The Minnesota Legislature has suspended normal business operations to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to recessing, the House and Senate met at the Capitol into the early morning hours on March 17 to pass $200 million...more
After discussions over the weekend, state legislative leaders have decided to recess the Minnesota Legislature from Tuesday, March 17, through Tuesday, April 14. This decision was made after consultation with the Minnesota...more
As it has nationally and internationally, COVID-19 or coronavirus has been the focus for both Governor Walz and the Minnesota Legislature this week. On Monday, the House and Senate unanimously passed emergency legislation...more
Coronavirus and Super Tuesday were the major focuses at the Minnesota Capitol this week. On Monday state leaders outlined their response to coronavirus....more
Legislators kept busy this week both at and away from the Capitol. Committees continued processing policy bills, staying mindful of the first policy committee deadline scheduling three weeks away. The House held an extra...more
The legislature’s second week was busy with committee hearings and press conferences where legislators announced and debated their priorities for the session. Legislators agreed to extend policy deadlines to help address the...more
The 2020 Minnesota legislative session convened on Tuesday, February 11. Committees wasted no time meeting to hear and process bills. Two new representatives were sworn in this week, as Rep. Paul Novotney (R-Elk River) and...more
The start of the legislative session is right around the corner. The House and Senate will convene on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. The Senate DFL elected Sen. Susan Kent (DFL-Woodbury) as their new minority leader on February...more
Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released its November Economic Budget Forecast on December 5, 2019. This forecast shows an improved economic outlook compared to the end of the 2019 legislative session and projects an...more
On November 25, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Thompson v. Hebdon holding that, in considering whether caps on individual campaign contributions violate the First Amendment, courts must compare the cap to others upheld...more
Last week, the Minnesota House of Representatives held a three day “mini-session” in the Minnesota communities of Rochester, Austin, Winona, and the surrounding area. It was the first mini-session — which were much more...more
The 91st biennial session of the Minnesota Legislature convened on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, with a newly elected DFL Governor, former Congressman Tim Walz, and the only divided Legislature in the nation. The DFL also...more
5/31/2019
/ GILTI tax ,
Health Care Providers ,
Opioid ,
Paid Leave ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Preemption ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Sales Tax ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
With 10 days to go until the Minnesota Legislature must adjourn, budget negotiations between Governor Walz and House and Senate leadership have stalled. In turn, the work of conference committees, who need agreed-to budget...more
The end of the legislative session looms with a little over two weeks for the Minnesota Legislature to pass the state’s biennial budget. Wednesday marked the first of three leadership-imposed deadlines aimed at keeping the...more
Lawmakers returned from the Easter/Passover Break on Tuesday and immediately got to work moving omnibus finance bills off the House and Senate floor and into conference committees. Several omnibus bills were passed off the...more
This week marked the third and final committee deadline for the Minnesota Legislature, requiring committees in both the DFL-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate to act on major finance and appropriation bills....more
This week, House finance committees unveiled and passed DFL proposals to fund state government over the next biennium. Because of the lack of movement in the Senate on key House policy priorities, finance bills also became...more
Today’s second policy deadline had legislators racing throughout the week to get their bills through committee. House and Senate committees held day and evening meetings to process bills. On Wednesday, the House swore in Rep....more
A number of proposals impacting employers and employees have been winding their way through the committee process over the last month. These include Paid Family and Medical Leave (HF5), Paid Sick and Safe Time (HF11), Wage...more
Today marks the first committee deadline at the Minnesota Legislature, whereby policy bills needed to clear all policy committees in either the House or Senate to remain viable. As legislators rushed to meet deadline,...more
Governor Tim Walz signed his first two bills into law this week. The first, HF 80, authored by Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown) and Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester), makes corrections to capital investments appropriated in...more
The Minnesota Legislature is nearing the halfway mark of session. With the first policy deadline only two weeks away, House and Senate committees have accelerated bill hearings and have added evening meetings. On Thursday,...more
The unveiling of Governor Walz’s biennial budget dominated conversations at the Minnesota Legislature this week. Governor Walz’s first budget contains significant tax and spending proposals that were cautiously embraced by...more
This was an eventful week in Minnesota politics and at the Legislature. On Sunday, at an outdoor rally during a snowstorm on Sunday, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential...more
With the first week of February over, legislative committees continued to hear and process bills. To date both bodies of the Legislature have introduced nearly 1,000 bills. On Thursday, the House passed House Concurrent...more