What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
The Minnesota Department of Management and Budget (MMB) prepares formal forecasts of state revenues and expenditures in November and February each year, which policymakers use to set the...more
COVID-19 defined the 2021 regular session of the Minnesota Legislature. When it convened on January 5, 2021, the Legislature had been meeting in special session monthly since June 2020 to consider terminating Governor Walz’s...more
The start of the legislative session is right around the corner. The House and Senate will convene on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. The Senate DFL elected Sen. Susan Kent (DFL-Woodbury) as their new minority leader on February...more
The 91st biennial session of the Minnesota Legislature convened on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, with a newly elected DFL Governor, former Congressman Tim Walz, and the only divided Legislature in the nation. The DFL also...more
5/31/2019
/ GILTI tax ,
Health Care Providers ,
Opioid ,
Paid Leave ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Preemption ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Sales Tax ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
The end of the legislative session looms with a little over two weeks for the Minnesota Legislature to pass the state’s biennial budget. Wednesday marked the first of three leadership-imposed deadlines aimed at keeping the...more
Lawmakers returned from the Easter/Passover Break on Tuesday and immediately got to work moving omnibus finance bills off the House and Senate floor and into conference committees. Several omnibus bills were passed off the...more
This week marked the third and final committee deadline for the Minnesota Legislature, requiring committees in both the DFL-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate to act on major finance and appropriation bills....more
This week, House finance committees unveiled and passed DFL proposals to fund state government over the next biennium. Because of the lack of movement in the Senate on key House policy priorities, finance bills also became...more
The unveiling of Governor Walz’s biennial budget dominated conversations at the Minnesota Legislature this week. Governor Walz’s first budget contains significant tax and spending proposals that were cautiously embraced by...more
With the first week of February over, legislative committees continued to hear and process bills. To date both bodies of the Legislature have introduced nearly 1,000 bills. On Thursday, the House passed House Concurrent...more
The Minnesota Legislature has moved into full swing, as a number of Senate and House committees have started hearing bills this week. Legislators also continue informational hearings to familiarize themselves with state...more
On Tuesday, January 8, the Minnesota Legislature reconvenes for its 91st biennial session. There is hope for a fresh start after last year’s contentious session where the House Republican majority clashed frequently with...more
When the Minnesota Legislature convened in February, the state had just announced a modest budget surplus. Lawmakers and Governor Mark Dayton were optimistic that they could reach agreement on a capital investment bill, a tax...more
5/29/2018
/ Budget Surplus ,
Constitutional Amendment ,
Governor Dayton ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pension Reform ,
Sales Tax ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform
With three weeks left of session, lawmakers have picked up the pace to get their work done. On Thursday, the Senate passed their supplemental budget bill off the Senate Floor and the House passed the education portion of...more
The Minnesota House and Senate spent most of this week moving omnibus finance bills through committee. Committees held day and evening meetings to allow time for public testimony and amendments and to ensure that the third...more
The Capitol building is quiet today as legislators begin their 10-day recess after working around the clock to meet the second committee deadline (March 29), which required that all policy bills be passed out of committees...more
The Legislature wrapped up the fourth week of a 13-week session. With one week until the first committee deadline, committees in both bodies have kept busy hearing policy bills, often into the evening. Bill introductions in...more
The 2018 Legislative Session kicked off last week on February 20 with the swearing in of one new member in the Senate, Karla Bigham (DFL, Cottage Grove), and one new member in the House, Jeremy Munson (R, Lake Crystal). The...more
The 2018 Legislative Session begins next week, on Tuesday, February 20. If the interim was any indication, this session is likely to be challenging and fraught with controversy.
At the end of last session, Governor Mark...more
On Tuesday, December 5, the office of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released the November Budget and Economic Forecast. Based on the forecast, the state is facing a projected budget deficit of $188 million for the...more
Following the adjournment of the 2017 regular session and a short special session, the Legislature passed and presented to Governor Dayton a comprehensive and balanced budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, including nine...more