Tuesday 4/7/26  

• House Tax Committee – Heard H.F. 4621 (Rehm) which seeks to increase the Minnesota child tax credit amount.  
  • This is a piece of the Governor’s budget recommendations. Two testifiers shared their support for the bill, and it was laid over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus Tax bill.
• Senate Capital Investment Committee – Heard bills for possible inclusion in a bonding bill, including S.F. 4571 (Hauschild) which focuses on modifications to project eligibility, funding appropriation, and bond issuance authorization for the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant Program. had three testifiers in support of the bill, which included two communities that had received program funds and one that spoke to the benefits the program could offer for their community:

  • Josh Malchow, City Administrator for the city of Slayton

  • Greg Lerud, City Administrator for the city of Becker

  • Jeff Brand, Director of Cook County HRA

  • Thank you to everyone who took time to testify on this issue! GMNP and the Coalition of Greater MN Cities (CGMC) also submitted a letter of support for the bill.

Wednesday 4/8/26  

• House Workforce, Labor & Economic Development Committee – Heard H.F. 4477 (Frazier) which is described as Minnesota business recovery loan program established, report required, and money appropriated. During the hearing, there was a significant group of testifiers who shared their stories about the impact that recent federal enforcement surge has had on small businesses.
  • Rep. Wayne Johnson expressed his opinion that businesses should have multiple months of reserves in case of a downturn, and that state mandates and costs have caused businesses to not have sufficient reserves.  
  • Rep. Schultz expressed his concern that this program is similar to the PROMISE Act program and does not have sufficient fraud protections. Chair Baker echoed other opinions that the state needs to reduce mandates and costs for small businesses so they are fiscally healthier. The bill was tabled for possible inclusion in an Omnibus bill.
• House Housing Committee – Heard H.F. 2462 (Norris) which centers on workforce housing development funding.
  • Dante Tomassoni of Cirrus Aircraft and Skip Duchesneau of D.W. Jones testified to the demand for workforce housing in Greater Minnesota. Lobbyist Elizabeth Wefel, representing the Coalition of Greater MN Cities (CGMC), also testified in support of the bill. Thank you to GMNP members for taking time to share their insights with the Committee in support of this bill. 

Thursday 4/9/26 

• House Workforce, Labor & Economic Development Committee – Heard the Agency policy bill which includes the technical change to the State Housing Tax Credit (SHTC) that would allow recipients of Workforce Development Housing Fund to wave the income requirements of the SHTC, H.F. 4207 (Howard). The bill was referred to the Tax Committee. 
• House Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Committee – Heard a presentation from DEED on the PROMISE Act report.
  • Members asked detailed questions of the Agency and Commissioner Matt Varilek shared reasoned responses and additional details about internal processes and procedures at DEED. The Commissioner also offered to work with lawmakers to continue to improve the program. Rep. Baker closed the hearing by reiterating to the Committee the importance of stopping fraud.

Monday 4/13/26  

• House Ways & Means Committee (10:15am) 
  
  • Presentations on the Economic Impact of Operation Metro Surge.
    

 Additional hearings are likely to be posted throughout the week.

 

Committee Deadlines:   

• Friday, April 17 at 5 p.m.: Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.
• Session is scheduled to end on May 18th

If you found this update helpful and are interested in learning more, make sure you join GMNP's monthly Legislative Debrief Sessions!

 

Each debrief session will feature a Capitol activity update, a review of GMNP’s policy priorities, and an open dialogue with GMNP Executive Director Darielle Dannen to hear your insights, feedback, and opportunities for increased involvement during the 2026 legislative session.

These sessions are meant to be informal discussion-based conversations among GMNP members.

 

Sessions will take place on the last Friday of each month during the legislative session (with the exception of May). All meetings will be held virtually via Zoom from 12:00pm-1:00pm.

 

Visit GMNP's event calendar on our website for details and registration.