Minnesota Legislature Ends on Time with Completed Budget, Bonding Agreement Reached, and more
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Conference Committee Update
With two weeks left in the 2023 legislative session, many conference committees have been busy working out differences in major budget bills. A few conference committees, such as the committee working on the omnibus tax bill, are still in the process of being appointed and have not yet begun work.
Conference committees must resolve all differences in their bills before sending them to Gov. Walz for final passage. Here is a list of bills that have been referred to conference committees, with links to the latest updates for those committees:
House Passes Paid Family and Medical Leave
The House passed their paid family and medical leave bill on Tuesday evening with a vote of 68-64. The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote, with two Democrats voting against the bill. The bill sets aside $668.3 million to set up the program for FY2024, before money is collected via a payroll tax on employees and employers, similar to Social Security benefits. The money also establishes a new Family and Medical Benefits Insurance Division within the Department of Employment and Economic Development to oversee the program.
Starting July 1, 2025, employees would be eligible for the benefit if they are unable to work due to a serious health condition, safety leave, pregnancy, pregnancy recovery, or to care for a family member’s serious health condition, or a newborn. Employers would be able to opt out of paying into the state plan if they create their own private plan that meets or exceeds the same benefits. The House version of the bill would provide up to 18 weeks of partially paid leave, less than the 24 weeks initially proposed. The bill now goes to the Senate, which has yet to act on it.
After months of committee hearings, a bill to legalize marijuana passed both the House and the Senate last week. The bill first passed the House on Tuesday with the support of two Republicans, and all but one Democrat, with a vote of 71-59. On Friday, the Senate passed the bill with a party line vote of 34-33. The measure would allow adults 21 and older to buy up to two ounces of cannabis flower and would expunge low-level cannabis convictions.
The two versions of the bill have several differences that must be worked out by a conference committee before it makes its way to Gov. Walz’s desk for signature. The Senate bill allows those growing cannabis privately to possess up to five pounds of cannabis, and two pounds for those buying cannabis. The House limits possession to 1.5 pounds for everyone. Another key difference is the tax rate in the two bills, the House taxes cannabis products at 8 percent, while the Senate has a higher rate of 10 percent. The differences between the two bills are currently being worked out in a conference committee. Once differences are worked out and a bill is signed by the governor, legalization will go into effect August 1.
The House and Senate met in a joint convention on Monday night to elect members of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents. Four board members were up for election from the 2nd, 3rd and 8th Congressional Districts as well as the at-large member.
Tadd Johnson, representing District 8, was the only member re-elected to his seat; the former professor, tribal attorney and tribal court judge retired from his position as the University’s first senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations. West St. Paul City Council member Robyn Gulley was elected to the District 2 seat, replacing Steve Sviggum. In District 3, Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner will replace Darrin Rosha. One of the four members-at-large, Ken Powell, will be replaced by Penny Wheeler, the former CEO of Allina Health.
The new board will get to work this week to review candidates for interim president as the current president Joan Gabel takes on a new role at the University of Pittsburgh.
May 22: Last Day of the 2023 Legislative Session
The legislature returned from its week-long break, with six weeks left in the legislative session. They must complete their two-year budget by the adjournment date of May 22. Committees in the House and Senate have been advancing their omnibus budget bills and some budget bills have begun to be debated by the full House and Senate.
Once the budget bills pass off the House and Senate floors, the conference committee process will begin.
A few committees that had yet to act upon their omnibus bills met after the break to pass their budget bills. After these bills pass in their respective bodies, the conference committee process will begin, which is the process the House and Senate use to work out differences. The Tax committees have not yet released their omnibus bills.
Here are a few highlights on budget bills advancing after the legislative break.
Transportation
Taxes
Bonding
Energy
Housing
Agriculture and Rural Broadband
Child Care
Local Government Aid
Other top priorities continue to make their way through the committee process:
Recreational Marijuana
Paid Medical and Family Leave
Who represents me?
Governor’s bill tracker
Senate Omnibus and Policy Bills
Governor and Legislature’s Budget Target Agreement
April 19: State of the State address
May 22: Last Day of the 2023 Legislative Session
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