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From: MMBA Lobbyist Sarah J. Psick
The House and Senate spent most of the time this past week on the Floor of each body passing bills and conference committee reports. Leading up to this week, there was some speculation that the Legislature would finish their work and adjourn sine die.
However, at the end of the day on Thursday, there was no motion for adjournment sine die. As the Legislature heads into a break for the Easter and Passover holidays, they will be back to continue working on Monday, April 16.
Omnibus Liquor Bill: The Omnibus Liquor bill, SF 2392, was sent to a conference to work out the differences between the two bills. The conference committee will likely meet when the legislature returns after April 16. The members of the conference committee are:
Senate: Gerlach, Michel, Hall, Howe and Reinert
House: Atkins, S. Anderson, Hoppe, Sanders and Lillie
University of Minnesota Regents: On Wednesday, the House and Senate met in a Joint Legislative Session for the purpose of electing a person to serve on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. The vacancy on the Board was created by the resignation of former Speaker and Regent Steve Sviggum.
After Mr. Sviggum accepted a job within the Senate Republican caucus, it was determined that the job was a conflict with serving as a member of the Board of Regents. The Joint Legislative Session elected Mr. Thomas Devine, insurance executive and university volunteer from Chanhassen, to serve on the Board of Regents.
Bills Signed and Vetoed: Several high profile bills were sent to Governor Dayton this week and were either signed or vetoed.
K-12 Education Finance Shift Repayment: Governor Dayton vetoed a bill which would have repaid funds that were held back from K-12 education funding as part of the budget solution to end the government shutdown last summer. The House and Senate passed a bill to use $430 million of the state's budget reserve to pay back a portion of the shift.
Governor Dayton's veto letter stated that he supports repaying the K-12 shift, but prefers to fund the repayment by closing corporate tax loopholes and not using the budget reserve.
Jacobs Law: Governor Dayton signed "Jacobs Law", a bill that modifies parental notification requirements in cases where a child is the victim of abuse. The bill specifies that both parents must be notified.
The bill stems from a case where a young boy, Jacob, was a victim of sexual assault and law enforcement notified his father of the crime, but not his mother. The family, including 12-year old Jacob, advocated for the law and joined Governor Dayton and legislators for the ceremonial bill signing.
Environmental Permitting: Governor Dayton was joined by legislators and the Commissioners of the DNR and PCA for a bill signing of SF 1567 which implements environmental permitting reforms.
The bill is a continuation of the work the Legislature and Governor started last session and is aimed at easing the regulatory burden on companies and others in applying for environmental permits.
Voter ID Constitutional Amendment: This week, the House and Senate both passed the Voter ID bill which will place a Constitutional Amendment question on the November, 2012 ballot. Governor Dayton did not have the opportunity to sign or veto the bill; proposed Constitutional amendments only require approval by the House and Senate in order to be passed.
Voters will be asked, "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require all voters to present valid photo identification to vote and to require the state to provide free identification to eligible voters, effective July 1, 2013?"
There is the possibility that a law suit will be filed to stop the question from appearing on the ballot. However, the court will need to act quickly before the November, 2012 election.
Fishing Opener: With the unusually mild winter and warm spring, some Legislators are proposing that the state's opening fishing weekend be moved up a week. Most years, the fishing opener coincides with Mother's Day. A bill has passed the House to create a "bonus week" allowing the fishing opener to happen a week earlier, on May 5, 2012.
The official Governor's Fishing Opener would still be the weekend of May 12, 2012.
The bill will next be considered by the Senate.
Vikings Stadium Update: The House Commerce Committee held a hearing on Monday night to on the proposed Vikings Stadium. The committee mainly focused on the issues within the committee's jurisdiction - gaming, liquor licenses, and contracts. The bill provides a funding source of electronic pull-tabs and bingo, plus sports-themed tip-boards which would all be played in licensed bars and operated by charitable gaming organizations.
The bill also provides a variety of back-up funding sources. The committee passed the bill - becoming the first committee to pass the Vikings Stadium proposal this session.
The bill was sent to the House Rules Committee for consideration of waiving the committee deadline violation. The Rules committee met on Thursday and waived the deadline violation, sending the bill to the House Government Operations Committee. At this time, a hearing in that committee has not been scheduled.
Looking Ahead: The Legislature will be on a break for the Easter and Passover holidays until noon on Monday, April 16.
Legislative issues that are still outstanding include passage of a capital improvements or bonding bill; a variety of omnibus bills - Legacy funding, environment policy, transportation policy, K-12 education policy, health and human services policy; whether or not a Vikings Stadium bill will make further progress; and continued discussions regarding electronic pull-tabs and bingo for charitable organizations.
The Legislature has set a deadline for the end of session of Monday, April 30, 2012. The Constitution requires that they end on May 21, 2012.
Because of the break, there will not be a Legislative Update next week.
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