Happy Friday everyone! This week at the legislature the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure grand program was heard in the House Housing Committee on Wednesday. Expect a hearing soon on S.F. 1906, which includes the changes we're working on for the State Housing Tax Credit in the Senate, which will put us in a good position for those items to be included in future omnibus bills

GMNP Update - February 28, 2025
 
GMNP Update: A Newsletter for Members of the GMNP
 

GMNP UPDATE - 2/28/25
 

Dear GMNP Members,

 

Happy Friday everyone! This week at the legislature the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure grand program was heard in the House Housing Committee on Wednesday. Expect a hearing soon on S.F. 1906, which includes the changes we're working on for the State Housing Tax Credit in the Senate, which will put us in a good position for those items to be included in future omnibus bills.

 

In the child care space, expect ongoing conversations around regulatory reform to continue with the House Children and Families Committee having a hearing next week about licensure modernization. I'm expecting some child care regulatory reform package to come out as part (or all) of an omnibus bill, at least in the House, based on the bills we're seeing introduced and heard in Committee. I'm also waiting on a bill that we'll be supporting for more funding for child care facilities to be introduced soon, so hopefully we'll see that next week - we have enthusiastic authors!

 

Also next week, we'll get the updated February fiscal forecast on March 6, which will set the fiscal tone for the rest of the legislative session. Thank you to everyone who testified on hearings and supported our priorities over the past week!

 

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

 

Best,

 

Darielle Dannen

Executive Director, Greater Minnesota Partnership
 

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SIGNIFICANT HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK
Monday, February 24
  • Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee - Heard a number of bills, including S.F. 1521 which would maintain the current level of funding for the Small Business Assistance Partnerships program. The bill had a number of testifiers in support and was held over for possible inclusion.

Wednesday, February 26

  • House Housing Finance and Policy Committee – Heard H.F. 1143 (Howard), which provides $5M in funding for the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant program. Rep. Howard explained the need for additional assistance from the state in Greater Minnesota to support housing production. Testifiers in support of the bill included David Murphy, City Administrator from St. Joseph, Mayor Pete Hyduke from Hibbing, Dante Tomassoni, Director of Corporate Affairs with Cirrus Aircraft, Cristen Incitti, President/CEO of Habitat for Humanity, Mary Thompson, Executive Director of Heartland Lakes Development Commission, and Cap O'Rourke, Executive Director of the MN Association of Small Cities. Chair Igo made positive closing comments about the bill, which was laid over.
 

SIGNIFICANT UPCOMING HEARINGS

Monday, March 3

  • House Fraud Prevention and Agency Oversight Policy - Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) overview of DEED grant programs with Commissioner Matt Varilek.
  • House Ways & Means - Will hear H.F. 11 (Baker), Minnesota Paid Leave Law implementation delayed by one year.

Tuesday, March 4

  • House Children & Families Finance and Policy - Will hear H.F. 1, Office of the Inspector General established, powers and duties provided, enhanced grant oversight provided, retaliation prohibited, existing executive Offices of Inspector General transferred or repealed, fraud detection and prevention provided, conforming changes made, reports required, and money appropriated. 

Wednesday, March 5

  • House Housing Finance and Policy - Will hear H.F. 1548 (Kozlowski), Housing and redevelopment authorities authorized to establish local housing trust funds
  • House Children and Families Finance and Policy - Presentation from DHS on child care regulation modernization project and testimony by child care providers

Additional hearings may be posted throughout the week.

 

Click here for the combined legislative calendar, which includes committee materials and livestream links. Many hearings can also be found on YouTube. 
 

KEY BILL INTRODUCTIONS

 

Click here to search for bills, see a complete list of bill introductions, and view bill summaries.
 

KEY BILLS WE'RE WATCHING
  • H.F. 1141 (Howard)/S.F. 203 (Port), HIB bonds authorized for $400M. Heard in Senate Housing, laid over.
  • H.F. 334 (Johnson)/S.F. 584 (Jasinski), BDPI bill $20M from GO bonds. Heard in Senate Capital Investment, laid over.
  • H.F. 948 (Davids)/S.F. 7 (Rest), Adjustments to TIF for redevelopment districts. Heard in Senate Taxes and laid over. Not scheduled for a hearing in the House.
  • H.F. 1143 (Howard)/S.F. 906 (Port), Greater MN Housing Infrastructure Program $5M for FY2026. Heard in Senate Housing 2/10, laid over.
  • H.F. 112 (Coulter), Modifying prevailing wage requirements to include TIF under Chapter 469. Not scheduled for hearings.
  • S.F. 1521 (Pha), Small Business Assistance Partnerships funding $6.245. 
  • S.F. 1512 (Putnam), $20M for Workforce Housing Development program. Hearing 2/20 in Senate Housing, laid over.

 

Click here to search for bills, see a complete list of bill introductions, and view bill summaries.
 

KEY DATES/COMMITTEE DEADLINES

The House and Senate agreed to the following Legislative breaks (expect these to remain unchanged): 

  • Eid Break - March 29 – March 31 with Committee activities resuming on April 1, 2025.  

  • Easter/Passover break – April 11 at 12pm – April 21 at 12pm 

Expect bill deadlines to be announced soon, but there is no agreement yet.
 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

DEED awards $6.2 million in Main Street Economic Development funding

Congratulations to the GMNP members and communities that were awarded the final DEED Main Street Economic Development funding! According to the press release:

 

This is the third and final round of funding from the $80 million program signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz in 2021. To date, more than 600 businesses supported by Main Street grantees have raised $696 million in matching funds. The awards have also helped create or retain more than 8,700 jobs and increase local tax bases by almost $369 million. 

DEED awarded Main Street Revitalization Program grants to the following organizations in this funding round:  

  • African Career Education & Resources (ACER) - $194,589 

  • Destination Medical Center - $750,000 

  • Greater Bemidji - $546,000 

  • Greater Mankato Growth - $750,000 

  • Greater St. Cloud - $624,000 

  • Initiative Foundation - $500,000 

  • Latino Economic Development Center - $1.29 million 

  • Red Wing Downtown Main Street - $750,000 

  • Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation - $780,000
 

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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