Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Week in Review: Feb. 10-14

Gov. Tim Walz hands out bars to Rep. Paul Torkelson before the Feb. 10 floor session. This week marked the first full week of the 2025 session with both DFL and Republican members in attendance. (Photo by Michele Jokinen)

It was a busy first week for House committees, with several going into the evening.

Committees heard presentations about budget proposals and topic overviews as lawmakers prepare for the work ahead in the coming months.

The first bills of session have begun moving through committees. This week saw proposed legislation approved including delaying the start of the paid family leave program, boosting penalties for crimes and providing property tax relief for some veterans.

The new House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee also held its first meeting this week as it aims to better prevent fraud involving taxpayers’ money.


Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Recent Dailies

Week in Review: Feb. 10-14
Gov. Tim Walz hands out bars to Rep. Paul Torkelson before the Feb. 10 floor session. This week marked the first full week of the 2025 session with both DFL and Republican members in attendance. (Photo by Michele Jokinen) It was a busy first week for House committees, with several going into the evening. Committees heard presentations about budget proposals and topic overviews as lawmakers pr...
House Republicans push for streamlined environmental permitting process
Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa) believes businesses needing environmental reviews and permits to operate in Minnesota are hampered by unnecessarily lengthy and burdensome permit...
Energy committee signs off on regulatory shortcuts for data centers
Sydnie Lieb, an assistant commissioner with the Commerce Department, testifies before the House energy committee Feb. 13 on a bill to provide data center energy generation redundancy. Rep. Shane Mekeland, right, sponsors the bill. (Photo by Andrew VonBank) If you own a smart phone, then you have a little computer in your pocket, quite an advance from the 1940s, when a computer could take up an entire floor of a building. But if yo...
Proposed human services budget would slash spending by $1.3 billion, lawmakers hear
Department of Human Services Budget Director Elyse Bailey presents an overview of the governor’s budget recommendations to the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee Feb. 13. (Photo by Michele Jokinen) With an expected $5.1 billion state deficit forecast in the 2028-29 biennium, Department of Human Services officials are looking at ways they plan to pare back spending before t...
Bill aims to increase public access to state attorney general data
Don Gemberling, a board member with the Minnesotan Coalition on Government Information, testifies Feb. 13 in support of a bill to clarify classification of certain data maintained by the attorney general’s office. Rep. Harry Niska, right, sponsors the bill. (Photo by Michele Jokinen) A proposed two-word change to state law would have the effect of narrowing the scope of data collected by the attorney general’s office that is classified as private and thus ma...
House members voice concern over fraud investigators’ move to BCA
Commerce Commissioner Grace Arnold testifies Feb. 13 before the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee regarding the transfer of the Commerce Fraud Bureau to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. (Photo by Andrew VonBank) Legislators have bipartisan concern that the Commerce Fraud Bureau’s mission to root out white-collar crime will be diluted with its move to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension....
Legislation to encourage innovation, cost savings heads to full House
From 2013-18 a Minnesota rewards program encouraged state agency innovation and cost savings. Rep. Duane Quam (R-Byron) wants to reinstate the State Agency Value Initiative,...
Proposal would put brakes on paid leave program for one year
Justin Terch of the Society of Human Resource Management testifies Feb. 13 before the House workforce, labor, and economic development panel in support of a bill to delay implementation of the Minnesota Paid Leave law by one year. (Photo by Michele Jokinen) The time to fix the train is before it leaves the station, suggests Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar), and he isn’t convinced the Minnesota Paid Leave program is ready to roll.  ...
House lawmakers consider phasing out estate tax
They say you can’t take it with you, but there are laws about how much you can leave behind. Such as estate taxes, which apply to the transfer of property when it’s passed f...
House lawmakers consider 'Parent's Bill of Rights'
Cristine Trooien, executive director of the Minnesota Parents Alliance, testifies Feb. 12 in the House children and families committee in support of a bill sponsored by Rep. Dawn Gillman, right, to create a Parent's Bill of Rights. (Photo by Andrew VonBank) As a parent, what are your rights? HF22 would define those rights. The bill establishes what Rep. Dawn Gillman (R-Dassel), the bill sponsor, calls the “Parent's Bill of ...

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Session Daily Home

Search Session Daily
Advanced Search Options

Priority Dailies

Walz proposes slimmed-down 2026-27 state budget, sales tax changes
This is an odd-numbered year, and so the Legislature is constitutionally required to craft a budget to fund the state government for the next two fiscal years. Gov. Tim Walz...
House closes 2024 session in chaotic fashion, trading bonding for budget boosts
It was a session of modest ambitions. After 2023 produced a record $72 billion in biennial funding, Minnesota’s legislative leaders were dampening expectations for anything ...

Minnesota House on Twitter