Following the 2022 election, Democrats won complete control of Minnesota’s state government. Governor Tim Walz was re-elected to a second term and Democrats held control of the House while flipping control of the Senate. 

The makeup of the House and Senate following the election is as follows: 

• Minnesota House of Representatives: 70 Democrats and 64 Republicans 
• Minnesota Senate: 34 Democrats and 33 Republicans 

While most Minnesota political pundits anticipated Gov. Walz winning re-election, a DFL “trifecta” completely controlling the policy-making arms of state government was a surprise to political observers across the board. 

Although majorities in both the House and Senate were relatively narrow (especially the Senate with a one-seat majority), the pace of progressive priorities passing through committees and through each chamber was unprecedented in Minnesota legislative history. 

Based on the bills that passed during the 2023 Legislative Session, a new two-year state budget will take effect on July 1 and run through June 30, 2025. 

The state’s new general fund budget is $71.5 billion, though some of that is one-time spending. The base budget for the subsequent budget cycle is projected to be $66 billion. For context, the state’s current budget cycle that began on July 1 of 2021 and is set to end on June 30 is $52 billion budget.

Further below you will find summaries of each of the budget bills passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Walz (by alphabetical order by budget area). 

The Environmental Omnibus Bill, which includes legislation regulating PFAS, passed the House and Senate with an exemption for medical devices, drugs, and products used in a medical setting “regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration.” This exemption under the PFAS prohibition section of the bill exists because of a strategic and coordinated effort made on behalf of the Medical Alley ecosystem.

As multiple bills on this topic moved through the legislative process, two issues became clear: first, there was a need for a medical device and drug exemption in bills relating to PFAS, which at the time, did not exist; and second, to effectively communicate and educate lawmakers, it would take a concerted effort from multiple parties. 

Medical Alley’s Government Affairs and Policy team coordinated weekly meetings with key stakeholders, engaged in discussions with lawmakers, and submitted written testimony, highlighting the size and scope of how this legislation would affect supply chains, and more importantly - patient access to care. 

Ultimately, Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin) authored the exemption amendment which includes prosthetics, orthotics, medical devices, drugs, and other products used in a medical setting regulated by FDA. 

This bill contains a disclosure requirement for any product in which PFAS is intentionally added. A similar medical device and drug exemption does not exist, despite Medical Alley and our partners’ efforts to advocate for one. This requirement does not take effect until 2026. 

Lawmakers approved funding for Minnesota’s Angel Tax Credit at $5 million per year in 2023 and in 2024. $2.5 million is reserved for minority- and women-owned business, as well as businesses located in Greater Minnesota.  

The Angel Tax Credit was a top legislative priority for Medical Alley this legislative session. The program provides a 25% credit to investors or investment funds which make equity investments in startup companies focused on high technology or a new proprietary technology. 

While this proposal normally enjoys strong bipartisan support, it did not have an easy path to becoming law in 2023. 

During the conference committee process, the Senate prevailed in negotiations over the House on this front. The Angel Tax Credit was included in the final version of the Omnibus Tax Bill and was signed into law by Gov. Walz. 

The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) began accepting Angel Tax Credit certification applications on May 30, 2023. 

The Paid Family and Medical Leave proposal was among the highest priorities for the House and Senate majority leadership this session. It passed the House 68-62 and passed the Senate 34-32 and was signed into law on May 25.

Under this bill, the annual maximum length of paid benefits is 20 weeks for time off for bonding, family care, medical care related to pregnancy, serious health conditions, qualifying exigency, or safety leave. It takes effect January 1, 2026.

Medical Alley submitted written testimony in opposition to this bill, arguing a one-size-fits-all mandate was wrong for small businesses and could stifle innovation.

The funding for the family and medical insurance benefit account is modeled after the state’s unemployment insurance fund. This benefit will be managed by a new Family and Medical Benefits Insurance Division within the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

A new tax on employers and employees will ultimately fund the account. The premium rate will be 0.7% of the employee’s wages, at least half of which would be paid by the employer and the rest paid by the employee.

The bill also appropriates $648.3 million in fiscal year 2024 as “seed money” for benefits to be available beginning January 1, 2026. At that point the taxes on employers and employees would begin, with the intent of the insurance fund being self-sustaining going forward.

Employers are allowed to institute private plans and not be required to pay premiums into the state program. However, private plans need to meet or exceed all the same rights, protections, and benefits provided to employees under the state plan.

