This Week at the Capitol: April 22, 2022

 

The Legislature returned from Easter break.

 

Senate Finance and House Ways and Means began processing omnibus bills and sending them to the floor.

 

House Capital Investment heard local bonding projects on an informational basis.

 

House Ways and Means adopted a budget resolution spending $7.35B of the surplus in the current biennium. Here is the spreadsheet. It provides for increased spending in each budget area. Of our legislative priorities, it includes $200M for capital investment debt service and appropriations and a little over $1B for frontline worker pay. The House’s previously proposed $1.7B to frontload the Paid Family and Medical Leave program is not included in the budget resolution, but we expect PFML to be added to the Jobs omnibus next week without this additional funding.

 

Ways and Means also processed HF3438 (Lillie) Legacy Finance Omnibus, and added the following to HF4366 (Sundin) Supplemental Agriculture Finance to create the Ag, Housing, and Broadband omnibus:

 

Senate Finance processed SF4113 Chamberlain, E-12 policy and appropriations; SF4198 Utke, HHS provisions modifications; SF4165 Abeler, Human services provisions modifications; and SF4410 Abeler, HHS policy and appropriations.

 

Ways and Means processed HF4017 (M. Nelson) Pensions policy omnibus, and added the following bills to HF4293 (M. Nelson) Supplemental State Government Finance to create the State Gov, Veterans, Pensions and Transportation Omnibus:

 

 

Senate Cap Invest heard presentations on Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) and State Agency Asset Preservation.

 

House Cap Invest heard bonding proposals.

 

Ways and Means added HF4735 (Pinto) Supplemental Early Childhood Education Omnibus to HF4300 (Davnie) Supplemental K-12 Education Omnibus to create the Education Omnibus.

 

 

 

 

We expect long, frequent floor sessions for the next week or two for each body to pass their respective omnibus bills.

 

Ways and Means takes up the Environment and Judiciary & Public Safety omnibi.

 

Ways and Means takes up the Jobs, Labor, Energy, Commerce, and Higher Ed omnibi.

 

Ways and Means takes up HHS, Early Childhood, and Taxes.

 

Senate Taxes takes up SF4394 Coleman, providing tax credits for employers to purchase paid family leave insurance. The PFML coalition opposes this approach as it will not increase Minnesotans’ access to paid leave.

 

 

This Week at the Capitol from MN AFL-CIO is a weekly “under the dome” update on Labor’s legislative priorities. It is distributed to a labor audience including: MN AFL-CIO Executive and General Board members; Area Labor Councils and Regional Labor Federations; the MN AFL-CIO State Retiree Council; Local Union Coordinators; labor press; labor lobbyists and campaign staff; and Labor Caucus legislators.