Capitol Letter for April 25

Please Join Us in the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda on April 28 at 2 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Stand up for healthy communities

LWVMN will host a Lobby Day at the State Capitol to draw attention to how Minnesota is being affected by the loss of federal funding, and to advocate with State Legislators as they deliberate on our State Budget.

The event will include MN Department of Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham and Representative Danny Nadeau (R) to discuss the impact of Medicaid funding for Minnesotans. We will also hear from community members, advocates and state leaders on access to clean air and water, food and farms, civic engagement and voting rights. Finally, we will take action using our Lobby Day Toolkit, pre-formatted notes to Legislators on priority issues, and meeting fellow leaders.

There will also be advocacy tables represented by LWVMN members and partner organizations, and signs will be provided. Can’t make it? A recording will be posted to our YouTube page and shared next week. The full list of speakers, information on the topics covered and actions recommended can be found on our Lobby Day webpage.

We hope you can join us as we stand up for a healthy democracy by supporting access to healthy communities - and continue to build a strong legacy for ALL Minnesotans!

Learn more here

Elections Bill Updates

LWVMN Redistricting & Elections Policy Coordinator Paul Huffman
The House Ways and Means Committee met on Wednesday, April 23 to hear the Omnibus State Government Finance bill (HF 2783) and the Omnibus Elections Budget Bill (HF 1943). The State Government Finance Bill includes most of the budget for the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS). While there was some discussion about the State Government Finance bill, none of it was related to OSS. The OSS budget in the Finance Omnibus is $662,000 less than the requested OSS base budget increase $1.762M (about 1/3). The OSS base budget includes items such as the Safe at Home Program, and some elections support including support for counties, and recording and retrieval of documents. The Omnibus State Government Finance bill was laid over rather than being referred to the General Register (ready for a floor vote) because the House Elections Omnibus had not yet been incorporated into the State Government Finance Omnibus.
The House Elections Omnibus bill (HF 1943) was on the agenda for the Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday, however it was moved to the Thursday, April 24, House Ways and Means Committee meeting due to introduction of an amendment to include House Elections Policy items (HF 1378 and other items) in the House Elections Finance Omnibus. Doing this would bring the house Elections Finance and Policy bills into a single bill, which would be consistent with the Senate.
The House Ways and Means committee meeting on Thursday, April 24 considered the House Elections Finance Omnibus (HF 1953) and an author’s amendment presented by Co-Chairs Freiberg and Quam.
The amendment to HF 1493 combines several other bills or portions of bills:
- All of the existing House Election Policy Omnibus (HF1378) previously heard by the House Elections and Local Government Committee;
- HF 2709 requiring a 24 hour notice for candidates and census workers for multifamily housing and limiting hours to 10AM - 8PM;
- HF 1840 (Altendorf) which requires that the residence of a person civilly committed to a treatment facility as a "sexually psychopathic personality or a sexually dangerous person" is considered to be their last legal residence before being committed;
- HF 2073 (Freiberg) language regarding election judge appointment lists; this has been slightly modified from the bill for inclusion in HF 1943;
- HF 990 (McDonald) language to prohibit nonprofits receiving state funding from making campaign contributions;
- HF 1800 (Quam) requirement for the Secretary of State to establish an Election Judge "advice line"; This item could be a concern to local election officials and the OSS as election judges work for and report to the counties, and each county has its own administrative processes.
There was some discussion about the Minnesota MultiHousing Association (MHA) concerns with the 24 hour notice for candidate and Census Worker visits. Chair Freiberg could not address very well except to note the issue for candidates. I spoke to Chair Freiberg after the hearing to remind him of the impact on census and undercounting of people in multi-family housing if census enumerators were unable to enter those housing areas to complete the census.
Those items in the amendment which were not in the existing Elections Policy Omnibus are not in the Senate State and Local Government Omnibus (SF 3045) and will have to be addressed by the Conference Committee. The Author's amendment to HF 1943 (House Elections Finance Omnibus) was approved and that bill was laid over.
The House Ways and Means Committee will meet on Monday, August 28 to hear the Omnibus State Government Finance Bill (HF 2783), which will include amending that bill with the House Elections Omnibus (HF 1943). The amended HF 2783 will then be substantially the same as the Senate State and Local Gov and Elections Policy Omnibus (SF 3045).

Additional State News Coverage

House News Week in Review April 21-25
- House speaker sees sticking points in budget negotiations, remains optimistic
  - Press Conference: Budget Negotiations Media Availability - 04/10/25

House OKs $172 million 'people-focused' agriculture finance bill

Minnesota lawmakers return for the last leg of session. Here’s what to watch (MPR News)
The Minnesota Legislature has 99 problems. The split House might not be one (MinnPost)
MN Senate energy bill could dial back landmark climate policies (Minnesota Reformer)

“This bill is a betrayal of Minnesota’s climate promises” and the product of “backroom deals (that) are handing our future to polluters,” said Steve Morse, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership.
LWVMN Signed on to MEP’s Opposition Letter on SF2393