standards, entry notice, and emergency repair procedures. The committee then began the agriculture and broadband portion. House staff started with Department of Agriculture items in the House bill, including funding for weed grants, USDA-equivalent meat testing, Forever Green equipment and infrastructure, cover crop development, healthy soil, pollinator research, and regulation of plastic-coated fertilizer and pesticide. The transcript indicates the Senate position would follow, but the meeting segment provided does not include the full Senate agriculture or broadband walk-through, nor any final votes or formal actions taken beyond receiving staff presentations and comparing the bills.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The meeting was a hybrid conference committee session on a state government finance and transportation bill package. Members from the House and Senate introduced themselves, and Chair Kip Meyer explained the plan to split the work into two parts: first a walkthrough and testimony on the state government finance/policy provisions, then a later handoff to the transportation portion, with the committee also planning to continue the work the next day. Staff walked through the House and Senate policy articles side by side, highlighting a mix of identical, similar, and chamber-specific provisions. Notable items included the Senate-only designation of the giant beaver as the state fossil; differing language on Legislative Coordinating Commission contracting authority; House-only provisions on Juneteenth, Indigenous Peoples Day, cybersecurity emergency powers, data practices, translation services, grant administration, designer selection thresholds, a state flag and seal redesign commission, and other studies and task forces; and Senate-only provisions on attorney general staffing limits, agency rulemaking limits, fuel-source restrictions, standard time year-round starting in 2030 if Congress does not act, and other policy changes. The committee also heard that some items had already passed both bodies or were addressed in separate agreements. Attorney General Keith Ellison testified in support of a $2.335 million operating adjustment for his office, saying the request was needed to keep pace with workload growth and staffing needs. He also strongly opposed Senate language he said would unconstitutionally restrict the attorney general’s independent litigation authority, including limits on using pro bono attorneys and outside law firms. He disputed claims about Bloomberg-funded attorneys, explained that two attorneys were funded through an NYU fellowship program under his direction, and emphasized the office’s role in handling statewide civil litigation and generating revenue for the state. The committee took testimony but no vote or final action was recorded in the excerpt.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The meeting was a detailed walkthrough of a large conference committee bill, with staff comparing Senate and House language section by section. Early provisions focused on Department of Natural Resources policy changes, including reporting deadlines, prohibiting enforcement of unadopted rules, modernizing snowmobile and ATV registration and transfer rules, expanding snowmobile crossing authority, adjusting trail and reservation policies, and several hunting and fishing changes such as minnow definitions, walk-in access, blaze orange requirements for ground blinds, antler point restrictions, shotgun zone limits, nuisance bear relocation permits, and swan-related protections. Members also reviewed multiple differences between the chambers, especially on walk-in access, sustainable groundwater standards, and lottery-in-lieu revenue allocations. The committee then moved through a long series of water, environmental, and pollution-control provisions. These included White Bear Lake-related groundwater and water appropriations language, water use permit and well interference changes, PCA fee and rulemaking provisions, limits on unadopted rules, industrial wastewater and whole effluent toxicity requirements, PFAS monitoring limits, environmental review and EAW/EIS changes, and new environmental justice analysis requirements. Other topics included soil health and drainage registry programs, easement stewardship authority, a new outdoor recreation office, watercraft operator permit requirements, turtle licensing changes, lead and cadmium restrictions, neonic-treated seed disposal rules, community air monitoring, air toxic emissions rulemaking, and a Pig's Eye Area cleanup task force. The House side also included several agriculture and wildlife-related provisions, such as pollinator-lethal insecticide bans, coated seed definitions, non-toxic shot requirements, native swan protections, turtle license changes, and a recreational turtle license. The final portion of the transcript shifted to Article 3 on farmed white-tailed deer and chronic wasting disease, with provisions on fencing, identification, registration limits, movement restrictions, testing, depopulation, and transfer of oversight to DNR. No votes were taken in the portion provided; the discussion was a high-level section-by-section explanation of differences and shared provisions between the Senate and House versions.