Minnesota UpdateMinnesota Legislature Hits Key Committee Deadlines in a Flurry of Activity The Minnesota Legislature worked day and night last week as committee chairs looked to advance a broad and diverse legislative agenda prior to the Friday, March 22, 2024 committee deadline. A number of committees used the week to assemble and pass omnibus policy bills as a way to combine several bills from one issue area, such as health policy, and simplify the process of having one large bill instead of many smaller ones. The legislature will return next week for three days of work before a short Easter break as they transition towards assembling any supplemental appropriation bills. All spending bills must be passed out of committee by April 19, 2024. Budget Targets Released Budget targets, agreed upon by the House’s Speaker, Governor, and Senate’s Majority Leader, were released last Friday. These targets will be used to put together a limited supplemental budget across all areas of government. Even years are typically the “off years” for the budget, so anything that is spent is in addition to the overall budget that was passed last session. However, these budget targets only reflect the General Fund and do not take into account any spending that may occur in a bonding or capital investment bill. Total GF spending for FY 24-25 for the supplemental budget target agreement is $477.5 million. House District 27B Special Election Last week, voters in District 27B elected Bryan Lawrence, a farmer, small-business owner, and supervisor in Baldwin Township to replace former Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt (R-Crown). Rep. Daudt resigned his seat just prior to the 2024 legislative session. Rep.-Elect Lawrence (R-Baldwin Township) won handily with 84.5 percent of the vote and will represent a district that includes portions of Anoka, Sherburne, Mille Lacs and Isanti counties in east-central Minnesota, including the city of Princeton. Insurance Coverage Proposals On Wednesday, March 20th, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee took up and considered several proposals to require health insurance coverage for difference forms of care and treatment. Specifically, the committee considered legislation that would require insurance companies to cover infertility treatment, prenatal and post-natal maternity care, abortion and abortion related services, intermittent catheters, gender affirming care, scalp hair prosthetics for those with hair loss due to cancer treatment, and orthotic and prosthetic devices. It remains to be seen which proposals will advance and become law this session. Omnibus BillsAs noted above, many policy committees spent last week assembling various omnibus policy bills made up of many smaller bills that have first been individually heard in each committee. Non-budget years are generally more policy heavy which means we will see many policy omnibus bills moving through the committee process. The following is a list of policy bills being tracked so far:
Other Key Bills Moving Through Committee Several significant proposals advanced through the committee process this week, including: H.F. 4700 (Long) / S.F. 4784 (Frentz) would significantly change the energy infrastructure permitting process with the intent to move closer to clean energy. The bill is the result of a work group with 31 stakeholders assembled by the Public Utilities Commission and includes that group’s top 12 recommendations for streamlining the permitting process. The bill was laid over by the House Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee for possible including in a larger climate and energy bill. H.F. 3992 (Lislegard) / S.F. 3886 (Hauschild) would allocate up to $122.5 million in one-time funding in fiscal year 2025 to public and private ambulance services throughout the state. The House Health Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill on a split-voice vote and referred it to the House Taxes Committee. H.F. 4819 (Howard) / S.F. 4940 (Xiong) would look to create financial stability and constancy within the area of affordable housing. The bill would authorize the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to use bonds to assist affordable housing organizations whose buildings are in financial distress and where residents earn at or below 60% of the area median income. The bill passed the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee and was sent to the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee. H.F. 3769 (Lislegard) / S.F. 3774 (Rest) would fix a drafting error in the 2023 tax law that made many Minnesota companies pay more in taxes this spring than the Legislature intended. A change intended to take place in tax year 2024 was inadvertently expedited when “tax year 2023” appeared in the law. The bill unanimously passed the House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate. H.F. 4563 (Vang) would look to fill the mental health professional shortage in rural communities. This bill would establish the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Education Center and a training program for youth care professionals within the Department of Health. It was heard in the House Human Service Policy Committee and held over for possible inclusion in a larger policy bill.
