Capitol Letter for April 11

Us House passes save act on a 220-208 vote

The US House passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act on April 10, which, if passed by the US Senate, would require citizenship documentation to register to vote in federal elections. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon released the following statement saying, “The SAVE Act would cause unprecedented chaos in the U.S. election system – preventing millions of Americans from voting, slowing or stopping work in elections offices, and threatening election workers with criminal prosecution.”

A study from a Univ. of St. Thomas professor found that out of more than 13 million votes cast in Minnesota during a 10 year period, only three were cast by non-citizens. Moreover, voters found ineligible in Minnesota face serious penalties, including 5 years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, and deportation. Michelle Witte, LWVMN Executive Director, spoke about the dangers of the the SAVE Act, especially to married women, in a KSTP/Associated Press story.

More talking points and actions to prevent the passage of this bill that would disenfranchise tens of millions of voters can be found on our Take Action webpage.

Join Us at the MN Capitol on 4/28!

A healthy democracy is fueled by healthy communities, and active participation from its citizens. As the MN Legislature considers where to direct state funding, our LWVMN Lobby Day will bring together Minnesotans of all backgrounds to share our desire for healthy, strong, informed and civically active communities, where everyone belongs. We will hear from community members, advocates, and state leaders on important issues that are affecting families, learn how federal and state funding work together to support essential services, and take action with our elected officials. Let’s stand up for a healthy democracy by supporting access to healthy communities along with access to our constitutional voting rights, and continue to build a strong legacy for ALL Minnesotans. Learn more and RSVP here!

