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
Supplemental workforce and economic development bill passed by House
By Tim Walker
A conference committee is likely forthcoming for the workforce and economic development supplemental budget bill.
By a 74-52 vote Friday, the House passed HF5205/SF5289*, a...
Tax bill with advance payments of credits passes House
By Rob Hubbard
While the 2024 House tax bill appears modest by comparison with the 2023 edition, it would expand the scope of some of last year’s provisions and call for more transparency...
House, Senate negotiators nix phase-out of subminimum wage in human services bill
By Miranda Bryant
Workers with a disability may continue to work for less than minimum wage.
The human services policy conference committee reached agreement Friday on the committee report to...
Public option amendment joins energy, agriculture and commerce bill
By Rob Hubbard
It’s been an interesting week for HF4975.
Sponsored by Rep. Patty Acomb (DFL-Minnetonka), the bill was created last week in the House Ways and Means Committee, when the supp...
House OK’s bill to increase penalties for ‘swatting’
By Tim Walker Making a fictitious emergency call that a serious crime is underway is a gross misdemeanor in Minnesota. House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) wants to make it a...Tougher penalties for firearm straw purchases pass House overnight
By Tim Walker
A straw purchase occurs when an individual buys a firearm for someone ineligible to purchase or possess it.
Rep. Kaela Berg (DFL-Burnsville) sponsors a bill that would incre...
House passes bill expanding firearm storage requirement following fierce floor debate
By Tim Walker
Acknowledging no single law is going to prevent all tragedies, Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL-Roseville) nonetheless urged passage of a firearms storage bill she sponsors in the ho...
Human services conference committee testimony centers on subminimum wages, recovery peers
By Miranda Bryant
The human services policy conference committee heard mixed opinions from the public Thursday on proposals that would phase out subminimum wages for workers with disabilities, an...
Transportation, housing and labor package passes House
By Margaret Stevens
Proponents of the transportation, labor and housing supplemental budget bill say it will result in a safer, cleaner, more affordable state with provisions that would mitigate th...
Planting trees, measures to protect state’s helium resources included in environment package that clears House
By Margaret Stevens
More than once Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) has shared the adage that the best time to plant trees is 20 years ago. The next best time is today.
“It’s another great...
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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...
