Following more than a week of closed-door negotiations between members of the Jobs, Economic Development, and Labor Conference Committee, the language of the agreement between the House and the Senate was released Friday morning and adopted by the committee that night.
The language includes many provisions that the Housing First Minnesota advocacy team has been working on throughout the legislative session.
Energy Code Chaos
The House version originally contained language that would have created a new process of adoption for the residential energy code. The language would have introduced new concepts such as “mitigating the impact of climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing and optimizing energy efficiency and improving resiliency of new buildings.”
Housing First Minnesota expressed serious concerns with the language throughout the committee process. The conference committee did not accept this language, instead limiting the scope of the language to the original intent of the bill with changes to the commercial energy code.
Electric vehicle charging
The conference committee report includes language to require the state building code to require a minimum number of electric vehicle-ready spaces, electric vehicle-capable spaces, and electric vehicle charging states within or adjacent to new commercial and multifamily structures. It is important to note that this requirement exempts residential structures with fewer than four dwelling units.
Adding Solar Contractors to the Contractor Recovery Fund
Solar contractors that implement roof panels will be required to pay into the contractor recovery fund going forward. The original language of this bill would have allowed harmed solar consumers to utilize the fund despite solar contractors never previously paying into the fund.
Liability Shift Within the Construction Industry
Despite hundreds of industry members contacting their legislators with concerns about this language, the conference committee moved to adopt it. The language imposes joint and several liability on all general contractors for the actions of their subcontractors. Moreover, the language does not allow a general to withhold monies from a sub until it substantiates that all workers have been paid. This means a general with no knowledge of a violation could be required to pay twice for the work performed for a sub with no recourse short of filing a lawsuit.
Additionally, there are multiple provisions that will likely impact all businesses in Minnesota related to the safe and sick time provisions.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Senate debated the conference committee report for hours and is likely to adopt the report along party lines. The House of Representatives is expected to discuss the language soon. The legislature is constitutionally required to finish their work by Sunday and adjourn no later than Monday.
Your Housing First Minnesota advocacy team will host a Legislative Wrap Town Hall in June to discuss everything that happened and the items that will impact your business and homeowners. Look for a date in the coming days.
