This week, the Senate Tax Committee considered GMNP’s policy changes to the State Housing Tax Credit (see the notes below for more details).

GMNP Update - March 13, 2026
 
GMNP Update: A Newsletter for Members of the GMNP
 

GMNP WEEKLY UPDATE
 

Dear GMNP Members,

 

This week, the Senate Tax Committee considered GMNP’s policy changes to the State Housing Tax Credit (see the notes below for more details). We also saw a bill that prohibits nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) for all political subdivisions, H.F. 4077 (Greenman), pass out of the House Elections Finance &  Government Operations Committee and get sent to the House General Register (see more in the notes below). The Senate is scheduled to consider this bill in the State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday.   

 

Best, 

 

Darielle Dannen

Executive Director, Greater Minnesota Partnership
 

SIGNIFICANT HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK

Monday 3/9/26  

  • Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee – Heard an update from Tim O’Malley who was appointed by Governor Walz as the Director of Program Integrity. The Roadmap to Program Integrity was shared with the House Fraud Committee as a series of recommendations to prevent fraud and strengthen program oversight. Committee members had a series of questions about the recommendations. One of the recommendations in the report that was shared was the prohibition of direct appropriations by lawmakers to organizations. 

Tuesday 3/10/26 

  • Senate Housing and Homeless Prevention Committee
    • H.F. 3403 (Kozlowski) – One-time emergency rental assistance aid for counties established, and money appropriated. This bill failed to move out of committee on a party-line vote.
  • House Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Committee – Heard a presentation from the state Chamber of Commerce about the Paid Leave user experience. 

Wednesday 3/11/2026  

  • Senate Tax Committee 
    • S.F. 4044 (Nelson) – This bill amends the State Housing Tax Credit (SHTC) so the bill works better in Greater Minnesota. GMNP and the CGMC submitted a letter of support. Chair Rest asked the testifiers about the program’s popularity and Senator Nelson shared the quick uptake of the tax credits for the program, including this year when all of the credits were snapped up in two hours. Chair Rest had a line of questions around the geographic balance language in the bill and shared some concerns. The Chair requested more information about the geographic balance of contributions to this program, flushing out more detail around the amount of funding contributed historically in Greater Minnesota vs. the metro area. Click here to read a bill summary.
  • House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee
    • H.F. 4077 (Greenman) – This bill prohibits municipalities from entering into nondisclosure agreements. Multiple testifiers spoke about data centers as the motivating factor behind this bill and shared their frustrations around confidential data center negotiations. Multiple members spoke up in frustration about confidential negotiations when local political subdivisions negotiated with data centers without informing the public until years later. The Committee adopted the A1 amendment and the A2 amendment. The bill was sent to the general register. With the amendments, this bill now prevents any local political subdivision from signing NDAs.
  • House Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Committee – Heard a number of updates about the economy. The Labor Market Information office at DEED presented an economic update. The Minnesota Chamber also provided an overview of their benchmarks report, second part.
 

SIGNIFICANT UPCOMING HEARINGS

Monday 3/16/26  

Tuesday 3/17/26  

 Additional hearings are likely to be posted throughout the week.
 

KEY BILLS WE'RE WATCHING
 

HEARINGS

If you are interested in watching a hearing, most hearings will be viewable online and the easiest way to find the link is to visit the Legislature’s website here and click on the day you’d like to watch a hearing. Then you will be able to click on the committee and the links to the hearing broadcast. Many of the hearings can be found on YouTube as well in the respective Senate and House YouTube channels.
 

COMMITTEE DEADLINES / KEY DATES

Legislative Breaks:    

  • Easter/Passover/Eid Recess 
    • Begins on: March 27 at 5:00 p.m. 
    • Legislative activities resume on: April 7 at 8:00 a.m. 

Committee Deadlines:   

  • Friday, March 27 at 5 p.m.: Committees must act favorably on bills in the chamber of origin and committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other body.
  • 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
 

MONTHLY LEGISLATIVE DEBRIEF SESSIONS

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.
 

CONTACT & CONNECT

Darielle Dannen, Executive Director

darielle@gmnp.org

(651) 259-1908

 

Emma Nelson, Membership & Operations

emma@gmnp.org

(651) 259-1936

 

Alex Wildfang, Media & Communications

ahwildfang@flaherty-hood.com

(651) 259-1917

 

Visit us online at www.gmnp.org
 
 

The Greater Minnesota Partnership advocates for public policies and investments that stimulate prosperity throughout Greater Minnesota.

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