GMNP Update - April 11, 2025

GMNP UPDATE - 4/11/2025

Dear GMNP Members,

Today is the third deadline at the legislature, so it's a great time to take stock of where the various omnibus bills have landed. As a reminder, the House and Senate set separate spending targets for committees, so some of the funding and cuts vary widely between the two chambers. Housing is one committee with a big contrast between the House target of $75 million and the Senate target of $3 million, so you'll see significant differences in program investments on either side. 

The other big headline is that the House Jobs committee hasn't released an actual bill yet - they're still working out some differences, so we can expect to see bill language after the legislative break. Some of the challenges the committee is wrestling with is that the House was directed to cut $50 million, while the Senate target had $8.6 million in spending. The House Jobs committee is also not allowed to tap into the Workforce Development Fund, which doesn't apply to the Senate. 

The legislature will be on break next week, so it's a great time to connect with your lawmakers and remind them of our key legislative priorities: particularly investments in the housing and economic development programs that serve Greater Minnesota. Many of them will be in their home districts and interested in meeting. When legislators don't hear about the importance and impact of key programs, they're more likely to support cuts to those programs. You can find talking points about key GMNP priority programs here to guide your conversation.

Finally, Minnesota Housing has finally released the long-awaited RFP for the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant Program. Click here for the RFP instructions with more information.

As always, please reach out with any questions at darielle@gmnp.org or (612) 991-5744.

Sincerely, 

Darielle Dannen

Executive Director, Greater Minnesota Partnership

OMNIBUS BILL STATUS 

Senate Housing Omnibus

• S.F. 2298
• S.F. 2298 Senate Counsel Spreadsheet
• S.F. 2298 Senate Counsel Summary

House Housing Omnibus

• H.F. 2445 DE2
• H.F. 2445 House Research Spreadsheet
• Passed the A4 amendment which would direct Minnesota Housing to develop a scoring criteria for all agency funding that prioritizes jurisdictions that do any of the following:
  • Allow for the development of multifamily housing in at least 75% of the area zoned as the commercial district
  • Allows for duplexes, ADUs, or townhomes within 75% of the area zoned for single-family, and applies the same administrative approval process to those properties that would apply to a single-family development on the same lot
  • Does not have parking mandates greater that one stall per unit for housing for single or multifamily developments
  • Does not mandate lot sizes larger than 1/8 acre,
  • Does not place aesthetic mandates on new single-family home construction.

Senate Jobs Omnibus

• S.F. 1832 DE
• S.F. 1832 DE Senate Counsel Spreadsheet
• S.F. 1832 DE Senate Counsel Spreadsheet - changes only
• The bill was referred to Senate Finance and will be scheduled for a floor session debate and vote after the legislative break.

House Jobs Committee

• The Committee is still working on some policy language that requires leadership to weigh in. They passed a stand-in bill on Thursday so they could technically meet deadline. Practically, we're expecting the actual bill to be released after the legislative break, and chairs have committed to hearing it in committee and taking public testimony. The bill number will be H.F. 2440, but it will be amended with the finalized agreement.

UPCOMING HEARINGS

KEY DATES/COMMITTEE DEADLINES

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant RFP is open

Application materials for the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant Program Request Responses must be completed via the Cvent survey tool and will close on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at 5 p.m. Central time.  

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions or want to discuss anything further, please feel free to reach out at darielle@gmnp.org or (651) 295-1908.

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