Legislative Committees Remains Busy with Deadlines Looming
With only a week until the first round of committee deadlines, the Minnesota Legislature worked diligently this past week, often well into the evening, as legislators sought to advance a broad variety of public policy initiatives. That pace is expected to continue as we move towards the March 22, 2024 policy deadlines. Things will then likely slow down a little bit as a number of short holiday breaks are scheduled for the weeks between the policy deadlines and the April 19, 2024 deadline for legislative committees to act favorably on all appropriation and finance bills.
Governor Walz also announced his supplemental budget proposal today, Monday, March 18. This budget includes final recommendations to the legislature on priority initiatives the governor and his administration would like to see funded.
Governor Supplemental Budget Details
Governor Walz and his administration have released their 2024 supplemental budget proposal based on the updated February forecast numbers from a few weeks ago. As a reminder, the February forecast showed a projected surplus of $3.715 billion to end the FY 2024-25 biennium, an increase of $1.324 billion compared to the November forecast. However, there remains a concern with the overall structural integrity of the budget. Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) continues to forecast a deficit in the next biennium as spending is projected to exceed revenue through FY 2027. Highlights of the supplemental budget include:
Final School Resource Officer bill Signed by Governor
After months of negotiations, committee hearings, and debates, the legislature passed H.F. 3489, sponsored by Rep. Cedrick Frazier, (DFL-New Hope) and Sen. Bonnie Westlin, (DFL-Plymouth) which clarifies changes made in 2023 regarding the use of certain restraints in schools. The version that was agreed upon by the conference committee clarifies language around the use of certain choke holds and face-down prone restraints resource officers can place on students and updates use-of-force standards for those officers. It also removes language specific to contracted security and school resource officers placing restraining holds on students. Gov. Tim Walz signed H.F. 3489 into law on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
Constitutional Amendments
Legislation was recently introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives that would put three different potential constitutional amendments on the 2024 general election ballot. H.F. 4598, sponsored by House Majority Leader Jamie Long (DFL-Minneapolis) and S.F. 4785, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville), would transition Minnesota from its current part-time legislature to a full-time legislature, it would also establish a one-year prohibition on legislators leaving office from become lobbyists, and create an independent commission to re-draw legislative districts after the census is conducted every ten years.
The proposed ballot question is as follows:
“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require an independent redistricting commission to adopt boundaries for congressional and legislative districts following a decennial census; to prohibit members of the legislature from serving as lobbyists while in office and for a period of one year after leaving office; and to amend requirements related to the timing and process for convening regular legislative sessions?”
Other Key Bills Moving Through Committee
Several significant proposals advanced through the committee process this week, including:
H.F. 3529 (Reyer) / S.F. 3543 (Marty) would require all HMOs in Minnesota to convert to non-profit status. The bill passed the House Health Finance and Policy Committee on a voice vote and was sent to the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee.
H.F. 3438 (Greenman) / S.F. 3537 (Port) would amend the deceptive practices act to require that any mandatory fee or surcharge be included in the advertised or list price for the goods and services. The bill passed the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee and placed on the General Register. The companion was heard and laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill in the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee.
H.F. 1930 (Freiberg) / S.F. 1813 (Morrison) referred to as the End-of-Life Option Act the bill would legalize medical aid in dying under certain circumstances. The bill passed the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee on a roll-call vote, and it was re-referred to the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee.
H.F. 3276 (Fraizer) / S.F. 3868 (Morrison) would give local units of government the option of using ranked choice voting for nonpartisan and municipal elections. The bill passed the House Elections Finance and Policy Committee and was re-referred to the House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee. The companion is awaiting a hearing in Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee.
H.F. 4745 (Long) / S.F. 4778 (Wiklund) would establish a public option for Minnesotans to enroll in MinnesotaCare, regardless of income. The bill passed the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee and was re-referred to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee. The companion bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and was re-referred to the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee.
H.F. 2000 (Stephenson) / S.F. 1949 (Klein) would legalize sports betting in Minnesota. The bill passed the Senate Taxes committee and was re-referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
Important Dates to Remember
March 22, 2024 First and Second Deadline
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
Full-Year Homeland Security Spending Bill Back on the Table
Lawmakers delayed the release of a final fiscal 2024 spending package to work out a deal on Homeland Security spending. They have until the end of the week to complete work on fiscal 2024 appropriations, with a full-year fiscal 2024 Homeland Security bill back on the table. Negotiators are back to writing the DHS appropriations bill in a dramatic, last-minute shift following the White House intervention over the weekend. While the situation remains fluid, the move back toward a full-fledged bill is a sign of forward momentum. But it also means text for the complete six-bill package is now expected Monday at the earliest — putting Congress on a compressed timeline to clear the legislation before Friday at midnight when current stopgap funding lapses.
Appropriators had been working on a yearlong stopgap measure for DHS, negotiating necessary changes to the fiscal 2023 status quo to be included as “anomalies,” after talks on a full-year bill initially fell apart late last week. That continuing resolution was expected to be packaged with the five remaining fiscal 2024 appropriations bills. However, as lawmakers got ready to roll out the package, the White House made a late request for $1.56 billion in border-related funding, arguing that a CR through Sept. 30 would be insufficient to meet existing needs.
Republicans rejected the ask, arguing it was not sufficiently tied to border protection and immigration enforcement. The two sides continued to talk throughout the day Sunday, trading options and counteroffers before the evening shift back to the regular, fully fleshed-out Homeland Security bill.
Budget Hearings in Full Swing
Budget hearings are in full swing this week. Some of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet members make the trek to Capitol Hill to testify on his fiscal 2025 budget, unveiled last week. Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young testifies to the House Budget Committee on Thursday having already appeared on the Senate side to take questions.
Young then joins Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen later in the day testifying to the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee. Yellen is also testifying solo earlier on Thursday to the Senate Finance Committee. Also Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testifies to the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee. The president requested $29.2 billion in discretionary funding for USDA in fiscal 2025.
In a doubleheader appearance, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra testifies Wednesday to the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee and later to the House Ways and Means Committee. Becerra is already warmed up, after testifying last week to the Senate Finance Committee on the $130.7 billion discretionary funding request for HHS.
Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm is also at House Appropriations on Wednesday, testifying to the Energy-Water Subcommittee. Biden’s asking for $51 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2025 — an $800 million, or 1.6 percent increase, over just-enacted fiscal 2024 appropriations. The request would support the deployment of clean energy and related infrastructure and onshore supply chains, the administration said. Also on Wednesday, Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley testifies to the Senate Finance Committee, and Administrator Isabel Guzman of the Small Business Administration testifies to the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
Supreme Court Hears Case on Online Misinformation
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments Monday in a case that could determine how far the federal government can go to convince social media sites to suppress or remove misinformation. The Justice Department has asked the justices to overturn a ruling last year from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that would sharply limit the government’s ability to communicate with internet giants like Meta, Google, and X, the company formerly known as Twitter, about curtailing or removing misinformation about health, safety and other issues of public concern.
Agencies communicated with the companies during the Trump and Biden administrations about posts related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the laptop of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son; and other issues. The states of Missouri and Louisiana filed a lawsuit along with a handful of social media users to challenge what they described as a pressure campaign to suppress views the government disfavored. They say that violated their free speech rights and that the government coerced social media companies to remove content even if it complied with the companies’ policies.
The Biden administration argues that muzzling government officials could harm the government’s ability to advocate for safety online and in the real world and that social media companies frequently rely on government input to identify terrorist content, malign foreign influence, and other posts that violate the law or companies’ policies.