In the final hours of the 2023 Legislative Session, the controversial nurse staffing regulations were removed from The Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act. What’s left of the new agreement are less controversial initiatives – likely to give advocacy groups supporting this bill something they can call a win.

The legislation is now called the Nurse and Patient Safety Act. It has three components:

• Violence prevention
• Loan forgiveness
• A study to determine why nurses are burning out and leaving the profession

The Nurse and Patient Safety Act passed the House and Senate on the final day of the legislative session. 

This legislation legalizes adult-use cannabis for those 21-years-old and older and establishes a new Office of Cannabis Management to regulate the new industry. The law also directs for the expungement or resentencing of cannabis related convictions. The bill includes a 10% tax on recreational cannabis.

Cannabis use and possession of certain amounts will be decriminalized beginning August 1 along with the establishment of the Cannabis Expungement Board and provisions related to the automatic expungement of lower-level cannabis offenses. The bill allows sales for legal adult-use cannabis in Minnesota begin in the first quarter of 2025.

Medical Alley hosted our 2023 Day at the Capitol on April 18. The event was split into two main areas of focus – an ‘expo’ showcase in L’Etoile du Nord Vault room at the Capitol followed by a legislative reception at the Minnesota History Center. This was the first in-person Capitol event Medical Alley has hosted since 2019.

The Day at the Capitol convened Medical Alley partners which displayed products, including Medtronic, CVRx, Coloplast, Phillips, Life Link III, AtriCure, Veeva Systems and VOCxi Health. Many other Medical Alley partners also registered for the event.

The purpose of the Day at the Capitol was to engage directly with lawmakers on issues important to Medical Alley partners, while raising awareness of the organization and the ecosystem in St. Paul. Medical Alley’s Government Affairs and Policy team was able to secure one-on-one meetings with several state lawmakers – which led to meaningful conversations and connections.

The expo-style event not only allowed for engagement among partners and legislators, it was also an opportunity for Medical Alley company leaders to network amongst themselves. At least five attendees reported making significant connections because of the Day at the Capitol, separate from meetings with lawmakers.

Medical Alley will host our 2024 Day at the Capitol on February 27^th, 2024.

This legislation appropriates $312 million, a $148 million increase in General Fund spending, for agriculture and broadband.

Over the next two years, this legislation provides:

• $100 million to expand broadband access throughout the state.
• $10 million for a grain indemnity fund to protect Minnesota farmers
• $4 million to create funding for urban youth agriculture education and urban agriculture community development grants
• $1.25 million fiscal year in soil health equipment grants to help farmers make their farmland more resilient to extreme weather events, retain topsoil, build organic matter, and promote water quality.
• $1 million to support emerging and beginning farmers with farm down payment assistance.

This bill passed 85-44 in the Minnesota House and 49-16 in the Minnesota Senate.

Members of the House and Senate passed two separate capital investment packages to fund state infrastructure projects across the state.

The first bill uses $1.3 billion in general obligation bonds, $219 million from the Transportation Fund, and $225 million from the General Fund.

The second bill appropriates $850 million in General Fund spending for 190 projects.

Together, these two bills total $2.6 billion, which will pay for hundreds of infrastructure projects across the state.

Major funding initiatives include:

• $403 million for transportation infrastructure, including local roads and bridges
• $501 million for water infrastructure projects
• $78 million for the Hastings Veterans Home
• $20 million for the Waterville fish hatchery
• $72 million for bus rapid transit
• $72 million for public housing rehabilitation
• Over $120 million for community-based organizations and nonprofits

According to the Minnesota Constitution, any bill that uses general obligation bonds, which involves the state borrowing money, requires three-fifths support in each chamber. This means that votes from Republican legislators, who are in the minority, were needed.

The first bill passed 97-35 in the Minnesota House and 56-11 in the Minnesota Senate. The second bill passed 78-43 in the Minnesota House and 35-14 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $834.7 million to the Department of Commerce.

One of the major policy provisions of this bill includes the creation of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which has the authority to investigate cost increases of prescription drugs, publish reports on pricing trends, and establish upper payment limits on the amount paid to purchase prescription drugs in Minnesota that are determined by the board to “create significant affordability challenges for the state health care system or for patients.”

This bill also aims to curtail price gouging, which prohibits product prices from jumping more than 25% after a government-declared emergency.

