Legislative Work Continues
As the Minnesota Legislature gets up to speed this session, most of the early activity occurs during committee hearings. Legislative committees continued to hear priority proposals in both bodies. The first and second policy committee deadlines, which are the dates by which bills must be heard and passed out of all policy committees, are quickly approaching with legislative leaders setting both deadlines for March 22. Generally, first and second deadline are not on the same day but were combined this year with the shorter session and upcoming holiday recesses.
This Tuesday, February 27, the legislature will break for the day to allow members to attend their precinct caucuses around the state. No committee meetings will be held Tuesday. Committee work will resume after 2pm on Wednesday.
Each year Minnesota Management and Budget releases a February economic forecast that provides the Legislature and Governor updated financial numbers for the state. This is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
Tax Bill Passes Legislature
Last week both the House and Senate passed HF 2757, sponsored by Rep. Aisha Gomez (DFL-Minneapolis) and Sen. Matt Klein (DFL-Mendota Heights), which is expected to remedy an error in the 2023 omnibus tax bill that inadvertently lowered the amount of the individual income tax standard deduction to 2019 levels. This would have omitted four years of adjustment for inflation. The goal is to pass a “fix” before this year’s tax filing begins. The bill also aligns the definition of “Tribal Nation” in statewide local housing aid with the wording in the current Tribal Nation aid program to ensure there is no discrepancy, as well as authorizes the imposition of a 0.625% local sales and use tax authorization for Beltrami County that was approved by voters last November but still needs legislative authorization.
Significant Housing Policy Changes Pass First House Committee
A package of proposals that would significantly change the way Minnesota cities approve the construction of new housing passed its first committee last week. H.F. 4009, sponsored by Rep. Larry Kraft (DFL-St. Louis Park), passed out of the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee unanimously on a voice vote. Two separate housing related bills were combined in committee and are aimed at creating greater opportunities for the development of new housing, including duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, as well as multifamily developments in commercial zones and addressing the shortage of affordable housing, through various changes in local zoning and approval authority.
Rep. Kraft sponsored the initial bill attempting to address the “missing middle” segment of housing. These provisions are aimed at building more housing in single-family areas. Significant provisions addressing these issues include:
An additional piece of legislation addressing multifamily housing, sponsored by Rep. Alicia Kozlowski (DFL-Duluth), was rolled into Rep. Kraft’s bill. Significant provisions include:
The combined bill was referred to the House State and Local Government Finance and Policy. The Senate companion, S.F. 3964 (Mitchell) has not yet been scheduled for a hearing in the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee.
Other Notable Housing Bills Introduced
Two additional bills introduced last week worth noting include HF 3974 and HF 4128. Rep. Elkins, (DFL-Bloomington), is the House sponsor of HF 3974, which establishes new procedures for building permit review by government agencies. Under the new language, the government agency must approve or deny a building application as expeditiously as possible. If there is failure by the agency to do so within 60 days, there is clarification that it does not mean the request is approved. Failure of the agency to approve or deny the request within 60 days from receipt of application must result in full refund of permitting fees to the applicant within five business days of the decision date.
HHF 4128/SF4051, sponsored by Rep. Frieberg (DFL-Golden Valley) and Sen. Liz Boldon (DFL-Rochester), authorizes cities to impose a public park dedication fee on certain new infill property developments. Developments which may be exempted from the fee include accessory dwelling units, affordable housing, sacred communities, and senior housing. The bill allows cities to require a reasonable portion of land be dedicated to the public or a dedication fee may be imposed in conjunction with the construction permit required for new housing units within existing subdivisions and any other development that creates a proportional impact on the park system in the city. The dedication of land or dedication fee must be imposed by city ordinance by the city council.
Additional Firearm Legislation Possible
Last week, Gov. Tim Walz held a press conference to discuss, amongst other things, the potential expansion of firearm legislation passed during the 2023 session. Gov. Walz mentioned that he would like the legislature to consider expanding Minnesota’s safe storage laws for firearms. He also stated that he would like to see passage of a law regulating “ghost guns” or guns that are assembled with parts bought online without a background check. Additional topics of discussion were an increased penalty from gross misdemeanor to felony for people who purchase and give a gun to someone who isn’t allowed to have one, and mandatory reporting of lost or stolen guns. Some DFL members would like to pass a ban on assault weapons, but a slim majority in the Senate could make that difficult.
