Dear Neighbor,
The 2026 legislative session has ended after what turned out to be a very productive weekend, with our tied House passing bills to help Minnesotans across the state.
In all my years serving in the House, this was the most orderly end of session I have seen. We passed all our bills with 15 minutes to spare, and we did not trample the rules just to finish on time. That happened because members of both parties focused on the work instead of politics. I continue to be impressed by Speaker Lisa Demuth’s calm, disciplined leadership.
The results speak for themselves. Minnesota has an affordability problem, and the House delivered $400 million in tax relief, including $250 million in car tab fee reductions and $125 million in property tax cuts. More relief would have been even better, but this is an important step in the right direction, and we will continue fighting to make life more affordable for Minnesotans.
We also took steps toward addressing Minnesota’s well-publicized fraud problems late in the session by passing legislation creating an Office of the Inspector General. The bill stipulates that the OIG will operate independently and eventually have law enforcement authority. Those provisions are major victories because the bill's chief author, at the behest of the governor, attempted to strip them from the bill throughout session. The governor has now signed the legislation into law, an important step toward greater transparency and accountability in state government at a time when both are desperately needed.
You can’t call it a successful session without more money for Highway 65! I am pleased to have secured $4.3 million to rebuild the intersection at Bunker Lake Boulevard. This latest round of funding will allow that work to begin as soon as construction on the 99th-to-117th segment is completed. Construction on that section is scheduled to finally begin this June. In addition, we approved $250,000 for improvements to Hornsby Street in Columbus.
I also want to highlight that we passed long-awaited childcare reform legislation aimed at reducing crushing costs for Minnesota families while easing burdensome regulations on daycare providers. This legislation nearly fell apart after becoming tangled in partisan politics during the committee process. We held our ground, and ultimately that paid off because the version passed by the House is stronger than the version that had previously been derailed.
House Republicans hold only one-half of one branch in our three-legged stool of power in St. Paul, yet we still delivered positive results for Minnesotans. Overall, it is difficult to overstate the value of divided government for the people of Minnesota. You may not get everything you want, but the things that truly need to get done, still get done.
I am proud of the work we accomplished at the Capitol this year. Minnesota is better off because of it, and you cannot always say that at the end of every session.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions on what happened this session.
Sincerely,
Nolan