This legislation funds a study on free primary care for Minnesotans and codifies existing federal laws from the Affordable Care Act that allow Minnesotans to access certain preventative services, like routine health screenings, for zero cost.

Other provisions in the bill include:

• Fortifying laws regarding deceptive trade practices
• Prohibiting boat insurance contracts from excluding coverage for family members
• Establishing the Digital Fair Repair Act
• Allowing a life insurance company to deny a death benefit only if the insured dies within one year of the issuance of the policy; current law permits a two-year exclusion
• Requiring health plans to limit patient co-pays to no more than $25 per one-month supply for prescription drugs used to treat chronic diseases
• Establishing a student loan advocate to educate students on educational loans
• Prohibiting lenders from collecting on loans made under coercion by a third party, such as a domestic abuser.

The bill passed 69-59 in the Minnesota House and 35-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

The legislation appropriates $400 million for programs targeted at Minnesota’s youngest learners.

The bill includes:

• $252 million in early learning scholarships in FY 2024 and 2025, with expanded eligibility
• $20 million in additional funding to Head Start
• $5 million for Grow Your Own early learning educator programs
• $4.3 million for Great START Scholarship programs
• Increasing development and preschool screening aid for the first

The bill passed 71-61 in the Minnesota House and 38-29 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation provides $23.2 billion for K-12 education over the next biennium, an increase of $2.26 billion (10.2%) from the 2021 education budget bill.

The bill provides a 4% per-pupil increase in the general education formula in 2024 and a 2% increase in 2025, totaling $704 million over the biennium. The bill also links the formula to inflation in all future years.

Under this legislation, unemployment insurance is extended to hourly school workers, with the state providing $135 million to reimburse districts.

Other funding provisions include:

• $87 million for the English Learner cross-subsidy
• $81.7 million for pre-Kindergarten education to preserve classroom seats
• $75 million for a statewide overhaul of literacy education
• $74.4 million for student support personnel aid and workforce development, to attend to students’ mental, behavioral, and physical health needs
• $45.2 million for school library aid
• $37 million for Grow Your Own teacher grants, designed to increase the size and diversity of the teaching workforce
• $30 million to establish a special education teacher pipeline
• $24.3 million for building safety and cybersecurity grants
• $15 million for full-service community school grants
• $9.9 million to cover 35% of the transportation sparsity aid cross-subsidy, up from the current rate of 18.2%
• $2 million to start construction of gender-neutral bathrooms

The bill contains policy changes including:

• Requiring civics and personal finances courses for high school graduation
• Including Holocaust and genocide studies in social studies curriculum
• Prohibiting schools from using Indian symbols or names as mascots, unless all 11 of the state’s tribal nations sign off on an exemption request
• Modifying plans for active shooter drills
• Mandating schools carry menstrual products and opiate antagonists
• Ensuring all school employees receive full pay and benefits on e-learning days
• Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the school calendar
• Adding Indigenous education to the state’s academic standards during the next 10-year review.
• Forbidding higher education institutions from participating in the postsecondary enrollment option program from requiring faith statements of applicants

The bill passed 70-62 in the Minnesota House and 35-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates more than $1.6 billion for environment and natural resources spending including:

• $939 million for the Department of Natural Resources
• $535 million for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• $120.1 million for the Board of Water and Soil Resources.

For the provisions related to energy and climate change, the bill provides $282.3 million from the General Fund and $110.8 million from the Renewable Development Account over the next two years. The Renewable Development Account supports renewable energy projects and is made up of money that Xcel Energy pays to the state for being able to store nuclear waste at its Prairie Island and Monticello nuclear power plants.

Overall, the bill authorizes $667 million in new General Fund spending.

One of the major policy changes in this legislation is the banning of non-essential PFAS chemical use in a variety of products. However, the PFAS prohibition does not apply to “a prosthetic or orthotic device or to any product that is a medical device or drug or that is otherwise used in a medical setting or in medical application regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration.”

The bill includes funding for replanting trees and responding to emerald ash borer (EAB), provisions to address aquatic invasive species (AIS), and a funding package to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Minnesota’s wild and farmed deer populations.

This legislation provides funding for pre-weatherization and workforce training, the Solar for Schools program, and a new Minnesota Climate Finance Authority to fund smaller renewable energy projects. It also includes an electric vehicle rebate program, as well as new grants for electric school buses, heat pumps, and residential electric panels.

