Legislative Update - The Final Month of Session

Dear Neighbors,

It’s May, which means that not only is the world getting a little greener outside, we’ve also entered the final month (weeks, really) of our legislative work. We have until May 19th to pass our state budget, and I’m happy to say we’ve made significant progress this week.

In my last update, I gave some insight into the budgets we’ve passed so far, how these are crafted in a tied House, and the road ahead before these become our final budget bills. If you haven’t read it, I recommend checking it out.

This week, instead of going over the process, I wanted to provide some insight into how I voted on these bills and why. In addition to my thoughts on these bills, the links provided will bring you to nonpartisan summaries on the budget and our floor debate. 

Higher Education: This was a bill I voted for, and was especially pleased to see that the North Star Promise program was protected. This is a relatively new program that pays for the entire college tuition of students whose families make less than $80,000 a year. Since it was first introduced, Republicans have targeted this program, and it was a top priority for them to see it cut. My DFL colleagues stood firm, protecting access to higher learning.

Transportation: The nature of a tie is these bills aren’t going to be perfect, you take the good with the bad, but there’s still a limit. I voted against this bill, largely because it alters the Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions impact assessment and entirely eliminates the individual project portion of the program, delaying implementation of the broader district-wide portfolio approach until 2028. This change will make it more difficult for the state to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. While the bill passed, I will advocate for the removal of this provision in the final version. As it currently stands, it's a raw deal.

Public Safety & Judiciary: I voted for this bill. While focusing on improving public safety and supporting crime victims, my colleagues and I also successfully blocked several divisive, costly, and ill-conceived proposals. We stopped legislation that would’ve criminalized Minnesotans exercising their full First Amendment right to protest, eliminated funding for community crime and violence prevention, and unjustly targeted immigrants. 

Legacy: I voted for this bill. While the House’s version did not include funding for all the things I'd like, such as MPR and the Science Museum, it heavily invested in the state park system and hiking trails. The Legacy Bill is all about investing in the things that make Minnesota a great place to live, and while it fell short in some areas, we ensured we did right by our state’s greatest natural resource - our great outdoors.

Agriculture: I covered this briefly in last week’s update, but as a member of the House’s Agriculture Committee, I was incredibly proud to vote for this bill. I voted for it because we provided funding for worker and consumer protections at a time when the Trump administration is slashing funding for these provisions. Our bill also helped put food on the table from small, local farmers.

Housing: I voted for this bill because housing is a chief concern in our community and all over the state. I’m proud to say this was one of our more bipartisan budgets, with both sides of the aisle agreeing that significant investment was needed. I especially want to highlight the new Accessible Housing Task force our budget establishes, which lifts up the experience of our neighbors with disabilities to ensure we can increase the supply of affordable and accessible homes in Minnesota. 

Veterans: While a mixed bag, I ultimately voted for this bill because of its programs dedicated to supporting veterans food security, including my legislation funding a veteran-specific Meals On Wheels program. We can always make these bills better, which is why I supported an amendment during our Floor debate that would combat illegal claims fraud that harms veterans. Republicans blocked it. Still, this bill was incredibly important, especially as we watch the Trump administration slash funding for the Veterans Affairs Department and the services these heroes rely on. 

• I’d also note that the bill finally honors our Hmong and Lao veterans who served valiantly in the Secret War, risking everything for American interests while being promised support that never fully materialized. Our bill represents a critical step toward fulfilling the long-overdue commitment to these courageous individuals who sacrificed so much for a country that wasn't yet their own, and have gone on to build vibrant communities in our state.

Commerce: While the budget is our chief responsibility this year, I should note that many of these budget areas either come with significant policies in them, or separate policy bills. For Commerce, I voted for the budget bill, and against the policy bill. I voted for the budget bill because of its insurance task force to combat the rising costs of climate change ($6 billion in damage in 2022 alone!) for Minnesotans. I voted against the policy bill because I strongly disagreed with a measure that repealed the Medigap law passed in 2023.

State Government & Elections: As with Commerce, we had budget and policy bills covering State Government and Elections, which we just passed yesterday. I voted for both because they enacted new fraud prevention efforts, including enhanced data sharing and allowing payments to be withheld when fraud is suspected. The bipartisan fraud prevention package also expands the Minnesota Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Investigation Unit, and delivers investments to the Secretary of State to prevent business filing fraud.

What’s Left?

We still have significant budget areas left to debate in the House next week, including K-12 Education, Human Services, Health, and others.

These are some of our largest budgets, so it makes sense that they would be some of our last to be put together. We’ve run into some sticking points in them as well. In our K-12 budget, for example, Republicans want to cut Unemployment Insurance benefits for the workers that help our schools and students thrive. Cutting that is a non-starter for me and my DFL colleagues.

For our Health and Human Services budget, I’m especially worried about those budgets as I keep an eye on the federal government. It’s difficult to plan on shifting sands, and with Republicans in Washington threatening to cut Medicaid, or implement work reporting requirements, we need to be ready to do what we can to respond in Minnesota.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted as we cover these budget areas next week. 

Stay Connected

Thank you for reading! Always feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you have on how to make our community and state better, especially as we get into the final weeks of the legislative session. You can reach me at rep.david.gottfried@house.mn.gov or 651-296-7153. You’ll either hear back from me or my Legislative Assistant, Isabel.

To keep up with my work in the House, you can either check out my legislative webpage, or follow along on my official Facebook page. Thank you again for placing your trust in me. I can’t wait to see what we can build together!

Sincerely,

David Gottfried

State Representative

House District 40B