February 17, 2025
Rep. Hansen Responds to Proposed Bill Stealing Money from PFAS Settlement
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Today, ahead of an announced press conference by Representative Tom Dippel (R-Cottage Grove) discussing his new bill to fund water treatment facilities in Hastings, Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul) blasted the legislation as an attempt to raid the trust fund established following Minnesota’s settlement with 3M over its uses of PFAS, or forever chemicals.
“While Rep. Dippel calls this bill ‘outside the box’ thinking, in reality, it's theft,” said Representative Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul). “This proposal directly contradicts the Minnesota Supreme Court’s intent when setting up the 3M trust fund, shifting decision-making on funding from the $720 million settlement to individual legislators to dole out as they see fit.”
“I’ve spent my career working to ensure corporations don’t leave taxpayers with the bill on costly clean-up efforts, and I’ve often been stonewalled by Republican leadership and lobbyists seeking to protect corporate interests,” Rep. Hansen continued. “If Rep. Dippel truly wants to fight for clean drinking water as he claims, he should join me in taking on the corporations that pollute, not raiding funds and pitting town against town and neighbor against neighbor.”
Representatives Fue Lee (DFL-Minneapolis) and Rick Hansen introduced legislation that would impose a gross revenues tax on entities manufacturing and selling products containing PFAS. Those taxes would go to a cleanup account funding environmental cleanup around the state.
Rep. Hansen was the author of the 2023 Environment and Natural Resources Budget bill, which included HF1000, the PFAS prevention package.
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