Conference committee amends jobs and energy bill

Conferees working on the omnibus jobs and energy bill approved a compromise delete-all amendment Monday. But their work is not done.

The 218-page amendment contains changes to appropriation figures in HF2209/SF1937*, guided by joint budget targets announced April 28. For the sprawling bill covering spending and policy for employment efforts, energy programs and several other areas, the target is $379.5 million -- about $105 million lower than current base.

Sen. Jeremy Miller (R-Winona), who sponsors the plan with Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington), said the conference committee, which began meeting last week, would reconvene in the coming days, allowing time for review of the amendment. He said “conversations” with Gov. Mark Dayton and his administration would continue.

“This is not the final conference committee report,” he said.

The amendment adopted Monday includes a provision Dayton vetoed March 20 after the Legislature passed it as a standalone bill. It would move review of complaints about solar net-metering fees from the Public Utilities Commission to the municipal and cooperative electrical companies that set the fees, with allowance for third-party mediation.

Negotiations about changes to the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board in particular are still in process, Miller said, indicating that provisions in the section devoted to IRRRB reform are in flux.