Certain recipients of money appropriated from the environment and natural resources trust fund required to perform criminal background checks on employees, volunteers, and contractors that work with children.
HF277 establishes Minnesota’s process for selecting delegates to a future constitutional convention called by Congress under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. The bill directs the state to send five delegates: one each appointed by the Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, House speaker, and House minority leader, plus a fifth delegate chosen unanimously by those four leaders. If the four leaders cannot agree on the fifth delegate by the deadline, the state would send only the four individually appointed delegates.
The bill also allows each appointing authority to name one alternate delegate, and permits the four leaders to jointly appoint an alternate for the fifth delegate. All delegates and alternates must be appointed no later than 30 days before the convention date, or earlier if Congress sets a deadline. The proposed law would apply to any Article V convention called by Congress for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and would be codified in Minnesota Statutes chapter 1.
The bill’s impact is procedural rather than substantive: it creates a state-level framework for representation at a federal constitutional convention, but it does not itself change Minnesota’s constitution, criminal law, or regulatory policy. It would assign appointment authority to legislative leaders and establish deadlines and fallback rules for delegate selection, affecting the Legislature and any Minnesota delegates sent to such a convention.
There is no recorded committee discussion or vote history in the provided materials, so the general sentiment cannot be measured from hearings or floor action. Based on the text alone, the bill appears to be a neutral administrative measure designed to prepare for a rare constitutional process. Because no testimony or votes are included, no specific support or opposition can be identified from the available record.
No explicit points of contention are documented in the provided context. Potential areas of debate, if the bill were discussed, would likely include whether legislative leaders should control delegate appointments, whether the fifth delegate should require unanimity, and whether the state should have a default of four delegates if consensus cannot be reached.
HF277 would add a new section to Minnesota Statutes chapter 1 establishing a formal process for appointing delegates and alternates to any Article V constitutional convention called by Congress. It gives appointment authority to the four legislative leaders, sets a unanimity requirement for a fifth delegate, and imposes a 30-day appointment deadline. The bill affects legislative procedure and state representation in a federal constitutional convention, but does not alter substantive rights or duties of the general public.
No committee transcripts or votes are provided, so there is no recorded legislative sentiment to summarize. From the bill text, the measure appears administrative and preparatory, with no obvious policy controversy embedded in the language. The proposal seems aimed at ensuring Minnesota has a defined process in place if Congress ever calls an Article V convention.
The provided record contains no documented objections, amendments, or vote split. If contested, the main issues would likely be the concentration of appointment power in legislative leadership, the requirement that the fifth delegate be chosen unanimously, and the fallback rule that Minnesota would send only four delegates if agreement cannot be reached. Those questions would primarily concern process, representation, and control over the state’s position at a constitutional convention.