Latest news with #MinnesotaLegislature
CBS News
12 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Minnesota Legislature is set to begin special session on Monday. What bills are left to pass?
What bills still need to pass the Legislature? What bills still need to pass the Legislature? What bills still need to pass the Legislature? Minnesota lawmakers will return to the capitol on Monday to begin what Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders hope will be a one-day special session to pass the rest of the next two-year state budget. They are set to start at 10 a.m. and end at 7 a.m. Tuesday. The focus will be on 14 bills, mostly spending plans for state programs and services. But there is also a bonding bill funding infrastructure projects and a compromise to remove undocumented immigrant adults from MinnesotaCare, a state health coverage program for low-income people. House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said in an interview on WCCO Sunday Morning that most of the bills were drafted and posted for the public to see, after the provisions were largely negotiated behind closed doors. Lawmakers will begin passing bills right when they gavel in, but it will likely be a long day, she conceded. The special session will be the state's first since 2021. It comes after key negotiators and leaders worked almost around the clock the last three weeks since the regular session ended on May 19, trying to resolve sticking points in the most closely divided Legislature in state history. There is a tied state House and one-seat DFL advantage in the Senate—100 Republicans to 101 Democrats. Because of that make-up, it is as if every individual lawmaker has their own veto power, Walz described the dynamic. "It's not the state budget we would have put together, but it's a compromise, and we have to keep state government functioning," said Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, last week. All sides had to make concessions to ink a deal, refine the proposals, and find a way to ensure passage of the necessary bills to fund state government and its services. They also had to make difficult decisions on where to find savings through cuts since the state is staring down a $6 billion deficit in future years. "Right now, we have a very good state budget that is actually delivering the largest spending cut between biennium to biennium ever. really—almost $5 billion of cuts," Demuth told WCCO Sunday. Roughly 30,000 state workers were set to get a layoff notice Monday morning as part of protocol, since failure to pass a budget by July 1 means a partial government shutdown. But the governor's office said that could be delayed until Tuesday morning, which is when the special session is set to end. If lawmakers complete all their work by that time, the state can avoid sending those messages to employees. What bills still need to pass the Legislature? A majority of the bills that piece together the next two-year, roughly $66 billion budget are on lawmakers' to-do list Monday. Before the regular session ended last month, the Legislature approved funding for the court system and the agriculture and veterans affairs departments. But most of that work was unfinished. Among the provisions in the public safety and judiciary budget that passed is the deal to close the Stillwater prison by 2029. Lawmakers still need to sign off on funding for K-12 education, transportation, health and human services, and more. There is also a tax proposal, which includes increasing the cannabis tax from 10-15%, sparking pushback. They also need to debate the proposal to remove undocumented immigrant adults from MinnesotaCare.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Saturday special session? Leaders in Minnesota Legislature hope to avoid layoff notices to thousands of state workers
Minnesota legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz hope there will be a special session of the Legislature this weekend before layoff notices will be sent to nearly 30,000 state workers on Monday. They had pushed for mid-week, but by Wednesday they said negotiators still hadn't buttoned up outstanding issues, causing further delays. Walz will call a special session when the bills are complete, drafted and ready for passage. Leaders and key lawmakers have been working on the remaining parts of the budget for weeks, largely out of public view. DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman said Wednesday they are "urgently" trying to finish by the weekend to avoid sending state employees that dreaded message. But other self-imposed deadlines have come and gone since the regular session ended May 19 and lawmakers began their behind-the-scenes work to finish everything up. "We are making progress. It is as slow as molasses, but molasses is good, and we are going to get done. I cross my fingers," said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-Saint Paul. This is the most closely divided Legislature in Minnesota history, which makes the process uniquely delicate and difficult to get everything done. It's unclearif there are even the votes to pass some parts of the carefully crafted agreement they made in late May. "We're at a point right now where, quite candidly, and the legislators know this—I'm not even saying as a pejorative—every single legislator is potentially a veto over the whole deal to get some of this done," Walz said. Among the sticking points are how they will pass a rollback of state health coverage for undocumented immigrants—a compromise reached by GOP and DFL leaders. There is also some contention with a transportation funding package and provisions in a tax bill. Many DFL lawmakers deeply oppose the cuts to MinnesotaCare for adults who are living in the country illegally. Murphy has said it needs to be a stand-alone bill to ensure passage, an acknowledgment of the many likely defectors she will have in her caucus, which only has a one-seat majority in the chamber. Republicans will need to support it. House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said for a stand-alone bill to happen, her caucus needs language in the legislation to ensure it won't be vetoed. Republicans, she said, want that assurance, even though Walz signed the agreement with leaders that included the change. "Some of the things that we're looking