Copyright Minnesota House of Representatives

Observer Reports from the State Capitol

LWVMN Observer & Lobby Corps Member Cathy Thom
HF2445 (Igo) Housing Finance Budget Bill - Non-Partisan House Research Department & House Fiscal Staff Walkthrough of Budget Bill DE and Spreadsheet & Public Testimony.
Rep. Igo commented on the excellent bipartisan work that had been done by the committee, with rare necessity for roll call votes there was so much consensus on what needed to be and could be done within this biennium's budget target.
STAFF TESTIMONY: House fiscal and research analysts walked through the DE bill, which includes totals of $158,698,000 in 2026 and $83,248,000 in 2027. The DE includes several one-time appropriations for various types of affordable housing development, although some housing funds have additional smaller ongoing funding. There are also a few programs that received one-time funding in 2024-2025 biennium budget that will not be renewed or extended. It is worth noting that well over 30% of funding is for rental assistance programs, and that over 60% of the bill appropriation is for current affordable housing retention and rehabilitation. Housing infrastructure bonds make up a large part of the funding ($100 million) and will help to rehab existing and develop new affordable housing units. Jennifer Leimalle Ho - MN Housing Commissioner - Praised the bill and highlighted that much of it will be under the jurisdiction of the MN Housing Commission to oversee.
TESTIFIERS: Libby Murphy - Minnesota Partnership - Ms. Murphy testified in support of many aspects of the bill, emphasizing that investments in affordable housing infrastructure and rental/mortgage assistance goes a long way towards homelessness prevention.
Greta Gaetz - Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity & Jeru Gobeze - Habitat for Humanity of MN - Both praised the Challenge grants as well as other homeownership assistance funding and special mortgage products tailored to lower income prospective homeowners, particularly those who lack a sufficient down payment. She urged more for these types of programs in the future.
Roxanne Young Kimball - MN Homeownership Center - Testified in support of the bill. She praised the bill's extensive investments in programs and funding that promote, enable, and expand homeownership and homeowner retention of the homes that they buy in the face of disaster or income loss. She particularly singled out the First Generation Down Payment Assistance Program.
Victoria Clark-West - North Country Cooperative Foundation - This organization has a focus on manufactured homeownership. Ms. Clark-West praised the bill's funding for programs that help manufactured home residents purchase their homes, the lots upon which they sit, or residents to join cooperatively to buy their entire park. It also assists current park owners to make improvements. She stated that in the future it would be good to see more down payment assistance for manufactured home and park purchases be made available.
Eric Hauge - HOME Line - Received $500,000 in one time funding. They advise residents as they navigate rental issues they may encounter, from threat of eviction, inability to pay rent, obtaining necessary repairs to their units by landlords, etc.
Dr. Charvez Russell - Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church - As a leader of a church in a high poverty area, he praised the bill's assistance that will help families within his community, especially the inclusion of people from the communities most in need of affordable housing infrastructure in regard to how services, housing rehab, and new housing development is implemented within their own communities.
There was no member discussion nor a vote, as that is scheduled to happen at the following committee meeting (below).
LWVUS position on Housing Supply (over 1 full page) states: "Government at all levels must make available sufficient funds for housing-assistance programs. When families or individuals cannot afford decent housing, government should provide assistance in the form of income and/or subsidized housing."
LWVMN Observer & Lobby Corps Member Cathy Thom
HF2445 (Igo) - At this meeting, members discussed, marked up, and voted on this bill, which serves as the MN House Housing Finance omnibus bill. An A4 Amendment was introduced which would create a scoring system that would prioritize the awarding of housing development grants based on how well the community has adopted pro-housing policies, particularly rules which increase higher density housing options. It is meant to provide incentives for communities to adopt such policies at their own pace, without state coercion. A similar A5 Amendment was withdrawn that was limited to incentives just for communities in greater Minnesota. Rep Igo accepted the A4 Amendment as a friendly amendment, and it passed by a unanimous voice vote.
MEMBER DISCUSSION: Rep. Matt Norris (DFL) - Blaine - Thanked Rep. Igo for putting together a bill, particularly for including many things that will help manufactured housing. He mentioned that in the future it would be nice to have more assistance to help manufactured home park residents to purchase their parks as cooperatives.
Rep. Wayne Johnson (R) - Echoed the sentiments of Rep. Norris regarding manufactured home parks. He stated that manufactured housing is one of the best affordable housing options for many Minnesota residents.
Rep. Jim Nash (R) - Waconia - Expressed support for the bill, saying that "it's about damn time" that this problem finally is getting addressed, even though it's not enough, this is a good start. He especially praised its initiatives for greater Minnesota and exurban areas, as well as the "creativity" of the A4 Amendment's incentives for communities to adopt pro-housing policies voluntarily.
Rep. Jeff Dotseth (R) - Kettle River - Praised the bipartisan, collaborative work to put together a good, helpful bill that everyone can support.
Rep. Roger J. Skraba (R) - He likes that incentives in the A4 amendment are a good way for smaller communities to expand their options without feeling coerced by the state.
