Legislative Update - Our Compromise Budget

Dear Neighbors, 

It’s been a busy few weeks! The good news is that in the early hours of June 30 we passed all of the constitutionally mandated budget bills. On July 1 we also passed a Tax bill. Though it’s not a piece of legislation that’s constitutionally required to prevent a government shutdown, this bill is revenue neutral.  

After a late night on Tuesday, we passed our budgets for Public Safety and Judiciary, as well as the bill that funds our state government agencies and elections. 

Members of the POCI Caucus on the Public Safety and Judiciary conference committee and working group worked tirelessly to include meaningful police accountability measures in the final deal reached with Senate Republicans. In the end, the measures included will be helpful in identifying police misconduct, regulating the use of “No Knock Warrants” and implementing Sign and Release policies to limit fatal interactions with police officers. Additionally, the POCI Caucus was able to secure additional commitments from the Governor’s Office to support community violence prevention programs and implement additional accountability measures through the POST Board. These are steps forward, and much more work remains to be done. You can read our statement from the POCI Caucus on the final bill here. 

On June 29 our Housing budget was one of several bills that the Governor signed into law. As a first term legislator, I was honored to be part of the conference committee and working group that crafted our Housing budget, which takes additional steps to increase access to homeownership and rental assistance for more Minnesotans. You can watch my floor speech on our Housing budget below:

You can read more about our Housing budget, and all our other final state budget bills here:

• Higher Education
• Commerce, Climate and Energy
• Agriculture
• Transportation
• Housing
• Jobs and Labor
• Health and Human Services
• Legacy
• Environment and Natural Resources
• E-12 Education
• Public Safety and Judiciary
• State Government, Veterans, and Elections
• Taxes

The Eviction Moratorium Off-Ramp

We also voted on an end to the COVID-19 peacetime emergency so that it ended on July 1. One of the big reasons we were able to do this in a safe and orderly manner is thanks to the proposals we recently passed into law, like our off-ramp to the eviction moratorium that’s in our Housing budget. 

The off-ramp ensures that we’re not just replacing a pandemic with an eviction crisis. Beginning on June 30 and for the next 105 days, renters and landlords who are struggling to get by will have the opportunity to take advantage of resources to help make them whole.

During the wind-down of the eviction moratorium, landlords must now give renters a 15-day notice of eviction before filing in court. This lets renters find help during the eviction process. Then, if you have a pending application for Emergency Rental Assistance, you can’t be evicted. This provision ends on June 30, 2022.

If you or someone you know has been struggling with rent payments because of the pandemic, I highly encourage you to check out renthelpmn.org.

Stay Connected

With the interim upon us, please feel free to reach out with any questions you have on our state budget, or the work ahead. If you haven’t already, you can “like” my official Facebook page, or reach out to me at (651) 296-8659 or rep.esther.agbaje@house.mn. I’ll continue to share updates with you on all the important bills we passed this week, upcoming events for our community, and resources that become available. 

Wishing you all a fun and safe 4th of July, 

Sincerely, 

Esther Agbaje

State Representative