Current Legislative Session
View MDLA’s latest report on MN state and senate legislature. If you have questions about the monitoring process or any updates, contact us at info@mdla.org.
February 4, 2022
First Week of Session:
Since convening on Monday, January 31, the Minnesota Legislature has hit the ground running with nearly 40 hearings between the two bodies. The majority of the hearings have been informational and many chairs invited state agencies to present on a range of topics. DEED presented on the state of the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, the Capital Investment Committee heard from seven leaders of State Agencies about the Governor’s bonding recommendations, and numerous committees heard presentations on the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Minnesota Management and Budget walked through the November Economic Forecast and anticipates the February Forecast will be released on Monday, February 28. The February Forecast will establish the final budget numbers used by the Legislature when passing any tax or fiscal legislation. It is not expected that the February Forecast will change the $7.7 billion budget surplus substantially.
Caucuses:
Precinct caucus events took place on Tuesday night. With no DFL challenger to Governor Tim Walz all eyes were on the Republican caucuses and gubernatorial straw poll. Former state Senator Scott Jensen was the clear favorite, winning 38% of the vote. Former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka came in second with 14%. Jensen has raised $1.2 million, more than twice the $546,000 raised by Gazelka.
Online Court Documents Bill:
In March 2021, the state judicial branch launched free online access to district court cases and since then, more than 3 million documents have been downloaded. The Courts released plans to impose a $8 fee per online document obtained, which has generated objections from open records advocates and the media. Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) introduced a bill, HF 3041, to eliminate this fee.
Workers' Compensation Legislation Passes House and Senate:
There was a flurry of activity around Workers’ Compensation legislation, which culminated in passage of the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council (WCAC) bill by both the House and Senate on Thursday, February 3. The DFL-controlled House had fast tracked separate legislation that would have created a new COVID-19 presumption, effective retroactively to January 1, 2022. The previous COVID-19 presumption expired on December 31, 2021. The bill, HF 2656 (Wolgamott—DFL, St. Cloud), passed committee on a party-line vote on the first day of session, and was scheduled to be debated on the House floor on Thursday. Republicans objected to the passage of WC legislation that had not been approved by the WCAC, while Democrats claimed it was necessary to force the WCAC to take quick action to reinstate the lapsed COVID-19 presumption.
The WCAC met on Tuesday, February 1 and passed a recommendation that established a new COVID-19 presumption effective upon passage of the legislation, and included technical changes agreed upon by all parties. The Senate and House both quickly passed the bill with overwhelming bipartisan support. Democrats indicated their desire to pass an additional bill that would fix a so-called “donut hole” caused by the gap between the expired presumption and the new legislation. They argue that any worker who contracted COVID-19 during that period should be covered by WC without having to go through the normal claims process. New legislation will likely be introduced in the next week and the debate over this issue continue.
MDLA tracking list for the 2021-2022 biennium.
Below is the MDLA tracking list of legislation for the 2021-2022 biennium. All bills that were introduced in 2021 and not passed into law or defeated by a vote of either body may be acted upon in 2022. Bills that were on the floor of either body but not acted upon are returned to the last committee that acted upon them. The House has a pre-filing period and introduced the first bills of 2022 on January 24. The Senate does not have a pre-filing period.