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Tax Committee met on May 9, 2022, for a walkthrough of the delete-everything amendment to House File 3669, with staff outlining the contents of the bill in advance of a fuller hearing the next day. The amendment combines a broad tax package covering federal conformity, income and estate tax changes, sales and use taxes, property taxes, property tax aids and credits, public finance, local sales taxes, tax increment financing, and miscellaneous tax provisions. Much of the discussion focused on explaining which sections came from individual senators’ bills and what each section would do. In the income and state tax article, staff described provisions to increase angel investment and new markets credits, modify pass-through entity tax rules, update estate tax language and surviving spouse deductions, expand the K-12 subtraction and full Social Security subtraction, add a pension subtraction for certain public retirees, exempt nuclear decommissioning reserve funds, reduce the first-tier income tax rate, expand dependent care and K-12 credit phaseout thresholds, adjust the research and development credit, allow assignment of the historic structure rehabilitation credit, and create a paid family leave tax credit for small businesses. The sales tax article included exemptions for certain suite and preferred seating purchases at collegiate events, fencing materials for agricultural property, animal shelters, and natural gas fees tied to the February 2021 polar vortex. Property tax sections covered airport and tribal property exemptions, energy storage systems, agricultural homestead valuation limits, low-income rental housing changes, an affordable housing market value exclusion, disabled veterans homestead changes, homestead market value exclusion increases, a state general levy reduction, delinquent tax interest changes, targeted property tax refund changes, senior property tax refund changes, and a city debt limit exemption. The committee also reviewed property tax aids and credits, including an agricultural recurring buffer credit, electric generation transition aid, reimbursements for Mille Lacs County jurisdictions, transition aid for certain cities, and forgiveness of aid penalties for several cities. Public finance provisions would extend the maximum term for certain local debt instruments from 10 to 20 years. The local sales tax article would simplify ballot language, clarify lodging tax administration, adjust the White Park local sales tax, clarify Lake of the Woods County lodging tax authority, and allow temporary increases in project costs for certain authorized local sales tax projects. The tax increment financing article included technical changes from the state auditor, a new use of economic development district increment for a small-city commercial facility, and city-specific authorizations for Savage, Shakopee, and Woodbury. In the miscellaneous article, staff proposed moving tax expenditure purpose-statement requirements from bill text to post-enactment submission to the Tax Expenditure Review Commission, eliminating the current eight-year expiration-date requirement for tax expenditures, setting a flat 6.25 percent withholding rate for certain distributions, and adjusting gambling-related revenue provisions. Members asked questions about whether local sales tax ballot questions could omit authorized projects and about whether the 6.25 percent withholding rate would allow additional voluntary withholding; staff said they would follow up on the withholding question. No votes were taken during this walkthrough.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: Leaders said they were in the middle of high-level budget negotiations, comparing House, Senate, and administration proposals and working through detailed fiscal spreadsheets with staff. They also discussed DEED’s broadband briefing, the broader border-to-border broadband proposal, and how federal IIJA infrastructure money would be structured, including the state match and where funds would go. The speaker said recent agreements on unemployment trust fund replenishment, frontline worker pay, COVID funding, and a veterans package showed progress, and noted that opioid settlement dollars were also being prepared for use. A major topic was tax policy, especially Social Security tax treatment. The speaker said there may be room to raise the income threshold again, but opposed full repeal because most of the benefit would go to the wealthiest Minnesotans. They emphasized that any final deal should provide short-term relief without creating a long-term deficit, and described the administration’s approach as a mix of tax cuts, direct payments, and investments in child care, health care, and education. They also said the positions of both parties were becoming clearer and that compromise would likely require a more holistic package. The discussion also covered special education funding and the cross-subsidy problem in school budgets. The speaker argued that federal special education mandates are ethically right but underfunded, forcing districts to shift money from other areas, increase class sizes, or cut staff and student options; they said the state had tried to help with cross-subsidy funding and that this would remain a major issue. In response to questions about a meeting with Vikings leadership, the speaker said they discussed labor practices, infrastructure, public safety, stadium-area development, and economic growth, but not sports betting, and expressed optimism that the Wilfs are here to invest in Minnesota.

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: House File 4221 was presented as a simple local government bill to amend Minnesota law so Hennepin County could do what all other counties already may do: by resolution, pay reasonable allowances or per diems to members of county advisory boards and commissions. Representative Nelson explained the current statute’s historical exception for counties containing a city of the first class, noting that Ramsey and St. Louis counties had already been exempted from that restriction, leaving Hennepin County as the only county still barred from making such payments. The author argued the old rationale for the restriction no longer applied and said the prohibition makes it harder for Hennepin County to recruit qualified residents to serve on advisory bodies without compensation. He also noted that some county-related boards are already compensated under other statutes. No amendments or further discussion were offered on the floor. The House then took a roll call vote and passed the bill by a vote of 87 ayes and 44 nays, with the title agreed to.