|
Minnesota Update
Minnesota Legislature Continues High-Tempo Start to Session
The Minnesota Legislature continued its quick start to the legislative session with another round of legislative committee hearings, including several focusing on priorities of DFL-leadership. The tempo will only increase as legislators get closer to the first committee deadline early next month. Some of the more notable proposals advancing through the committee process last week include legislation that would legalize adult-use of cannabis, a bill that would restore the right for certain convicted felons to vote, a proposal to provide free meals for children at school, and bills that would provide sick time and family/medical leave for employees.
Additionally, the safe and sick time bill (H.F. 19, Olson), which would require all Minnesota employers to provide their employees up to 48 hours of earned safe and sick time per year, passed all necessary committees, and now awaits action by the full House of Representatives. Lastly, H.F. 5 (Jordan), legislation which would provide free meals for children at public schools, passed the House of Representatives last Thursday on a vote of 70-58. The state portion of this proposal could cost roughly $400 million for the upcoming biennium.
Health Care Proposals Highlighted
House Majority Leader Jamie Long (DFL-Minneapolis) held a press conference touting his proposal (H.F. 96-Long) to expand access to MinnesotaCare to all Minnesotans and create a public health insurance option in the state. MinnesotaCare is currently a state-subsidized program with an income limit of 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline (FPG). This bill would create a “public option” which would let those with an income greater than 200 percent FPG enroll in the program if they meet all other eligibility criteria. The bill also creates a small-employer public option and allows undocumented noncitizens to be eligible for MinnesotaCare. Opponents are concerned that this proposal will create instability in the insurance market and result in increased private health insurance premiums. H.F. 96 passed House Commerce and Finance Policy last week and was re-referred to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee.
Another controversial healthcare-related proposal making its way through the committee process is H.F. 16 (Hollins), a bill to ban the use of conversion therapy on children or vulnerable adults by mental health professionals. The bill would also prohibit conversion therapy from being covered under Medical Assistance (MA). The bill passed all necessary committees and can now be voted on by the full House of Representatives. It was also heard in its second committee in the Senate last week.
Governor Signed Renewable Energy Standard
Last week, Gov. Walz signed one of the DFL’s top priorities into law. H.F. 7 (Long/Frentz) will require the state’s electricity grid to be 100 percent carbon-free by 2040. Over the next 17 years, utilities are required to boost the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower. The State of North Dakota has threatened a lawsuit, arguing that Minnesota’s new energy standard goes too far and limits commerce among states.
Senate Works to Confirm Walz Administration Commissioners
Gov. Walz noted lasted week that the current DFL Senate majority has confirmed more commissioners in the last six weeks than in the previous four years combined. Six commissioners have now been confirmed, with more on the way. Confirmed commissioners include Paul Marquart (Revenue), Alice Roberts-Davis (Administration), Thom Peterson (Agriculture), Nancy Daubenberger (Transportation), Jim Schowalter (Management and Budget), and Larry Herke (Veterans Affairs).
Legislative Deadlines
The following are a series of committee deadlines that will guide the Minnesota Legislature’s process as they move through the session:
- February 27, 2023: February forecast released
- March 10, 2023: 1st Committee Deadline - committees must act favorably on bills in the House of origin.
- March 24, 2023: 2nd Committee Deadline - committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other House.
- April 4, 2023, at 5:00 pm: 3rd Committee Deadline - committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
- April 4, 2023, at 5:00 pm - April 10, 2023: Legislative Recess
- May 22, 2023: Deadline to adjourn legislative session
Federal Update
The House is out this week but holds field hearings in Texas on energy. Biden's still short a seat on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission( EEOC), and the U.S. shoots down additional high-altitude objects. Here’s your CapWatch for Monday, February 13th.
Congress Talks Energy Expansion and Security; Biden Approves Drilling Permits
The Biden administration has faced near-constant criticism for policies that Republicans and the oil and gas industry argue raise fuel prices, but data shows the administration has not turned off the spigot as drastically as its critics suggest. President Joe Biden has maintained that he has not held back domestic oil production in the push for renewable energy. In its first two years, the Biden administration approved nearly 6,500 applications for permits to drill, according to Bureau of Land Management data. That slightly outpaces the Trump administration, which approved just under 6,300 permits during its first two years. Last week both the House Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce committees held hearings criticizing administration energy policies, arguing the White House could do more to support fossil fuel production amid a focus on green energy that Republicans argue has left America less secure.
There are more energy hearings ahead this week:
- Senate Energy and Natural Resources has a hearing on the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on global energy security one year into the war (Thursday, 10 a.m., 366 Dirksen).
- House Energy and Commerce has a field hearing by the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee regarding local communities and federal energy production (Monday, 4 p.m., Midland, Texas).
- House Natural Resources has a field hearing by the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee on expanding American energy and the impact on local economies (Thursday, 11:30 a.m., Midland, Texas).
EEOC Awaits Final Member as Senate Panel Votes on Top Lawyer
Senators vote in committee this week on a key staffer for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At the same time, the nomination of a fifth, tie-breaking member for the agency waits in the wings. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is expected Wednesday to consider the nomination of Karla Gilbride to be the commission's general counsel. The nominations of Gilbride and Kalpana Kotagal to sit on the EEOC were not confirmed in the last Congress. The White House resubmitted both nominations at the start of the 118th Congress.
Gilbride, if confirmed, would lead the independent agency's legal actions but would not be a voting member. She is co-director of the Access to Justice Project at Public Justice and spearheads the nonprofit legal advocacy center's worker rights litigation. The confirmation of Kotagal — her nomination is not yet scheduled for committee action — would break the gridlock at EEOC, which currently has two Democrat-appointed and two Republican-appointed members. The EEOC, split by party, is meant to operate with the president's party getting an extra seat. Without a fifth member, the agency is limited in policy-making abilities.
U.S. Shoots Down Additional High-Altitude Objects a Week After Chinese Spy Balloon The U.S. military has now shot down four high-altitude objects this month after downing three additional objects over the past three days. A U.S. fighter jet shot down an unidentified high-altitude object Friday over Alaska nearly a week after it destroyed a Chinese surveillance balloon that had traversed the continental U.S. Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters that the object was the size of a small car and was traveling at roughly 40,000 feet. The Pentagon offered few other details about the object, and would not definitively say whether it was a second balloon. It also remains unclear whether the object was being operated by China or another entity.
On Saturday, the U.S. military shot down a third object above Canada, which Canadian forces are working to recover. "I ordered the takedown of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object," tweeted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The North American Aerospace Defense Command briefly closed airspace above Montana on Saturday, and Lake Michigan on Sunday, for national defense activities. Later Sunday, an F-16 used a sidewinder missile to down an unidentified object at 20,000 feet that NORAD had tracked moving east. It was downed over Lake Huron to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties.
The Biden administration faced criticism from lawmakers in both parties last week over its handling of the Chinese surveillance balloon, which was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 3 after spending multiple days in U.S. airspace. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) urged the military to conduct recovery efforts on the object downed over Alaska "as quickly as possible" in a statement Saturday.
|