Minnesota’s 2024 Legislative Session Ends Amidst Chaos; Controversy
Last night, the 2024 legislative session came to a loud and chaotic conclusion. Following a week of late-night floor sessions, contentious debates, and start-stop negotiations, the Minnesota Legislature entered the final weekend with dozens of significant pieces of legislation still needing final votes.
With the clock running out and the midnight deadline to pass legislation quickly approaching, Democrats combined approximately 10 different bills into the omnibus tax conference committee report and pushed them all as a single proposal. The proposal was brought to the floor of the House of Representatives with limited copies of the language available to members and the public. The bill ultimately passed the House of Representatives and Senate on a party line vote, with minority members protesting the process by which the bill was assembled, and the lack of time given to understand what was in the overall bill. No debate was allowed on the bill.
Included in the bill were the following omnibus proposals:
It remains to be seen how the proposal will stand up to legal scrutiny under the Single Subject and Title Clause of the Minnesota Constitution.
Capital Investment Among Democratic Priorities Left Undone
Despite the broad array of proposals included in the omnibus tax conference committee report, a number of significant and high-profile proposals did not pass. Following the passage of the major omnibus bill, the process repeated itself as Democrats attempted to pass what was purported to be a $91 million general fund capital investment package. However, the language and corresponding spreadsheet were not publicly available and, again, debate was not permitted. While the package passed the House of Representatives, the clock hit midnight before the vote was completed in the Senate and the bill did not pass.
In addition to a capital investment bill, the legislature ran out of time to pass several other priority proposals. Time management and sheer amount of bills to pass in the final weekend was an issue and some larger items were left hanging in the balance, including:
Rideshare (Uber/Lyft) Deal
Saturday evening, Gov. Walz and DFL leadership held a press conference to announce a compromise proposal that would establish a statewide minimum wage for rideshare drivers. The proposal was in response to Uber and Lyft’s announcements that they would stop offering rides in the City of Minneapolis following the Minneapolis City Council’s passage of a regulatory ordinance earlier this year. The bill passed Sunday was the result of negotiations that included the rideshare companies and would create a rideshare driver’s fund program with a one-time $2 million fiscal year 2025 appropriation from the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s workforce development fund to make no-interest loans to transportation network company drivers to purchase a personal vehicle for providing rideshare services. The proposal would preempt a Minneapolis city ordinance and set a minimum wage for drivers at $1.28 per mile and 31 cents per minute.
Markups Madness Begins on the Hill
It’s a hectic week on the Hill, with several major markups planned by House committees. Here’s a quick preview.
Appropriations: House appropriators kick off the fiscal 2025 season with their first markups, starting with the Military Construction-VA bill. The subcommittee markup is Tuesday, and the full-committee markup is Thursday.
The bill text is expected Monday. The bill’s draft 302(b) allocation is about $147.5 billion, according to figures that Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., released last week, a drop of about 4 percent from the fiscal 2024 enacted level.
NDAA: The typically marathon-style defense policy bill markup is Wednesday for members of the House Armed Services Committee. Lawmakers are seeking opportunities to press the Pentagon on weapons programs or initiatives they say deserve more oversight.
Farm bill: The House Agriculture Committee marks up a draft farm bill on Thursday. Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., released the bill text on May 17. It would redirect conservation funds already appropriated, keep changes in the Thrifty Food Plan cost-neutral and suspend the Commodity Credit Corporation’s Section 5 authority, among other things. Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., warned that the bill includes provisions she wouldn’t accept, including on climate.
WRDA: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plans to mark up a draft Water Resources Development Act on Wednesday.
Crypto Legislation on House Floor
This week, the House plans to consider legislation (HR 4763) that would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill, by retiring Financial Services Chairman Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., heavily favors the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in determining the jurisdiction over such assets. The bill sets forth how the CFTC would regulate digital assets if the blockchains, or digital ledgers, on which they run are “decentralized.” That means no one person or entity has unilateral authority or control, and no issuer or affiliated person has control of 20 percent or more of the actual asset or voting power over it. The bill also would provide the agency with exclusive regulatory authority over cash or spot markets for digital commodities.
Also on tap is a bill that would all but kill the idea of a central bank digital currency (HR 5403), at least for personal use. Republicans have moved away from the idea that the Fed should issue a digital dollar, largely on privacy concerns. The Financial Services Committee approved both measures with support from a handful of Democrats, who parted company with ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
ATF Rule Riles Up Republicans
The House Judiciary Committee has an oversight hearing this week on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, just as members in both chambers have introduced disapproval resolutions regarding the agency’s implementation of a 2022 gun violence prevention law (PL 117-159), which could soon head to a vote. The falling out illustrates the delicacy of trust required to pass legislation on hot-button issues.
A Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval (S J Res 83) introduced Wednesday by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, could force the Senate to vote on overturning a rule that would expand the number of gun sellers who would be required to run background checks. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., himself a gun store owner, introduced a House version (H J Res 144) of the measure Thursday. Cornyn negotiated the 2022 law the Biden administration relied on for the ATF rule, but he now says, “If you provide bipartisan solutions, then they overreach and undermine any sort of good-faith negotiations that take place.”
