|
2024 Legislative Session Concludes
The 2024 Legislative session wrapped up for the year on May 20, but not before a chaotic, screaming, and yelling conclusion. The Legislature cannot pass any legislation on the final day of the session, so all work had to be completed by midnight on May 19. Several omnibus bills were clearly not gong to pass as midnight approached, so the DFL majority decided that all remaining supplemental omnibus bills would be lumped into one very large bill - 2860 pages, to be exact. With less than an hour remaining before all work had to be completed, there was scant time for discussion, and the bill was passed without debate. To be fair, many of the bills in the larger bill had been debated at length but the heavy handedness of the conclusion definitely left some scars. The language of HF 5247can be found here.
Capital Investment: It seemed unlikely there would be a capital investment bill as the Legislature entered the last weekend and that turned out to be true. Negotiations never really seemed to solidify and yet another “bonding year” has come and gone without funding for the State’s infrastructure needs. There were immediate requests for the Governor to call a special session to pass a capital investment package but Governor Walz was quick to shoot that idea down.
Work Zone Safety: While it may seem like a small step forward, it was a welcome advancement of AGC’s efforts to have a camera-based traffic enforcement in work zones. There must be a minimum of 2 pilot sites, but no more than 4, by July 1 of 2025. This language was included with the red light camera legislation being pursued by the City of Minneapolis. The language for the pilot program can be found in HF 5247 starting on page 64, line 14.
Misclassification of Independent Contractors: The Omnibus bill also included the language from the Department of Labor and Industry to further tighten the criteria for classifying independent contractors. The language AGC negotiated with the House author was included in the bill but there is still a lot to work through in this legislation. A more detailed analysis will follow in the Legislative summary. You can find the language relating to misclassification in HF 5247 starting on page 180.
Paid Family Medical Leave: Also included in the Omnibus bill are changes to the 2023 Paid Family & Medical Leave program. The amendments to the law clarify different types of leave, exclusions for independent contractors and seasonal employees, maximum weeks of leave in a year, payment during the seven-day qualifying event, and establishes an appeal process. While many of the changes are technical and reflect recommendations from an actuarial analysis, the bill also lowers premiums for small employers and provides a formula for future premium rates based on benefits paid out. The original contribution rate was expected to be 0.70% of taxable wages (paid equally by the employee and employer); after reviewing the actuarial analysis the contribution rate left the program about $800 million short. So, the contribution rate is now expected to be around 0.78-0.83%. Premium tax collections begin in 2026. You can find the language for Paid Family & Medical Leave in HF 5247, Article 73 beginning on line 1379.21.
Earned Safe and Sick Time: The large Omnibus bill also includes modifications to the 2023 Earned Safe and Sick Time (ESST) law. The amendments include providing remedies as enforcement against an employer that does not follow the law, clarifies that ESST is paid at the employee’s base rate and defines base rate, expands the list of allowable circumstances to use ESST for employees, clarifies how ESST interacts with short-term and long-term disability benefits, and clarifies retention of ESST in certain circumstances. You can find the language for Earned Safe and Sick Time changed in HF 5247, Article 11 beginning on line 211.1.
| 