Rep. Samakab Hussein (DFL) - Wished that the budget target had been larger, but thanked the committee for working together to do the most with what they had to work with.
Rep. Esther Agbaje (DFL) - Minneapolis - Praised the bill for displaying an understanding of the needs across the entire state. She also praised the acknowledgement of the fundamental nature of housing to the lives and success of all Minnesotans. She echoed Rep. Nash that more needs to be done.
Rep. Kozlowski (DFL) - Stated that his helps, even with a limited budget, to "supercharge" housing development - "doing a lot with less." Rep. Kozlowski especially praised the investments towards homelessness prevention, saying "we can pay now, or pay more later." Said that how we do this is as important as what we do - praised the openness to cooperative housing options.
Rep. Michael Howard - Committee Co-Chair (DFL) - Thanked Co-Chair Igo for the good bipartisan work, the members of the committee, and the partisan and nonpartisan staff for their hard and successful work on the bill. He said that there is an entire generation of Minnesotans growing up wondering if homeownership will ever be an option for them. The housing gap is severe now, rents are rising, and things will only get worse if we don't begin to address them, and this bill is a good start.
Rep. Spencer Igo (R) - Had nothing but praise for the committee's work, and the cooperation of the bipartisan Co-Chairs. He said that their committee set the standard for how a tied legislature's committees should work. He said that although the work is not done, the bill as amended today is a good start towards making housing more affordable to all Minnesotans and help Minnesota to "take off" as an attractive place for people to "plant their roots."
The bill passed to be re-referred to Ways and Means by a unanimous voice vote.
Additional Coverage from MN Reformer
LWVUS position on Housing Supply (over 1 full page) states: "Government at all levels must make available sufficient funds for housing-assistance programs. When families or individuals cannot afford decent housing, government should provide assistance in the form of income and/or subsidized housing."
LWVMN Observer & Lobby Corps Member Amy Caucutt
Sen. Rest's SF3197, and A-2 amendment with changes proposed by the MN Chamber of Commerce, called "Social Media Gross Receipts Tax" was the only bill heard. She asked committee members to separate their thoughts between whether or not raising any taxes is good or bad, and whether this method of raising taxes should be looked at as a way to modernize our revenue system. This bill provides for a tax on media platforms, not businesses or individuals that use social media, for the platform's mining of data. MN could be the model. Consumer economy is no longer hard goods, but services, which are harder to tax, but which many who own them are making millions and should be contributing to the common good thru taxation. The bill provides for 3 tiers of taxation, which will be run by the Dept. of Revenue similarly to the current sales and use tax. Records are kept by the businesses and Dept. of Revenue finds this would apply to 14 platforms (see bill summary and dept. analysis). The tiers are: $0 tax if fewer than 100,000 Minnesota consumers; $.10/month x number of consumers up to 500,000; $40,000 + $.25 x number of consumers/month up to 1,000,000; $165,000 + $.50 x number of consumers/month. The Department finds that this revenue source would generate $100M/year when it is up and running.
Opponents testifying included MN Broadcasting Association (fearful that members would be caught up in this), a tech industry group, Americans for Digital Opportunity and Association of National Advertisers. Two of these people called out their friendship with Sen. Rest. Supporters included We Make MN, Isaiah, CCX Media, and MAPE testifying on the need for more funding options to back the coming Federal cuts. Also testifying was Prof. Shansky from UC Davis who said there are 3 ways to look at this proposal: "extraction of value should be taxed", moderate "sin tax" (impact of social media addiction on children), and a "backup tax" on a very profitable modern industry that has proven hard to tax. He noted he sees no problem with federal internet tax freedom act of 1998 and 2016 because it does no competitive harm. He urged the committee not to give up on this novel approach.
To summarize DFL Senators' reaction: Compelling, the world we live in now, should have done this 5 years ago, we have been taken advantage of, we can work out the details, this is a fight worth having to provide for core services, we tax things that can harm us, we tax other mining operations in MN, a person can make more money building an algorithm than a factory, tax policy is about values, the big tobacco fight of our generation, top .1%> than bottom 90%.
Republican response fell into 2 categories: Sen. Nelson and Miller worried that it wouldn't work, and we would hang our budget on a tax that could not be collected or was stopped by courts. Drazkowski and Weber thought this method would be an excuse for DFL to spend "wildly' like they did in 2023 "leading to the $6B deficit. They also suggested that we stop worrying about federal actions until they materialize.
Sen Dibble said he needed to respond to the GOP "talking points" of the 2023 session with "record setting tax relief of $3B, $4B put in reserves, $4B left on bottom line, catch up from "the underfunding of the Pawlenty years", and $18B in one-time capital project". He then contrasted that work with the chaotic early days of the current federal administration.
Sen. Rest graciously thanked the committee for a "vigorous discussion" noting she learned more from her opponents than her supporters. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the 2025 Tax bill.
LWVMN Observer & Lobby Corps Member Amy Caucutt
HF3117 (Gomez) - Social Media Gross Receipts Tax bill. This is a companion to Sen Rest's SF3197 heard the same day and described above. The same groups testified for and against with the exception of Prof Shansky who was not available. An interesting quote from Pastor Julie Thompson who also testified in favor was a quote from Proverbs: "The greedy stir up conflict".