|
Senate File |
House File |
Bill Summary |
Committee Status |
|
HF 1203 |
HF 1203 (Wolgamott) |
Extending a COVID-19 workers compensation |
House: Pass House Feb. 3 (124-8) |
|
N/A |
HF 3041 (Robbins) |
Eliminating fees for online district court documents |
House: Refer to Judiciary |
|
SF 2633 |
HF 2656 (Wolgamott) |
Creating a COVID-19 presumption for Workers’ Comp claims effective January 1, 2022. |
House: Pass Labor/Industry on Jan. 31. On General Register. |
|
N/A |
HF 2801 (Lucero) |
Prohibiting employers from requiring or incentivizing public display of medical information |
House: Refer to Labor/Industry |
|
N/A |
HF 2774 (Greenman) |
Establishing worker safety requirements |
House: Refer to Labor/Industry |
|
N/A |
HF 2759 (Munson) |
Providing a cause of action for employees for injuries caused by the COVID-19 vaccine |
House: Refer to Judiciary Senate: N/A |
|
N/A |
HF 2739 (Becker-Finn) |
Appropriations for civil legal services |
House: Refer to Judiciary |
|
N/A |
HF 2724 (Frazier) |
House DFL Criminal justice bill |
House: Refer to Public Safety |
|
SF 2721 |
HF 2711 (Wazlawik) |
Amending and adding provisions related to dispute resolution for common interest communities |
House: Refer to Commerce |
|
Bills Introduced in 2021: The status of these bills will be updated when the Legislature convenes and returns the bills to the appropriate committees. |
|||
|
745 |
1198 |
COVID-19 Liability protection: general |
House: Refer to Civil Law |
|
757 |
600 |
Cannabis legalization |
House: Pass House 72-61 |
|
1025 (Mathews) |
803 |
Prohibiting indemnification agreements in construction contracts under certain circumstances |
House: Pass Labor & Refer to Civil Law |
|
719 |
2 |
Workers Comp: Creating a presumption for certain teachers who contract COVID in the course of employment (Bill includes non-WC provisions) |
House: Refer to Labor |
|
105 |
37 |
Workers Comp: Creating a presumption of eligibility for school employees who contracted COVID |
House: Refer to Labor |
|
1035 (Clausen) |
1730 (Youakim) |
Workers Comp: Creating a presumption of occupational disease for certain firefighters who contract cancer |
House: Refer to Labor |
|
29 |
7 |
Employment: Statewide implementation of Earned Safe & Sick Time’ |
House: Pass House 69-63 (3/25) |
|
841 (Champion) |
39 |
Employment: Rehiring and retention protections for workers laid-off during COVID emergency |
House: Pass House 70-61 (3/25). |
|
171 (Champion) |
403 |
Employment: Employers prohibited from inquiring about past pay |
House: Pass House 80-51 (3/25) |
|
1205 |
1200 (Richardson) |
Employment: Paid Family Leave Act |
House: Heard March 24 in Workforce Finance and laid over for possible inclusion. |
|
512 |
571 (Morrisson) |
COVID-19 liability protection: health care facilities |
House: Referred to Rules |
|
712 |
367 |
Requiring state agencies to pay disbursements to prevailing defendants in civil actions |
House: Referred to Civil Law |
|
N/A |
688 |
COVID-19 Liability protection: general |
House: Referred to Civil Law |
|
2230 (Pappas) |
972 |
Court interpreter pay and reimbursement increased |
House: Heard in Civil Law and laid over for possible inclusion in omnibus bill |
|
2292 (Isaacson) |
2257 (Becker-Finn) |
Changing disposition of fines and fees in Ramsey County District Court |
House: Heard in State Gov’t Finance |
|
N/A |
355 (Mathews) |
Creating liability and vicarious liability for critical infrastructure trespass |
House: N/A |
|
N/A |
573 (Mortenson) |
Immunity for certain violations of Executive Orders |
House: Refer to Commerce |
|
1290 (Dziedzic) |
450 (Richardson) |
Providing for a right to counsel in certain public housing eviction actions |
House: Pass Housing & Refer to Civil Law |
|
N/A |
929 |
Reducing statutory pre-judgment interest rate |
House: Refer to Civil Law |
|
N/A |
930 |
Reducing the statute of limitations from six to four years |
House: Refer to Civil Law |
|
N/A |
1116 (Mekeland) |
Holding businesses harmless from fines, fees, and penalties for 12 months following expiration of peacetime emergency order |
House: Refer to Commerce |
|
1133 (Ingebrigtsen) |
1474 (Franson) |
Voiding fines and penalties for violations of COVID-19 peacetime emergency orders |
House: Refer to Public Safety |
|
2290 (Isaacson) |
2133 |
Providing health insurance for certain education employees; creating private right of action for violating anti-retaliation provision |
House: Refer to Education Finance |