Lawmakers returned to St. Paul today after the Easter/Passover break last week, and now have less than four weeks to pass a two-year state budget before the May 20 constitutional deadline for adjournment.
New this session are a set of additional deadlines that legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz agreed upon with the hopes of achieving an orderly end to the legislative session. Those deadlines are:
- May 1: House and Senate will pass all major finance bills off their respective floors and leadership will appoint conference committees
- May 6: Governor, Senate Majority Leader and House Speaker will provide fiscal targets to the chairs of conference committees on major finance bills
- May 13: Conference committees will complete conference committee reports and send back to the House and Senate floors for consideration
This morning, the Senate Finance Committee took up the Senate higher education omnibus bill,
SF 2415
, and after much discussion on the bill and multiple amendments, adopted the bill as amended and sent it to the Senate floor, where it will likely be heard as early as tomorrow.
Two amendments were adopted. The first, an amendment offered by Senator Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, offered an amendment to expand the stop locations of the University of Minnesota zone pass so students have access to healthy food at grocery stores. The second amendment passed by the committee was an amendment offered by Senator Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, to provide funding to expand mental health services at both Minnesota State campuses and the University of Minnesota.
The next stop for both the House and Senate higher education omnibus bills is the floor. We will provide updates when each body takes up the bills.
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This Week at the Capitol
Tuesday, April 23
8:30 a.m.
Senate Finance
Room: 1200 Senate Building
Chair: Sen. Julie A. Rosen
Agenda:
S.F. 2415-Anderson, P.: Omnibus Higher Education Bill.
S.F. 2227-Kiffmeyer: Omnibus State Government Bill.
S.F. 7-Nelson: Omnibus E-12 Education Bill.
9:00 a.m.
House in Session
HF2208 (Mahoney) Omnibus jobs and economic development, energy and climate, and telecommunications policy and finance bill.
HF2400 (Davnie) Omnibus education finance bill.
12:00 p.m.
Senate in Session
SF 2226 (Westrom) Omnibus Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Bill
SF 2314 (Ingebrigtsen) Omnibus Environment Bill
Wednesday, April 24
8:00 a.m.
House Ways and Means
Room: 120 State Capitol
Chair: Rep. Lyndon Carlson
Agenda:
The committee will meet from 8:00-8:55. If the agenda is not completed in the morning, the committee will recess and return after the House adjourns.
HF 653 (Lillie) Legacy Finance bill
HF2032 (Hansen) LCCMR bill
8:30 a.m.
Senate Finance
Room: 1200 Senate Building
Chair: Sen. Julie A. Rosen
Agenda:
S.F. 2611-Pratt: Omnibus Jobs and Economic Development Bill.
S.F. 92-Abeler: Omnibus Human Services Reform Bill.
S.F. 2452-Benson: Omnibus Health and Human Services Bill.
S.F. 1093-Newman: Omnibus Transportation Bill.
Thursday, April 25
8:00 a.m.
House Ways and Means
Room: 120 State Capitol
Chair: Rep. Lyndon Carlson
Agenda: The committee will meet from 8:00-8:55 AM. If the agenda is not completed during that time, the committee will return during the House recess.
HF6 (Mahoney) Wage theft prohibited, wage payment modified, civil and criminal penalties increased, administrative review allowed, and money appropriated.
HF11 (Lesch) Earned sick and safe time provided, rulemaking authorized, civil penalties imposed, and reports required.
HF90 (Schultz) Assisted living resident consumer protections established, assisted living establishment license established, penalties provided, rulemaking authority granted, and reports required.