The tenor of the committee debate centered on this being a 'sin tax' to both protect our children from addiction to social media and to tax things that hurt us like cannabis, alcohol and tobacco (DFL points). Republican points were parents should just say no, and there is no connection between the problem and the tax since it goes to the general fund. Rep Stephenson replied that the problem is not parents saying no to the modern world, but that social media is a bigger and bigger part of our economy which is demanding NO regulation. We are being "monetized."
The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the 2025 tax bill. Rep. Gomez quipped that "all the best dressed lobbyists just left the room", as this bill finished, hinting at the depth of the opposition at least in monetary terms.
LWVMN Elections and Redistricting Policy Coordinator Paul Huffman
The only bill heard in this hearing was HF 1943, House Elections Finance and Government Operations Finance Bill. The chief author is DFL committee Co-Chair Mike Freiberg. The author presented a delete everything (DE) amendment to existing HF 1943 (Transfer of funds to the state HAVA account) to encompass the transfer of funds to the state HAVA account and to provide 2026 – 2027 funding for the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (CFPB). The hearing was chaired by DFL co-Vice Chair Lee as the DFL Co-Chair, Mike Freiberg, was presenting the bill.
For HAVA funding, due to a statutory change during the 2024 legislative session, legislative authorization is not required to accept HAVA funds from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which are appropriated by Congress. HAVA funds are provided by the EAC with a requirement that the state provide some amount of matching funds. The bill authorizes the $200,000 state match to the federal grant. The budget for CFPB was increased by $79,000 over the biennium. The spreadsheet for the budget Fiscal Analysis and detail were each one page, with only these two items. The budget for the Office of the Secretary of State will be included in the State Government Finance Omnibus.
Chair Freiberg stated that in order to facilitate approval of the committee budget several policy issues were agreed to be included in the bill as amendments when it is heard in the Ways and Means committee. There was no discussion of the specific policy issues which will be added in Ways and Means. (It will be important to monitor the House Ways and Means Committee hearing schedule to see what amendments are offered to the bill.) There was no testimony and no discussion by committee members. The committee budget was referred to Ways and Means by a unanimous voice vote. The committee meeting lasted about six minutes.
LWVMN Elections and Redistricting Policy Coordinator Paul Huffman
The only bill heard in this hearing was SF 3096 which is the bill carrying the Senate Elections budget omnibus. The bill author is Sen Westlin as the committee Vice Chair. The Chair for the hearing was Sen Marty in the absence of Chair Carlson (participating remotely with a positive COVID test). The budgeted amounts for Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (CFPB) and the state Help America Vote Act (HAVA) account are the same as the House Elections and Government Operations Budget Omnibus.
The bill differs from the House Finance bill in the following:
- The Senate Elections budget includes income of about $15M in 2028 by shifting the cost of the presidential primary to the political parties. If a party did not pay for their 2029 presidential primary by October 1, 2027, the party would not be able to participate in the presidential primary. The presidential primaries were originally expected to cost around $3M however have been much more expensive than expected.
- The Senate Elections budget provides an additional $500,000 for litigation expenses for the case against the state in Minnesota Chamber of Commerce v Choi. This lawsuit challenges the law passed in the 2023 session prohibiting corporations with foreign ownership.
- Provides $260K to support voter outreach in low voter turnout counties;
- Reduction of spending for 2026 of $2.1M based on double counting in the previous budget;
- Includes transition expenses for state-wide offices (Secretary of State, State Auditor, and Attorney General). This will likely be in the House State Government bill.
The Senate Elections Omnibus was amended (A-6) to include the following significant policy issues previously heard by the committee from the Policy Omnibus bill SF 2384:
- Makes it a felony to offer money or other items of value to voters in exchange for registering to vote or signing a petition directly related to an election;
- Defines requirements for daily balancing of early voting locations and responsibilities of Absentee Ballot Board members in processing of absentee ballots to ensure all ballots are removed from signature and ballot envelopes; (This is the Scott County issue);
- Creates chain of custody requirements for physical and cybersecurity election materials;
- Modifies election judge selection to require first exhausting the list of potential election judges submitted by the political parties before appointing election judges not submitted by the political parties;
- Clarifies that party balance for election judges is not required for non-partisan local elections;
- Includes changes to the definition of “lobbyist” and “expert witnesses recommended by the CFPB;
- Requires the CFPB to create a Lobbyist Handbook (CFPB will develop this within their existing budget);
- Changes definitions of independent expenditures and coordinated expenditures to include online and digital media as well as print and broadcast media, in recognition of the significant role digital media plays in campaigning;
- Prohibits employers from taking action against employees when they become candidates for public office;
- Sets a limit of 7 days before an election for submitting an absentee ballot application online;
The budget amendment included the proposal to shift the cost of the presidential primary to the political parties. Sen Koran (minority lead) said that he supported everything in the amendment except the proposal to pass the cost of the presidential primaries to the political parties. The amendment passed on a party line vote (6-5).
