Early Thursday, legislative leaders and Governor Walz announced that they had reached a compromise deal on the biennial budget targets. Included in those negotiations was a modest adjustment to the maximum payroll tax rate for the upcoming Paid Family Leave program from 1.2% to 1.1% and no adjustments to the earned sick and safe leave program.
Additionally, the housing and homelessness prevention budget was substantially reduced from the original house budget, a $100 million increase down to $15 million. Conference committees are currently negotiating the final details of all budget bills before each chamber passes the bills in the coming days.
“At the beginning of this year’s legislative session, a broad bipartisan group of legislators introduced meaningful housing policy reforms that would not have cost the state government a penny and would have substantially alleviated many barriers that renters and homebuyers are facing in today’s housing market. Ultimately, all these proposals fell by the wayside,” said Mark Foster, Vice President of Legislative & Political Affairs.
“With the significant reduction in the housing budget (from the house proposal) and the complete lack of meaningful policy reform, Governor Walz and legislative leaders really can’t point to much they did this year to address Minnesota’s growing housing affordability and supply crisis.”
Furthermore, on Monday, the House floor took up HF 3228 from Rep. Baker (R), a worker’s compensation bill with agreed upon language between business and labor groups. Housing First Minnesota helped negotiate this language with other stakeholders. The bill passed the House Floor unanimously. The same bill passed the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and is expected to be heard on the Senate Floor soon.
On Tuesday, a Conference Committee met to discuss SF 3045, the state government finance omnibus bill. The Senate version of the bill contains provisions related to state lobbying rules and regulations, which have yet to be agreed upon by the conferees.
Finally, Housing First Minnesota has joined an ever-growing coalition asking for Minnesota’s 2023 ban on the sale, replacement and distribution of keys to be fixed. Without legislative action this year, starting July 1 homeowners will struggle to replace lost or broken keys for homes. The language needed to fix the problem is currently being discussed by the Commerce Conference Committee.
The “Unlock Minnesota” coalition held a press conference this week. Press coverage can be found here:
- KARE 11 (video)
- FOX 9 (video)
- WCCO-TV (video + digital)
- Minnesota Star Tribune (digital)
- MPR News (audio + digital)
Monday, May 19 is the deadline for the 2025 legislative session, and without a budget bill or bonding bill passed by either body, it seems almost inevitable that a special session will be needed.
