Minnesota Legislature
House closes 2024 session in chaotic fashion, trading bonding for budget boosts
By Rob Hubbard
After 2023 produced a record $72 billion in biennial funding, Minnesota’s legislative leaders were dampening expectations for anything resembling an encore. Tweaks and bonding seemed to be the chief items on the agenda.
Before the session started, House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) said, “The state’s borrowing bill will be the biggest order of business.” House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) said early in the session that fixing an issue with potential use of force by school resource officers was a top Republican priority, and a bill was signed into law relatively early in the session to address that issue.
On Sunday, both chambers of the Legislature finished their business for the year by the midnight deadline, and bonding bills fell by the wayside in the closing hours as DFL priorities in the House shifted toward getting a state equal rights amendment on the 2026 statewide ballot, cutting a deal for drivers with the companies that run rideshare services Lyft and Uber, and approving more than $450 million in supplemental funding for the current biennium.
Recent Dailies
Election conferees reach agreement on policy, budget provisions
By Mike Cook The votes were cast Friday afternoon. The result is an agreement on elections policy and budget provisions. However, it is not yet official because nonpartisan staff have be...House, Senate tax conferees convene to discuss differences
By Rob Hubbard
If there’s one thing the chairs of the House and Senate Taxes committees agree on, it’s the value of the child tax credit they created last year.
“I don’t call anything hist...
Conference committee begins work on supplemental education finance bill
By Brian Basham
The education supplemental budget bill committee has some homework to do after its initial meeting Friday.
There are many differences between the House and Senate language a...
Legalized sports betting back on track as session reaches home stretch
By Tim Walker
The phrase “down to the wire” comes from horse racing, where it was long the practice to stretch a wire across and above the track at the finish line.
The saying is also a t...
House gives OK to energy, agriculture and commerce package
By Rob Hubbard
Geothermal energy, anaerobic digesters and permitting reform for electricity transmission projects. Substance abuse treatment, recovery and prevention grants. Treatment of nitra...
Health budget bill passes off House Floor
By Miranda Bryant
Addressing a wide range of provisions from prior authorizations to mental health matters; from abortion and gender-affirming care to amino acid-based elemental formula and whole...
Biggest budget item passes House, creating a tax forfeiture settlement account
By Rob Hubbard
“The Tyler Settlement.”
That’s what it says in the supplemental budget target agreement reached between Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders in March, next to a dollar amou...
Lawmakers strike deal on commerce policy, consumer protection package
By Tim Walker
Legislation that would beef up a host of consumer protection laws will head back to both bodies for their consideration and possible passage now that a conference committee work...
Legacy conference committee finds common ground
By Miranda Bryant
The first and last legacy finance conference committee meeting Wednesday was brief – so much so that introductions of lawmakers and staff took more time than the sole agenda ite...
House rejects flurry of campus protest amendments, passes higher education budget bill
By Rob Hubbard
May is a time when people pay a little more attention to what’s happening on college campuses, what with graduations and other year-end activities. But interest is much stronger...
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Ways and Means Committee OKs proposed $512 million supplemental budget on party-line vote
By Mike Cook
Meeting more needs or fiscal irresponsibility is one way to sum up the differences among the two parties on a supplemental spending package a year after a $72 billion state budg...
Minnesota’s projected budget surplus balloons to $3.7 billion, but fiscal pressure still looms
By Rob Hubbard
Just as Minnesota has experienced a warmer winter than usual, so has the state’s budget outlook warmed over the past few months.
On Thursday, Minnesota Management and Budget...
