Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the Capitol, where we soon will enter the final full week of the 2025 session. But, before we get to those notes, I want to wish good luck to anyone heading out for the fishing opener Saturday, and happy Mother’s Day as we prepare for that special day Sunday.
As for official business, I am part of a conference committee that has assembled to prepare our omnibus ag bill for final passage. We are starting by conducting side-by-side comparisons of the House and Senate proposals, identifying similar/same provisions that we agree upon and then will work to resolve differences. The Senate version has more policy than what the House proposes, so those issues need to be addressed. We hope to soon receive a spending “target” for our part of the next two-year budget so we can iron out the details of the bill and come up with a finished product.
A number of other omnibus budget bills continue coming through the House floor on votes for preliminary approval. Packages related to the environment, human services, and energy all passed the House earlier this week.
The human services finance bill which passed delivers important funding for nursing homes, seniors and vulnerable Minnesotans. Thousands of Minnesotans, especially in rural communities, depend on nursing homes for care and jobs. The governor proposed cutting hundreds of millions from these facilities, which could devastate this industry and force even more closures across the state. It is good that instead of cutting nursing homes, House Republicans provide $95 million for them in this bill.
The bill also prioritizes protecting taxpayer dollars by cracking down on fraud and abuse within public health programs. One area of concern I have with this bill is cost-shifting to counties. I hope a conference committee will work to lessen the impact to counties.
The bill on labor is expected to come to the House floor later today. If and when this bill is approved and makes its way to a conference committee, I hope a Senate provision will be added exempting small farms from a costly new sick time mandate. I authored a House bill exempting farms with five or fewer employees, or who work 28 days or less per year, from participating in this program but it was not included in this omnibus bill. The good news is the Senate language does have a provision similar to mine. It would provide common-sense flexibility to help farmers manage their business in this tough economy, so I hope it makes the cut.
We will see how this all unfolds between now and our May 19 date to adjourn. We are still working to get our work done on time but we’re starting to feel the time crunch, especially since half the House stayed home the first 23 days to start this session.
Sincerely,
Paul