at is if that would be broken out into a separate bill, there would have to be a guaranteed contingency—say, funding for MDH, or whatever that might look like—that would be a guarantee that that bill would both be passed and enacted," she said. If lawmakers do not finish by the weekend, the layoff notices will be sent Monday morning, Walz said. Failure to pass the rest of the budget by June 30 will trigger a partial government shutdown on July 1, the start of the next fiscal year. The governor told reporters he doesn't think that will happen, but nevertheless Minnesota Management and Budget—which oversees the state's finances and payroll and HR operations for state workers—is following protocols to prepare for that possibility. Some state services, agencies and programs would remain operational in that scenario because the Legislature did approve some budget bills before session ended last month, like spending plans for the judiciary and state government offices like the secretary of state and attorney general.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota Legislature budget progress slow, but work getting done
The Brief After day three following the end of the legislative session, many bills remain incomplete. The Minnesota Legislature missed their May 19 deadline. Working groups pressed ahead in preparation for a special session. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - It has been days after the end of Minnesota's regular legislative session, but the state's next two-year budget remains incomplete. The backstory The Minnesota Legislature missed its May 19 deadline to pass the next two-year budget. The Minnesota Legislature is closely divided – tied in the House and Democrats have a one-seat majority in the Senate. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and legislative leaders had previously announced a universal agreement that working groups are using as a framework. That two-year budget agreement was roughly $66 billion. What we know Since the end of the regular session, many of the meetings have been happening behind closed doors. However, more working groups held public meetings on Thursday. Leaders in both chambers said progress is slow, but work is getting done. They said most bills are either close to being done or essentially done and groups were finalizing language. House leaders called out taxes, education, and health and human services as still needing quite a bit of work. They also said mediators were needed to help transportation along. A major point of contention remains unresolved -- whether to continue funding health insurance for adults who are undocumented. What they're saying When asked about how the news coming out of Washington D.C., as House Republicans passed a sweeping bill including tax cuts and changes to Medicaid, will impact state budget discussions, state leaders said they will not change course – for now. "We will likely be back later this summer or this fall to reconcile the damage they are doing to Minnesota's budget, to Minnesota's healthcare system and to Minnesotans' lives. But right now, we have to do this job," said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, (DFL-St. Paul). "We were already having those conversations and signed a deal before anything would have passed federally in the House. Our decisions going forward are going to adhere to what we know and what we have already signed in on our global deal with the governor and the other leaders," said House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring), What's next Gov. Walz said he will not call a special session until all the work is done. Legislative leaders said, in terms of timing, it will be mid-next week at the earliest. A budget needs to be passed by June 30th to avoid a government shutdown. The Source Minnesota Legislature, Minnesota House of Representatives, Minnesota Senate.
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Special session headed for after Memorial Day weekend as Minnesota lawmakers continue to work through unresolved budget bills
A special session of the Minnesota Legislature is headed for after Memorial Day weekend as lawmakers continue to sort through unresolved bills that will make up the next two-year state budget. On Thursday, the conference committees between the House and Senate that have transformed into unofficial working groups met to continue their negotiations on spending plans for K-12 education, transportation, human services and economic development. Those panels met in public, after many meetings over the last several days have been in secret. Gov. Tim Walz won't officially call the special session until everything is wrapped up, but now it will be next week at the earliest, leaders conceded. "It is clear we're not going to have a special session by the end of this week because that's tomorrow. But I hope that in the work of today, and people are working really hard today, and hopefully tomorrow, we're able to button these things up,' said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-Saint Paul. Murphy, GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth and former DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman gave negotiators until 5 p.m. Wednesday to find agreement between House and Senate versions of different spending plans, but none of them met that deadline. The House leaders told reporters they are pushing for everything to be finalized by Friday and then the bills can be drafted for a mid-week special session next week. "Even though it's slower than we would like, things are going well. It doesn't appear that anyone has quit or given up, and that is a very good sign in the right direction," Demuth said. Hortman noted that the situation becomes more complicated the closer lawmakers get to June with no budget passed. Layoff notices will go out to agencies without continued funding approvals starting June 1 — the government will shutdown if there's no budget by July 1. "That is really the next deadline that comes after May 19," Hortman said. "And human beings are deadline driven. So Friday is May 30. Saturday is May 31 I think people are probably not going to want to be here on Saturday May 31, so I think the drive will be to probably finish by the 30th." The Legislature adjourned the regular session Monday night, and the forthcoming