This legislation provides $110 million for Minnesota’s outdoor recreation industry to build, repair, and maintain the state’s fish hatcheries, boat ramps and public water accesses, and state park facilities. It also allocates $100 million in climate resiliency grants to help communities prepare for extreme weather events and upgrade aging infrastructure. The legislation also includes funding for the Upper Sioux Agency State Park land transfer and investments in drinking water protection and PFAS response.

The budget also includes the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Natural Resources (LCCMR) recommendations on funding from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) for 81 projects around Minnesota, totaling over $80 million. It also includes reforms to the membership of the LCCMR.

The bill passed 72-57 in the Minnesota House and 35-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $9.34 billion, which includes $1.78 billion in new spending.

Major provisions in the bill include:

• $316.1 million for Great Start compensation support payments
• $100 million for emergency shelter grants
• $42.54 million for childcare stabilization grants transition payments
• $30.72 million for extra funding for the Homeless Youth Act
• $21.18 million for the Healthy Beginnings, Healthy Families program
• $4 million for 988 national suicide prevention lifeline grants

To address health equity challenges, the bill provides $17.25 million for additional funding for existing tribes in the American Indian Child Welfare Initiative and the creation of the Office of African American Health and the Office of American Indian Health.

Additionally, this legislation allows for undocumented individuals living in Minnesota to be eligible to enroll in MinnesotaCare coverage and receive comprehensive healthcare services.

The bill creates the Center for Health Care Affordability, which seeks to increase transparency, as well as identify strategies that help reduce waste and low-value care, eliminate unproductive administrative spending, and enhance the provision of effective, high-value care.

Beginning on January 1 of 2024, this legislation eliminates cost-sharing for medical assistance.

This legislation also creates the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, a new cabinet-level agency that will oversee:

• Childcare and early learning programs
• Child support, safety and permanency, and family focused community programs
• Economic support and food assistance programs
• Youth opportunity and older youth investments

While the bill does not create a public option for healthcare, it does require a public option analysis and implementation plan to be developed with:

• Actuarial and economic analyses for a MinnesotaCare public buy-in implementation plan
• A study examining the benefits and costs of a universal healthcare financing system
• An implementation plan for a direct payment system for medical assistance and MinnesotaCare to start the process of de-privatizing public health care programs

A final recommendation on plan design and steps necessary to receive federal funding is due to the legislature before the 2024 Legislative Session and full implementation is targeted for January 1, 2027.

This legislation also repeals previous statutes relating to abortion restrictions. 

The bill passed 69-64 in the Minnesota House and 34-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $4.16 billion, an increase of $650 million, for higher education in Minnesota.

The bill provides $1.87 billion to the Minnesota State Colleges and University system, $1.51 billion for the University of Minnesota, $384 million to the Office of Higher Education, and $3.6 million to the Mayo Clinic (which includes about $2.27 million for the Mayo Foundation’s family medicine and residency programs).

The legislation provides free college to students with household income under $80,000 (called the North Star Promise Program). This bill also enacts a tuition freeze at Minnesota State for two years and provides $50 million in one-time funding to address structural deficits across the Minnesota State system.

For the University of Minnesota, the budget allocated an additional $100 million over the biennium, and fully funds the University of Minnesota’s systemwide safety and security request of $10 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year, and provides an additional $2 million per year.

Some of the other initiatives at the University of Minnesota that are funded include:

• $10 million for systemwide safety and security
• $10 million for health sciences collaboration with CentraCare
• $4 million for the Natural Resources Resource Institute

The bill allocates $9 million per year in scholarships dedicated to assisting students who are pursuing high-demand jobs, and $13.5 million to purchase the needed equipment to better serve workforce demands. An additional $13.5 million is allocated to expand industry-specific programming.

Additionally, the budget dedicates $3 million every year to the Office of Higher Education for grants to three Tribal Colleges. $1 million to Leech Lake Tribal College, $1 million to White Earth Tribal College, and $1 million to Red Lake Nation Tribal College.

The Office of Higher Education is set to receive:

• $6.5 million in emergency assistance for postsecondary students
• $6 million for a student parent support initiative
• $3.2 million for paramedic scholarships
• $3 million for a Next Generation nursing assistant training program
• $2.3 million for hunger free campus grants

The bill passed 69-62 in the Minnesota House and 34-30 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $1.07 billion for housing, with $950 million of that being one-time money.