Important Dates to Remember March 26, 2024 Gov. Walz State of the State March 27, 2024 at 5pm Easter Recess Begins April 2, 2024 at 12pm Easter Recess Ends April 9, 2024 at 5pm Eid Recess Begins April 11, 2024 at 12pm Eid Recess Ends April 19, 2024 Third Deadline April 22, 2024 Passover Recess Begins April 24, 2024 at 12pm Passover Recess Ends May 20, 2024 Deadline to Adjourn Legislative Session |
Federal UpdateBoth the House and Senate are on Congressional recess for the next two weeks. President Joe Biden will be on the road this week, traveling first to North Carolina with Vice President Kamala Harris and then on to New York City. Final Piece of Budget Passed; Signed into Law The Senate cleared a second and final spending package in the wee hours of Saturday morning, closing the fiscal 2024 appropriations process nearly six months late. The $1.2 trillion minibus spending package passed the Senate by a 74-24 margin, averting a shutdown that would have affected several federal agencies. That vote ended a 10-month ordeal that began with last May’s spending and debt-limit deal between President Joe Biden and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. After McCarthy was ousted in October, House Republicans tried to alter the agreement, but Hill Democrats and the White House were having none of it. The Senate cleared the package for President Joe Biden’s signature around 2 a.m., a couple of hours after the 11:59 p.m. Friday deadline to fund the government, though the effects of a partial government shutdown were unlikely to be felt until Monday. The president signed the measure this weekend. Twenty-two Republicans voted against the bill, along with Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO who protested the lack of Ukraine aid, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT who sought funding for Palestinian aid. The legislation would provide appropriations for agencies covered under the Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, and State-Foreign Operations bills. Senator Murray D-WA touted funding for child care, research for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, and efforts to combat the opioid crisis included in the bill. She also aimed at House Republicans, who for months resisted the parameters of the deal former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, struck with Biden, eventually ending up with a final result that resembled the original agreement. The House voted 286-134 to pass the bill earlier in the day, clearing the two-thirds majority needed to pass a bill under suspension of the rules. But in a blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, the bill failed to win support from the majority of House Republicans, with 101 voting for it and 112 voting against it, after facing criticism from the party’s right flank. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, introduced a resolution to vacate the speaker’s chair after House passage of the appropriations package. The spending package faced a warmer reception in the Senate. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, praised the funding in the package directed at strengthening national security. She highlighted funding for the border included in the package, including spending to support additional detention beds, border patrol agents, and port of entry officers. Still, the legislation faced opposition among some Republicans, critical of the spending levels in the package and wary of its effect on the deficit. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, took the floor ahead of the vote to criticize the measure. Paul aimed the short turnaround between the bill’s release in the early hours Thursday morning to the final passage vote, saying members lacked adequate time to examine the 1,012-page bill and its more than 1,400 earmarks. Amendments The Senate moved to the final passage of the legislation after dispensing with about a dozen amendments and related motions. The chamber voted down a handful of republican amendments related to immigration. Those included one offered by Senator James Lankford, R-OK, that would stop the release of immigrants flagged as potential national security risks during immigration proceedings and another, offered by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI, to block funding to local governments that don’t inform the Department of Homeland Security ahead of releasing an undocumented immigrant from custody. The Senate also tabled or killed, an amendment offered by Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX that would prevent the Biden administration from waiving sanctions on Iran and an amendment offered by Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-AL., that would block federal funding for schools that allow transgender women to participate in women’s sports. Adoption of any amendments would have derailed the entire spending package because it would have sent the measure back to the House, which left town Friday for a two-week recess. As part of the agreement, Senator Schumer also agreed to hold a floor vote by April 19 on a bill modeled on an amendment offered by Senator Michael Crapo, R-ID that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing its tightened tailpipe emissions standards. The EPA regulations are designed to speed the transition to electric vehicles. |