Important Dates to Remember
February 28, 2024 February Forecast Released
March 22, 2024 First and Second Deadline
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
Lawmakers return this week to another “Looming Government Shutdown” because nearly five months into FY 2024, Congress still hasn’t approved any of the annual spending bills. A partial government shutdown will occur at midnight Friday if lawmakers don’t act, with a full government shutdown possible on March 8. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union is March 7.
Negotiators Race Against Clock to Avoid Shut Down
Senators return to Washington on Monday, and House members on Wednesday, ahead of a Friday deadline to complete work on four of the 12 fiscal 2024 appropriations bills — and as the weekend ended, leaders in each chamber were pointing fingers over the lack of a deal.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, wrote to colleagues that he had hoped to announce a deal on Sunday night, but that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, and House Republicans have been unwilling to compromise. A partial government shutdown could hit after Friday if the House and Senate don’t pass either the four full-year fiscal 2024 appropriations that are coming due or another short-term stopgap. Agencies funded by the Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD bills would be affected. A stopgap to push the deadline for those four bills and some, if not all, of the remaining eight appropriations measures — currently due March 8 — until March 22 is one course of action lawmakers are considering.
Appropriators have been waiting on decisions from leadership on policy riders, which could allow them to move forward on the first package of bills. Conservative policy initiatives related to guns, abortion, immigration, and diversity-related initiatives are likely to end up on the chopping block. But other provisions could survive in some form — or, at minimum, the threat may be real enough to convince the White House to scale back its regulatory ambitions. President Joe Biden plans to meet with the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday after weekend negotiations on the first batch of spending bills due Friday to avert a partial government shutdown, appeared to stall out.
One issue that Democrats have been pushing for months is extra funding for USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The Biden administration estimates a $1 billion boost above the fiscal 2023 level is needed to prevent states from needing to make “difficult, untenable decisions about how to manage the program,” including putting eligible beneficiaries on waiting lists. The House Agriculture bill would flat-fund the program at the prior year’s level; Senate appropriators found room for a $300 million increase in their bill, but that still wouldn’t cover the WIC shortfall. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues that even the more generous Senate version of the Transportation-HUD bill falls nearly $1 billion short of what’s needed to maintain low-income rental housing subsidies for about 80,000 families.
In his response to Senator Schumer, Speaker Johnson also threw in another plug for stepped-up border security, which has been among the chief holdups to a deal on supplemental funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and other purposes. The Senate-passed $95 billion package has hit a wall in the House, though a bipartisan group is trying to get military aid unstuck with a slimmer $66 billion version. Tuesday’s White House meeting will touch on the stalled emergency supplemental as well.
As of Friday night, Johnson had expressed some optimism on a conference call with GOP lawmakers that at least some of the spending bills due Friday could pass in time, and that he was working on securing Republican wins in the deal. But even before the weekend talks, several sources pushed back on the idea that final bills would be ready for posting on Sunday night, with Monday or Tuesday considered more likely.
Funding for the remaining agencies, covered by the other eight fiscal 2024 spending bills, is set to run out a week later, on March 8. But negotiators have been farther away on most of those bills, with the possible exceptions of Defense and Interior-Environment spending measures, according to sources. And Biden’s State of the Union address will eat up a chunk of lawmakers’ evenings on March 7.
Ukraine Funding
Democrats are preparing to ramp up pressure on House Republicans to pass Ukraine aid as they return from recess. The push follows several lawmakers’ overseas trips that they say highlighted the need to help Kyiv, including a visit to Ukraine by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and other Democratic senators to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Also, two key House sponsors of a slimmed-down, $66 billion war funding and border security measure said Sunday that they intend to force a floor vote on their alternative package. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, said he filed a discharge petition that could clear the way for a floor vote within a week.
Mayorkas Impeachment Articles to Trigger Senate Trial
Later this week, House impeachment managers could make the trek to the Senate to hand over articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Nearly all House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas earlier this month after a first attempt to adopt the impeachment resolution fell short. The last time the House impeached a Cabinet member was during Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency.
But it’s unlikely that the Democrat-controlled Senate would convict and remove Mayorkas from office. Once the articles are transmitted to the Senate, the next step is for senators to be sworn in as jurors for the trial. President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, D-WA., will preside, according to Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s office. From there, the rules become less strict, leaving wiggle room for the Senate to maneuver. The two articles against Mayorkas center on “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust.” The Biden administration and congressional Democrats have called the impeachment a political stunt and a “sham.”