The bill’s funding includes:

• $200 million for down payment assistance programs, including $150 million for first-generation down payment assistance.
• $200 million for housing infrastructure investments.
• $95 million for the Economic Development and Housing Challenge Program to support new workforce housing.
• $40 million to support workforce housing and infrastructure in Greater Minnesota.
• $45 million for homelessness prevention

The legislation includes at 0.25% sales tax increase in the seven-county metro area (with food and clothing exempt), which is estimated to raise about $350 million. The funding from this tax will go toward housing assistance initiatives.

The bill passed 70-61 in the Minnesota House and 34-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $14.11 billion to the Department of Human Services, with $1.35 billion in new spending.

Under this legislation, nursing home facilities are expected to receive $847 million over the next four years (after automatic reimbursement rate adjustments). The bill provides a one-time $100 million appropriation to establish a nursing facility loan program, $22.4 million for a 25% rate increase for home care nursing, $1.91 million for critical access nursing facilities, and $680,000 for a nursing facilities rate study.

Other major spending provisions in the bill include:

• $653.7 million for medical assistance
• $122.09 million for elderly waiver increases and consumer-directed community supports parity
• $90 million for long-term workforce incentive grants
• $86.66 million for modifying the inflation adjustments to the disability waiver rate system
• $46.59 million for disability and elderly waiver homemaker rate alignment
• $10.64 million for a rate floor and annual inflation adjustment to intermediate care facilities for persons with developmental disabilities.
• $23.16 million for phase two of the vulnerable adult act redesign
• $18.16 million for safe recovery sites
• $12.1 million for HIV/AIDS support services funding

Numerous rate increases are included – such as home care services, home and community-based services, and certain disability waiver services.

The bill passed 71-61 in the Minnesota House and 35-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $1.37 billion, with $693 million of that going toward the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Major spending provisions include:

• $500 million in the Minnesota Forward Fund - a toolbox that will be used to match federal investments in infrastructure and large-scale economic development projects in existing, new, and emerging industries made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act
• $125.3 million for the PROMISE Act, to help “communities that have been adversely affected by structural racial discrimination, civil unrest, lack of access to capital, loss of population or an aging population, or lack of regional economic diversification.” This funding includes $5 million for northern Minnesota counties economically harmed by the closure of the Canadian border during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• $62.3 million for Explore Minnesota Tourism

Under this legislation, $108.6 million is appropriated to the Department of Labor and Industry to improve workplace safety and make regulatory changes. This includes:

• $30.9 million for the Workers’ Compensation Fund
• $7.5 million for the Bureau of Mediation Services
• $4.3 million for enforcement and worker outreach regarding a statewide mandate of earned sick and safe time benefits
• $5 million for Launch Minnesota
• $2 million for the ergonomics safety programs
• $1.02 million for a newly created Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board
• $1 million for the SciTech Internship Program

Policy changes include:

• Establishing new worker safety requirements in the warehouse industry
• Instituting strengthened wage protections for construction workers
• Updating the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights
• Making nearly all non-compete covenants void and unenforceable
• Banning restrictive franchise agreements
• Modifying the Public Employer Labor Relations Act relating to collective bargaining and unionization rights of public sector employees
• Prohibiting employers from compelling employee attendance at meetings that discuss religious matters, political issues, or arguments against unionization

The bill passed 70-61 in the Minnesota House and 34-33 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $818 million for conservation, clean water, parks & trails, and arts & culture projects and programming across the state. The bill funds habitat restoration, clean water programs across state agencies, parks and trails funding throughout Greater Minnesota and the metro, and museums, educational arts programs, and more.

This bill provides:

• $172 million to restore, protect, and enhance Minnesota’s prairies, forests, wetlands, and wildlife habitats, with projects covering a total of over 121,000 acres of land.
• $318 million in the Clean Water Fund split between state agencies and creates a Minnesota Clean Water Goal to make sure Minnesota water is safe for fishing, swimming, and drinking by 2050.
• $136 million to preserve and protect parks and trails across the state, with a provision ensuring four free public access days a year.
• $192 million dollars in arts, arts education, and arts access to preserve Minnesota’s history and cultural heritage.

