GMNP Update - April 4, 2025
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Dear GMNP Members,
Happy deadline week! Today is the first and second deadline for the legislature, which means that bill hearings on stand-alone bills wrapped up this week and committees will start passing omnibus bills next week. The Senate Housing Committee is the exception, since they already passed their omnibus bill on Thursday.
The Senate housing omnibus bill invested $2 million in the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Program for FY26-27 and included $500,000 in ongoing base funding for the program starting in FY2028. Those appropriations are notable in a year when the Senate Housing and Homelessness budget target was $3 million total for FY26-27, and their target for FY28-29 was just $1 million. Chair Lindsey Port also expressed her strong support and willingness to look for additional resources for the program. The housing bill also included language that would allow Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing funds to be used with State Housing Tax Credit (SHTC) dollars – eliminating the income requirements for the SHTC program when the two programs are used together. Both of these key items are GMNP priorities – thank you to our members who testified in support of these provisions for your hard work! We also shared a letter of support from GMNP for those key items in the bill.
We also got spending targets for committees late last week:
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By April 11, all of the committees should have passed their omnibus bills along to either the Senate Finance or House Ways & Means committees ahead of the upcoming legislative break. After the break, expect bills to pass onto the House and Senate floor. We'll pull together an analysis of where key items landed in those bills and share it here.
As always, please reach out with any questions at darielle@gmnp.org or (612) 991-5744.
Sincerely,
Darielle Dannen
Executive Director, Greater Minnesota Partnership
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SIGNIFICANT HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK
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Tuesday, April 1
- House Workforce, Labor & Economic Development Committee heard presentations from Ericca Maas with the Minnesota Business for Early Learning and GMNP President Scott Marquardt from the Southwest Initiative Foundation about their work addressing Minnesota's child care challenges.
- Senate Housing and Homelessness Committee took up the Senate omnibus housing bill. The bill invested $2 million in the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Program for FY26-27 and included $500,000 in ongoing base funding for the program starting in FY2028. Those appropriations are notable in a year when the Senate Housing and Homelessness budget target was $3 million total for FY26-27, and their target for FY28-29 was just $1 million. Chair Lindsey Port also expressed her strong support and willingness to look for additional resources for the program. The housing bill also included language that would allow Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing funds to be used with State Housing Tax Credit (SHTC) dollars – eliminating the income requirements for the SHTC program when the two programs are used together. Both of these key items are GMNP priorities – thank you to our members who testified in support of these provisions for your hard work! We also shared a letter of support from GMNP for those key items in the bill.
- House Children and Families Committee heard the following bills:
- H.F. 2436 (West), DCYF governor's budget bill. The bill was laid over.
- H.F. 470 (West), which continues the funding for early learning scholarships from the previous biennium. Chair West shared that he would prioritize this funding as a key area for state investment. The bill was laid over.
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Wednesday, April 2
- House Children and Families Committee heard the following bills:
- H.F. 2732 (Pursell), rural child care stabilization and support payment program. The bill was laid over.
- H.F. 1383 (Kotyza-Witthuhn), program established to assist families with the cost of child care. There were a number of testifiers supporting the bill, and committee members shared positive comments. The bill was laid over.
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Thursday, April 3
- Senate Housing and Homelessness Committee heard and passed S.F. 2298 (Port), the housing omnibus bill. The bill had some technical amendments passed during this hearing but overall remains unchanged rom the Tuesday hearing. Members expressed their frustrations with the low budget targets but expressed support for what the bill does include. The bill passed and was sent to the Senate Finance Committee.
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- House Housing Finance and Policy will hear H.F. 2445 (Igo), which will be the House housing omnibus bill.
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KEY DATES/COMMITTEE DEADLINES
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Eid Break - March 29 – March 31 with Committee activities resuming on April 1, 2025.
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Easter/Passover break – April 11 at 12pm – April 21 at 12pm
Committee Deadlines:
- 1st and 2nd Deadline - April 4, 2025 at 5pm
- 3rd Deadline - April 11, 2025 at 12pm
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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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The Greater Minnesota Partnership advocates for public policies and investments that stimulate prosperity throughout Greater Minnesota.
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Copyright © 2025 Flaherty & Hood, P.A., All rights reserved.
Visit us online at gmnp.org
Our mailing address is:
Greater Minnesota Partnership
525 Park St., Suite 470
St. Paul, MN 55103
Contact: info@gmnp.org or 651-259-1908
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