Minnesota Update

End of Session in Sight

With the third legislative deadline in the rearview mirror, the legislature is looking ahead to the end of session. Much of the focus of the remaining weeks will be on completing supplemental budget bills, passing a capital investment package, and finishing work on priority legislation and omnibus policy bills. Legislators will spend considerable time on the floor of their respective chambers debating and passing bills, as well as in conference committees negotiating differences between House of Representatives and Senate language. This week there is a final short recess for the Passover holiday scheduled for April 22–April 24. 

Supplemental Finance Bills

Last Friday, April 19, was the third and final legislative committee deadline and signifies the date by which major appropriation bills must pass out of their respective committees. All finance-related bills, except for taxes and capital investment, have been passed from their committee of origin and now await action in the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means committees.  After the finance bills complete the committee process and pass the House of Representatives or Senate, they will go to conference committee to reconcile any differences in language and head back to be re-passed by their respective bodies.

It should be noted that the Senate State and Local Government finance bill and Environment finance bill did not meet the committee deadlines. The majority can choose to pass them through Rules Committee and waive deadline rules if they choose, but not all finance bills met their necessary deadline of last Friday, April 19.

Omnibus Policy Bills

While a focus of last week at the legislature was to pass supplemental appropriation bills out of their respective committees, some additional time was dedicated to passing policy bills off the House of Representatives and Senate floor so they can begin the conference committee reconciliation process. With less than four weeks to go in the legislative session, legislators have a significant amount of work to do to pass all policy and finance bills.

Substantial Cannabis Policy Bill Passes House of Representatives

Introduced by Rep. Zach Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids), H.F. 4757 makes changes to the recreational cannabis legalization law that was passed during the 2023 legislative session. Brought forward by the newly formed Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), the bill seeks to outline and clarify the cannabis licensing system before the 2025 rollout. One significant provision in the bill seeks to accelerate setting up a legitimate marketplace for cannabis by establishing a lottery process for “social equity” applicants and allowing pre-approved applicants to begin work immediately to build their business and be ready as soon as retail sales become legal.

Other notable provisions in the bill would:

• Allow THC beverages to be sold on tap under the current “registration” provision for edible cannabinoid products;
• Include provisions from the mostly technical bill from the OCM;
• Allow veterans receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs to be automatically eligible to enroll in the state’s medical cannabis program;
• Make medicinal cannabis available for any medical condition approved by a patient’s licensed healthcare practitioner;
• Make changes in testing procedures to measure THC levels in employees;
• Prohibit the sale of lower-potency hemp edibles to an obviously intoxicated person;
• Permit products having only hemp-derived cannabinoids to be sent out of state for testing;
• Prohibit selling empty cannabis packaging that looks like an existing brand and give the attorney general power to enforce the ban.

H.F. 4757 passed the House of Representatives 69-62 last week and the companion bill, S.F. 4782 (Port), continues to move through the committee process in the Senate.

Other Key Bills Moving Through Committee

Only a handful of non-appropriation bills were given hearings last week, but some of the more notable proposals discussed this week include:

H.F. 4444 (Greenman) / S.F. 4483 (Oumou Verbeten) is a result of a report released by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), highlighting the growing problem of employer misclassification fraud. Proponents of the bill hope to combat employer misclassification fraud by expanding the investigative authority of enforcement agencies, adding additional penalties for violations, improving intergovernmental coordination, and providing more remedies for misclassified workers. Some business leaders, particularly those in the construction industry, have raised concerns that the bill imposes on legitimate independent contractor relationships.

HF 2257 (Bahner) / S.F. 2810 (Maye Quade) would create the Minnesota Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. Modeled after a 2022 law that was implemented in California, legislators hope to protect children’s well-being, privacy, and autonomy by implementing restrictions on businesses that offer online services, products, or features likely to be accessed by children.

Important Dates to Remember     

April 22, 2024                               Passover Recess Begins

April 24, 2024 at 12pm                Passover Recess Ends

May 20, 2024                                Deadline to Adjourn Legislative Session