This funding is a result of the 2008 election where 56% of participating voters in Minnesota approved the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. The amendment increased the sales tax by three-eighths of one percent and dedicated those funds to protecting and enhancing the state’s outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, arts, and cultural heritage.

The bill passed 101-31 in the Minnesota House and 40-24 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $3.6 billion to fund the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, state courts, civil legal services, Guardian ad Litem Board, Tax Court, Uniform Law Commission, Board on Judicial Standards, Board of Public Defense, Department of Human Rights, and the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board.

Major provisions of the bill include:

• Providing funding to reimburse counties for the costs of sexual assault examination kits, to fill the gap in federal victims of crime act funding, and for the BCA to meet a 90-day goal for forensic evidence exam turnaround times.
• Establishing the Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls to promote the safety and success of Black women and girls through training, advocating for systems change, and ending violence against and trafficking Black women and girls.
• Providing $87.2 million to help ensure evidence-based practices, bring community supervision systems up-to date with needed funding across the three delivery systems, and provide state funding to tribal governments.
• Allocating $70 million for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to provide grants to community-based crime prevention programs. Eligible grantees include organizations that support victims of gun violence, youth support, violence interrupters, homelessness support, neighborhood watch, re-entry programs for incarcerated individuals, and community and faith-based projects.
• Providing over $43 million over four years for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) to combat violent crime statewide. This investment will provide increased funding for BCA lab analysis, analytics supports, and to continue partnerships with local law enforcement.
• Allocating $35 million over two years in juvenile-justice efforts. This includes funding for youth-intervention grants, dual status youth programs, restorative justice grants, increasing the capacity of OJP’s Youth Services Office, establishing a new office at OJP for Restorative Justice, and funding an innovative pilot program in Ramsey County for juvenile home placement and treatment.
• Providing $5 million in fiscal year 24 for the new Intensive Peace Officer Education & Training Program. Local law enforcement agencies will be able to receive grants so they can pay education and training costs, in addition to paying the candidate a salary while they are in training.
• Ensuring incarcerated individuals have access to free phone calls for family and friends.
• Increasing funding to the Department of Human Rights to strengthen its investigative capacity, legal team, settlement monitoring team, and equity and inclusion in state contracting work.

Policy changes in the bill include:

• Requiring a background check for private party transfers of pistols and semiautomatic weapons. A background check is not required for a private transfer of a hunting rifle or between immediate family members. Both parties must retain a copy of the record of the transfer for 10 years.
• Extreme risk protection orders, also known as “red flag laws,” which allow a family member, guardian, city or county attorney, or police chief to intervene when someone is at high risk of injuring themselves or others with a firearm.
• Limiting the use of no-knock warrants. These warrants can only be allowed if either the search cannot be executed while the premises is unoccupied or the occupants in the premises present an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the officers executing the warrant or other persons.
• Prohibiting peace officers from joining or supporting hate or extremist groups.
• Creating a carjacking crime and establishing penalties.
• Prohibiting the state and counties from using private prisons.
• Expanding the crime of assault motivated by bias to include bias against a person due to the person’s gender, gender identity, or gender expression.
• Changing the first-degree possession offense to equate the possession of fentanyl with the possession of heroin.

The bill passed 69-63 in the Minnesota House and 34-33 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $1.53 billion, an increase of $410 million, for state constitutional offices, boards and councils, the Department of Administration, the Department of Revenue, Minnesota Management and Budget, and Minnesota IT Services.

Major provisions in the bill:

• Implementing the salary recommendations from the Compensation Council calling for a 9% increase in 2023 and a 7.5% increase in 2024 for state constitutional officers
• Stipulating that if the Senate does not reject a gubernatorial department head appointment within 60 legislative days of receipt of the appointment, the Senate has consented to the appointment
• Requiring a state agency to perform a financial review of grant and business subsidy recipients when at least $50,000 is to be allotted
• Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day
• Creating the following offices and task forces:
• Office of Enterprise Sustainability
• Office of Enterprise Transitions
• Legislative Task Force on Aging
• Infrastructure Resilience Advisory Task Force
• Working Group on Youth Intervention

This legislation also provides funding to assist local governments with election infrastructure and staffing. New election policies include:

• Adopting National Popular Vote, an interstate compact where states guarantee their electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes
• Requiring the Office of Secretary of State to study issues related to voter engagement, education, and improvements to the election system including Ranked Choice Voting
• Changing the requirement for a political party to attain major party status from receiving 5% of the vote statewide to 8% in a general election, beginning November 7, 2024.
• Extending the deadline for delivery of an absentee ballot from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Election Day.

