Legislative Update: May 9, 2025

Dear Neighbors,

Here at the House, we’re hard at work passing budget bills to invest in our state government and agencies for the next two years. We are making good progress, and as a result, all our bills are passing with bipartisan support. 

Due to the current reality of a 67-67 tied House, many of these bills include provisions I support and those I disagree with. However, we must compromise to pass a state budget, and even as bills are passing, conversations are continuing to ensure that the final version is the best it can be.  

Here’s a quick recap of some of the bills we have voted on so far: 

• An Agriculture Budget that invests in Farm to School Programs, worker protections for bird flu, and supports small farmers to feed hungry Minnesotans allowing more food shelves to purchase fresh food directly from farmers.
• A Higher Education Budget that makes it easier for Minnesotans to pursue higher education and protects the North Star Promise program. 
• A Transportation Budget that maintains roads and bridges, invests in aviation infrastructure, and more.
• A Veterans Budget that invests in those who served our country.
• A Public Safety & Judiciary Budget that improves and supports victim services, police training, and privacy protections for judges. 
• A Legacy Bill (the committee I co-chair), that uses our lottery proceeds wisely to enhance our environment, protect our clean water, expand parks and trails, and celebrate arts, culture, and history. 
• A State Government and Elections Budget that preserves key services, invests in the Attorney General’s capacity to fight consumer and Medicaid fraud, and supports the state workers. 
• A Housing budget that takes steps to address Minnesota’s housing shortage crisis. 
• An Environment and Natural Resources Budget that maintains our groundbreaking protection of Minnesotans’ land, water, and air from threats like PFAS, nitrates, and aquatic invasive species. 

I’ll expand on more of these bills below.

Honoring and Recognizing our Hmong and Lao Veterans

Our Hmong and Lao veterans who served valiantly in the Secret War risked everything for American interests, and were promised support that never fully materialized.

I joined many of them at a press conference highlighting their service. Under the Veterans budget bill we passed, they will finally receive the honor and recognition they have always deserved for their service to our country.

Minnesota has a moral responsibility to recognize these heroes who later built vibrant communities in our state, and this initiative represents a critical step toward fulfilling our long-overdue commitment to these courageous individuals who sacrificed so much.

You can hear my remarks on the floor here.

Protecting Paid Family Medical Leave

Minnesotans believe in caring for one another. But right now, most workers in our state — and across the country — don’t have access to paid family and medical leave.

But starting January 1, 2026, our new Paid Family & Medical Leave program will allow workers to take time off to recover from a serious health condition, welcome a new child, care for a loved one, or navigate personal safety challenges – all without having to sacrifice their economic security. It’s built on a model that works, just like our state’s unemployment insurance system, with both employers and employees contributing.

Nobody should have to decide between a paycheck and caring for a new child, an aging parent, or their own serious health condition.

The House’s Higher Education Budget

As the Trump administration seeks to control colleges and universities nationwide, Republicans sought to deploy that same playbook on Minnesota’s campuses while making it more difficult for students to access higher learning. In our Higher Education Budget, DFLers fought to keep right-wing extremism out of our schools and protected opportunities for all Minnesotans to continue their education after high school. 

Since it was first introduced, the North Star Promise Program – providing free college tuition to students whose families make less than $80,000 a year – was highly targeted by Minnesota Republicans. Instead of giving a helping hand to those who face financial barriers to higher learning, they’d rather those hurdles stay in place. We know that Minnesota’s higher education system can be an effective path out of poverty, and stood firm against cuts to this program in our budget that gives students access to a degree without taking on unsustainable debt. Last session, we prioritized breaking down barriers to higher education and are reversing a 10-year enrollment decline exacerbated by the pandemic. By protecting pathways to higher learning, we know we can continue to grow undergraduate enrollment and make it easier for all students to attend Minnesota’s colleges and universities.You can read more about our Higher Education Budget here. 

The House’s Housing Budget

Everything else in life is harder if you don’t have a safe and secure place to call home, which is why Republicans and Democrats worked together to put forward meaningful investments aimed at keeping people in their homes and creating new affordable homeownership opportunities. 

Our Housing Budget invests over $30 million in emergency rental assistance, which will help more than 8,000 Minnesotans stay in their home, $45 million towards the construction of new homes, and authorizes $100 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds to fund the construction and renovations of affordable homes all over the state. 

As the Trump administration claws back investments in affordable housing, Minnesota is stepping up to ensure more of our neighbors can afford a roof over their heads. We’ll do what we can, but with 100,000 housing units short of what Minnesotans need, we deserve a more serious partner in the White House.  You can read more about our Housing Budget here. The House and Senate have both passed their own Housing Budgets, with significant differences. We’ll hammer out those differences in a conference committee before passing a final version in the coming days. 

House Passes Public Safety and Judiciary Budget Bill

I voted alongside my colleagues to pass the House Public Safety and Judiciary budget bill. Under Democratic leadership, Minnesota has become a safer state with improved outcomes in our justice system, and we can’t afford to go backwards now. This bill works to protect our historic reforms, needed investments, and prevents regressive legislation all while improving victims services, police training, and data protections for judges.

A lot of this bill was about stopping bad GOP proposals and maintaining our historic progress from the last two years, but we achieved some major new wins as well. This bill takes direct action to combat the chaotic actions of the Trump Administration that harm victim services and put Minnesotans’ safety at risk. By funding life-saving victim services programs that help victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and other crimes, this bill is keeping Minnesota safe.

Stay in Touch

Please reach out to my office if you need assistance with anything. I am best reached through email at rep.samantha.vang@house.mn.gov or please contact my Legislative Assistant Grace at grace.johnson@house.mn.gov. I always appreciate hearing from you. You can also follow along on my official Facebook page here. 

Sincerely,

Rep. Samantha Vang

651-296-3709

rep.samantha.vang@house.mn.gov