Legislative Update – Mid-Session Update
Dear Neighbors –
Yesterday, as I began to write this update, we were experiencing beautiful 70 degree weather and clear skies and all I wanted to do was get outside and enjoy it! Spring in Minnesota is a weather rollercoaster and I love it because you get to experience nature in all its unpredictable glory. Whatever the temperature, the bubs are out, birds are chirping and it's light out until 7:30pm!
I hope you’re all able to take some time to enjoy the outdoors, whether in our district or at one of our amazing state parks.
On four days each year, all Minnesota state parks and state recreation areas offer free admission to everyone - no vehicle permits needed! The next free park day is Saturday, April 25, and I’m hoping for weather as good as we had this week.
Mid-Session Update
We’re one month away from the end of the 2026 Legislative Session, and heading towards our adjournment date of May 18. Throughout this session, we’ve seen Republicans in our tied House refuse to join us in tackling the big issues that Minnesotans and our community are asking us to address.
From legislation to prevent gun violence, to reining in ICE, and providing economic aid to our businesses affected by the surge, Republicans have failed to step up and do the right thing for communities. It’s maddening, but the fight to take action on these issues is not over. Our colleagues in the Senate DFL continue to show leadership in moving forward these important policy responses.
What’s frustrating is that even on the issue where we’ve built bipartisan support, House Republican Leadership has intervened to block policy from moving forward in the House. A recent story from MPR News highlights this phenomenon with two pieces of legislation I’m working on this session: banning nondisclosure agreements for municipalities and regulating prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket.
Both of these issues unite DFL and GOP legislators who usually don’t work together, but who share values of government transparency and accountability. These bills advanced through committees on unanimous votes until Republican leadership intervened with procedural maneuvers to stop bills with broad bipartisan support. It’s not my Republican co-authors who are stopping these bills, it’s GOP House Leadership who are working on the behalf of Big Tech and the CEO lobby.
Action requiring public transparency around local decisionmaking and data centers, and banning shady, unregulated crypto-driven gambling operations is moving in states across the country -- red states and blue. These are exactly the bills that Minnesotans expect us to be able to pass in divided government, bringing progressive Democrats like me, and conservative Republicans like Farmington Rep. Drew Roach together to push for solutions to the current issues of our time.
I’m using the rest of this session to continue to advance these bills, while fighting to advance the priorities shared by the vast majority of Minnesotans. We must take on the gun lobby, protect our children, and defend our state against the worst excesses of the Trump administration.
Protecting our Public Programs from Fraud
Fraud targeting our public programs hurts the communities who these programs serve and all of us who support them. A government that works for people must ensure that public dollars are going to serve public needs like childcare, health care, housing, and more. Fraud in any form, targeting consumers, veterans, small businesses, or government programs, is unacceptable. Increasingly, for-profits and private providers have made the government a profit-center and our public programs are the mark.
That is why House DFLers have been moving forward a robust fraud prevention agenda to respond to the increasingly sophisticated business models of fraud targeting public programs and individual Minnesotans. We are taking aggressive action to prevent, detect, and punish the bad actors who cheat Minnesotans out of public resources and steal from Minnesota taxpayers.
As a member of the House Fraud Prevention and Government Oversight Committee, I’ve been leading on our work to stop the business model of fraud at its source by removing the profit-incentives by kicking out the for-profit corporations that made the government a profit-center and taxpayers the mark.
This session, I’ve authored bills to improve our state’s ability to prevent fraud and deter those that would cheat Minnesotans and our state coffers. It’s the type of work that isn’t made to grab headlines, but to seriously contend with the issues we’re seeing, and fix them.
One bill would ensure that companies that steal from the state government and Minnesotan workers are barred from receiving government grants. It does this by adding minimum eligibility criteria to the pre-risk assessment for grants. It is critical that when organizations misclassify workers, break our laws and rip off the state -- they are barred from getting state dollars from other grants or programs.
Another bill I wrote removes the tax safe haven for employers who are caught misclassifying their employee as an independent contractor. I learned about this tax safe haven when I was serving as the co-Chair of the Attorney General’s Task Force on misclassification and thought it’s just wrong that we let employers who steal from their workers and our state from off the hook from their tax obligations and penalties.
This bill would help safeguard taxpayer dollars and our public programs and make clear that Minnesota stands against tax cheats and fraudsters who cheat their workers and steal from our public coffers.
Both are important steps forward in our fraud prevention work, and I’m working to ensure they pass this year.
Stay in Touch
Thank you for your time, energy, and all you do to make our community a great place to live, work, and play. Always feel free to reach out to me with your input and ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. My email is rep.emma.greenman@house.mn.gov or you are always welcome to call me at the Capitol at 651-296-4200 and follow my Facebook page for updates.
It’s an honor and a privilege to be your State Representative. I'm very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together and look forward to the work we have ahead of us. Together, we can create a stronger, brighter future for all Minnesotans!
Best,
Emma Greenman
State Representative