The bill passed 69-62 in the Minnesota House and 34-31 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation provides $3 billion in tax refunds, aids, and credits for tax years 2023 and 2024. The bill also increases revenue to the state by raising taxes on some multinational corporations and individuals who earn over $1 million in adjusted gross income or take in over $1 million in investment income.

Other provisions in the bill include:

• A child tax credit that would provide $1,750 per child to households making $35,000 per year, gradually phasing out on incomes up to $96,250, depending upon filing status and number of children.
• Direct payments to taxpayers: $260 per filer and dependent, if they make $75,000 or less a year, $150,000 for those married filing jointly.
• Social Security state tax exemption on income for those making $100,000 or less and reduced for those making up to $140,000.
• The Angel Tax Credit, which provides $5 million in tax year 2023 and $5 million in tax year 2024 for a 25% state income tax credit to individuals or investment funds which invest in qualified early-stage businesses. Half of these credits must be allocated for investments in women-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, or Greater Minnesota businesses.
• A renter income tax credit
• One-time public safety aid to local units of government
• A one-time 20.6% increase in property tax refunds for homeowners

The revenue-raising provisions of the bill include:

• Bringing the state into conformity on collecting taxes on Global Intangible Low-Tax Income from multinational companies for income earned overseas at 50% (projected to bring in $430.7 million over the next two years)
• Phasing out the standard/itemized deduction phaseout at 10% for earners over $304,000 and 20% for those over $1 million (projected to bring in $354.3 million over the next two years)
• Reducing the Dividends Received Deduction from 50% to 40% (projected to bring in $128.1 million over the next two years)
• Establishing a Net Investment Income Tax with a 1% tax on incomes above $1 million for individuals, estates, and trust for interest, dividends, annuities, and other gains not derived from trade or business (projected to bring in $86.2 million over the next two years)
• Modifying the Corporate Net Operating Loss from 80% to 70% effective for tax year 2024 (projected to bring in $22.5 million).

This legislation pays off the bonds for the construction of U.S. Bank Stadium and authorizes 36 local units of government to place local option sales tax proposals on their ballots while instituting a two-year moratorium on new referendums for such taxes.

The bill passed 69-63 in the Minnesota House and 34-33 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $7.85 billion to the Department of Transportation and $579.47 million the Department of Public Safety from various funds, including $1.1 billion from the General Fund.

The bill also authorizes $599 million from Trunk Highway bond sales with:

• $200 million for state road construction
• $166.15 million to specified projects
• $145 million for the Corridors of Commerce program

Major spending provisions within the bill include:

• $194.7 million to establish the Northern Lights Express passenger rail between the Twin Cities and Duluth
• $50 million for to extend the Blue Line to northwest Minneapolis suburbs
• $25 million for to reconstruct Rice Street near the Capitol Complex
• $20 million for Highway 5 improvements in Carver County
• $18 million more for local road improvements program
• $18 million more for local bridges
• $10 million for a rail crossing improvements in Moorhead
• $10 million for intersection improvements at Highway 169/109th Avenue in Hennepin County
• $3 million for bus rapid transit along Highway 169 and Highway 55 corridors

This legislation also includes new revenue provisions including:

• Indexing the gas tax to the rate of inflation
• A 0.75% metro-area sales tax for the seven-county metro to fund transit projects
• A $0.50 fee on deliveries costing more than $100 (with exceptions for food, baby products, and medical devices)
• Higher registration and driver’s license fees

The bill passed 69-61 in the Minnesota House and 34-32 in the Minnesota Senate.

This legislation appropriates $378 million from the General fund, an increase of $132 million, to fund the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Military Affairs.

Major spending provisions in the bill include:

• $33.23 million operating adjustment for the Department of Veterans Affairs
• $20.06 million in operational funding for three new veterans homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston that are due to open later this year
• $17.6 million to build an Army Combat Fitness Test Field House in Arden Hills for soldiers to train for tests they must pass to maintain physical readiness
• $15 million for service bonuses to post-9/11 veterans  
• $7 million to increase supportive housing grants for the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
• $3 million enlistment and retention bonuses

This bill passed 131-0 in the Minnesota House and 61-5 in the Minnesota Senate.