The A-6 Amendment was moved to include the policy issues within the budget omnibus. There was no discussion and no amendments proposed. The amendment was approved in a party line vote. (6-5)
Sen Koran noted that it was positive that there was more conversation and participation by his party in the bill, and that there was more inclusion of Republican proposals in the bill. The bill was moved to be referred to the Finance Committee on a party line vote of 6-5.
LWVMN Observer & Lobby Corps Member Cathy Thom
This committee meeting focuses on the House 54A election contest, where 20 absentee ballots were accidentally discarded in a race where the margin of victory for DFL Rep. Brad Tabke was only 14 votes.
TESTIFIERS: According to petitioner Rep. Harry Niska (R), the testimony of the disenfranchised voters alone should not have been enough to substitute for the actual cast ballots, and he petitioned that the MN House should thus call a special election in order to "re-enfranchise" the 20 voters who were "disenfranchised" by having their ballots discarded. He cited a previous case (Pennington v. Hare) where voters were not allowed by election judges to vote even though they were eligible as precedent for calling a special election to determine who should win the seat.
David Zoll - Lockridge Grindall Law Firm - Representing respondent Rep. Brad Tabke. Testified that the failure to count the 20 ballots did not affect the outcome of the election, and the MN courts made that determination. He reiterated that the voters' sworn testimony about how they cast their ballots should indeed be trusted. They did vote - and 12 of them were able to express how they marked their ballots. They were not told they had to testify to have their votes counted - they did so voluntarily, and they did not add any votes to Brad Tabke or his opponent - their testimony only proved to the court that the math could not possibly have worked to change the result of the election. He stated that testimony from election judges involved in the process showed how it could be determined who these 20 voters were, and 12 of them agreed to testify as to how they cast their ballots - enough to prove the validity of the outcome. The judge in the case determined all testimony to be credible, honest, and fair, and ruled that Rep. Brad Tabke was the "duly elected" representative for the HD54A seat, and that no further action be taken in regard to this election by this committee.
MEMBER DISCUSSION: Rep. Andrew Myers (R - Tonka Bay) - Stated that he had concerns about the precedent it would set in regard to voter privacy if people are placed in a position to have to testify in open court about their votes in closely contested elections.
Rep. Ginny Klevorn (DFL - Plymouth) - Emphasized how the testimony and resulting math was used and that the testimony was voluntary. She asked Rep. Niska why he believes that their testimony should be ruled unreliable legal evidence and thus not admissible in court. He again cited Pennington, where both Mr. Zoll and Rep. Klevorn involved votes that were never actually cast. Rep. Klevorn pointed out that even in Pennington, the decision stated that even if cast ballots are not clearly marked, the voter can express their intent as reliable legal evidence. In this case, ballots were actually cast, but could not be read. She asked why Rep. Niska would say their testimony should be tossed after the fact. Rep. Niska contended that although the court determined that the list of 20 voters was valid, this was seriously questioned.
Rep. Myers asked Mr Zoll if the MN legislature has the ultimate authority to seat its own members. Mr. Zoll replied yes but added that the legislature is bound by its own rules in regard to what is a qualified election result. Rep. Myers asked if in his view Mr. Zoll felt that the process for certification by local canvassing boards should be changed to help prevent future incidents like this. Mr. Zoll replied no - and that the courts have a process for resolving these issues, which happened in this case. Rep. Myers pointed out that we can put local election officials in a "tough spot," and asked why an official from Shakopee left their position after the election. Mr. Zoll said he did not know, and that there is no information within the court record regarding it, either.
Rep. Davids stated that he is happy that it is on the record that Rep. Tabke did nothing wrong, but he said that he still has issues with accepting voter testimony in place of the ballots themselves.
Rep. Kelly Moller, who chaired the committee, asked Mr. Zoll if there was any objections brought by the contestant in court to the voter testimony, or if the contestant raised the Pennington case in court during the actual case. Mr. Zoll replied no. Rep. Moller then reviewed the proceedings for the voter testimony and the court's commentary in regard to all of it.
Rep. Myers said that there is still "a lot of unanswered questions and 20 missing ballots - more than the winning margin." He brought up again that the Shakopee elections clerk left the city's employment right after the election, and the concerns about voter privacy.
Rep. Moller - pointed out that the MN House election rules state that the court should lead the proceedings and the findings of fact, which was done in this case. There was no effort to cross-examine voters by the contestant. She also said that the petitioner is not disputing any of the findings of fact, but instead disputing after the fact certain evidence and testimony that were not successfully disputed, if disputed at all, by the contestant in actual court. Because of this, she ruled that the petitioner Rep. Niska had not met the burden of proof necessary to grant his petition.
Rep. Davids made a motion to recommend that the House reject the election returns and declare House Seat 54A vacant. The motion failed via a 2-2 tie roll call vote.
Rep. Klevorn made a motion that the House take no more action in regard the election returns for House District 54A. The motion passed via a unanimous roll call vote. The meeting was adjourned.