special session will be the first since 2021, the last time there was divided government during a budget-writing year. The margins are slim at the capitol; the House is tied at 67-67 for only the second time in history and the DFL has a one-seat majority in the Senate. That means the make-up is more closely divided than ever before and it forced a compromise on a top-line budget agreement between Walz and legislative leaders with both the GOP and the DFL. Republicans and Democrats shared power on committees with co-chairs, so they had to find agreement among themselves before they could begin conversations with the DFL-led Senate, which is unique. Murphy lamented that dynamic has made the process of reconciling bills between both chambers difficult. "You would expect that the House conferees would come in together united, like, 'we passed a bill, and we're united, and we're going to fight for our position,'" she told reporters Thursday. "But instead, the House is coming in like a two headed monster." Hortman and Demuth — who had a rare joint news conference Friday — both said that despite the bumpy start to the session, they worked well together this year. "We had legitimate disagreements at the beginning of session. So it wasn't about trust or not trust, a relationship or not relationship. It was about a very different view of what was unfolding at the beginning of session," Hortman said. "We're at a different phase of session where we're working together to get things done." Demuth echoed those feelings. "I think that the way that we have set up our organizational agreement here in the House has served us well," she said.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Minnesota Legislature Passes Cannabis Regulation Bill
The Minnesota state legislature approved an omnibus cannabis regulation bill over the weekend, sending the legislation to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for consideration. The measure, SF 2370, received the approval of a legislative conference committee made up of state representatives and senators on Saturday. Both chambers of the legislature voted in favor of the bill later that day, with a vote of 34-33 in the Minnesota Senate and an 80-50 vote in the state House of Representatives, before sending the measure to the governor's office. The bill makes several technical tweaks to the state's 2023 cannabis legalization law and adds new provisions sought by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management. Democratic Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of the sponsors of the bill, said that the conference committee version of the legislation retains most of the provisions passed by the House. 'There's a lot of provisions in this bill that I think are important and significant and will help move our nascent cannabis marketplace forward in Minnesota,' Stephenson said, according to a House of Representatives report on the bill. Prior to Saturday's votes, Republican Rep. Nolan West encouraged his colleagues to vote in favor of the conference committee report, saying the legislation brings Minnesota 'one step closer' to a legal cannabis market offering safe, lab-tested products. West also added that Minnesota has been slow to launch its regulated cannabis market after cannabis legalization was approved in May 2023. He also noted that Ohio has already begun regulated sales of recreational marijuana, despite the state legalizing adult-use cannabis six months after Minnesota. 'Meanwhile, Minnesota, with our six-month head start, has—let me see here—not a single licensed store,' West said, according to a report from online news source Cannabis Business Times. 'We could do a lot better. Thankfully, this bill does help. We have a hopelessly convoluted regulatory system based on this fantasy that you can create a craft cannabis market based on government regulation. It's like trying to run Amazon out of an Etsy store with three inspectors checking the doilies for antitrust violations.' The bill includes several modifications to existing law, including adding a hemp wholesaler license for low-potency (less than 0.3% THC) cannabis products. The measure also permits those who have an adjudicated cannabis-related offense to qualify as social equity applicants and allows vendors to provide samples at licensed cannabis events. Another provision of the bill permits hemp-infused beverages with no more than 10 milligrams of THC per serving. The Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. Associated Press Before the final vote on the legislation, Stephenson noted that the state needs a license for wholesalers of hemp THC beverages. 'I want members to know that these low-potency hemp beverages are a real Minnesota creation and something that is a nation-leading thing that has been really productive for our local breweries,' Stephenson said. 'A lot of our little craft breweries across Minnesota are struggling right now due to declining sales in the beer space. And many of them have found significant economic gain by taking up these low-dose, hemp-THC products.' Eric Taubel, interim director of the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), told lawmakers at a legislative committee meeting last week that the agency's staff now numbers more than 100. He added that the OCM is now focused on its primary goal of creating an equitable cannabis industry focused on health and public safety and market integrity while inspiring consumer confidence. 'This bill has provisions that touch on each of those sort of broad categories within the mission statement,' Taubel said. Taubel also highlighted proposed amendments to state regulations, including changes in the application process, licensing, social equity eligibility and other rules. Cannabis attorney Mitch Chargo says the bill 'introduces several important developments for the industry.' 'Notably, it creates a new lower-potency hemp wholesaler license. It also enables cannabis businesses to provide product samples at authorized events which will greatly enhance consumer education and brand exposure,' Chargo writes in an email. 'Additionally, hemp businesses are now able to export hemp-derived products out of state, even if those products do not meet Minnesota's compliance standards, which also opens broader market opportunities for Minnesota businesses.'
