Tuesday 3/17/26  

• Senate Local Government Committee – Heard two key bills we are monitoring:
  • S.F. 4296 (Maye Quade) – Requires public hearings and disclosures prior to approval of data centers.
    • Multiple constituents testified in favor of this bill from projects around Monticello, Hermantown, and Rosemount, citing their opposition to data centers and desire for more extensive public notification when the development of a data center is proposed. Sen. Ann Johnson-Stewart expressed her support for greater public input on local projects and said she is not opposed to data centers but is opposed to NDAs. Sen. Mark Koran shared his concerns about this bill and cited local concerns about solar gardens and similar projects, explaining that there is sometimes a need for early conversations to be kept nonpublic. Sen. Andrew Mathews also shared the need for NDAs for business discussions and spoke about the work his community has done to find revenue replacements for a power plant that is closing. Sen. Steve Drazkowski shared his concerns with both bills. The bill was passed to the Senate general orders, as amended, 8-2.
  • S.F. 4379 (Maye Quade) – Prohibits municipalities from entering nondisclosure agreements.
    • Sen. Mark Koran flagged that state agencies are allowed to use NDAs and asked how this would be reconciled with this bill. The Committee adopted the A-1 amendment, which changes the bill's enactment date. The Minnesota Chamber testified with concerns about the bill’s expansive nature, which could chill early business conversations with local governments. The Sierra Club testified about the environmental challenges from data centers and their concerns about the large social media companies behind them. The bill was tabled as there was not enough time for member discussion. Bill discussion continued on Thursday.

Wednesday 3/18/26 

• House Housing Finance and Policy 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 two key bills we’re monitoring:
  • H.F. 3843 (Baker) – Report to the legislature recommending appropriations from the workforce development fund.
    • Rep. Emma Greenman and Rep. Dave Pinto both expressed their appreciation for the structural changes that this bill includes but expressed their opinions that the bill doesn’t seem fully fleshed out yet. Rep. Dave Baker expressed that doing something in this way is one of his top priorities and he will continue to work to refine it. The bill failed to move out of committee and was laid over.
  • H.F. 3597 (Mueller) – Certain S Corporations exempted from Paid Leave law.
    • The bill was tabled, and the motion to move the bill out of committee failed.

Thursday 3/19/2026  

Monday 3/23/26  

• Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee (12:30pm - 2:30pm) 
  
  • S.F. 4527 (Pha) – Small businesses negatively impacted by federal enforcement activity relief program establishment and appropriation.
  • S.F. 4535 (Champion) – Minnesota business recovery loan program establishment and appropriation.

 Additional hearings are likely to be posted throughout the week.

• S.F. 3664 (Champion) – Agency policy bill.
• S.F. 3839 / H.F. 3806 (Port / Howard) – Housing infrastructure bond issue and appropriation.
• H.F. 3600 (Perryman) – Competitive selection processes modified for certain housing development programs.
• H.F. 4207 (Howard) – Agency policy bill.  Includes changes to the SHTC program.
• S.F. 4123 / H.F. 3895 (Port / Igo) – Zoning authority of local governments over certain housing types limited.
• S.F. 4158 (Jasinski) – BDPI bond issue and appropriation.
• S.F. 4043 / H.F. 3903 (Nelson / Igo) – Minnesota housing tax credit contributions eligible recipients modification.
• S.F. 4044 / H.F. 3902 (Nelson / Igo) – Minnesota housing tax credit contributions eligible recipients modification and credit allocations set-aside requirement provision.
• H.F. 4077 / S.F. 4379 (Greenman / Maye Quade) – Municipalities prohibition from entering into nondisclosure agreements.
• H.F. 4097 / S.F. 4272 (Frazier / Pha) – Transfer money for the emerging entrepreneur loan program.
• S.F. 4392 (Putnam) – Statewide local housing aid eligibility expansion.
• S.F. 4571 (Hauschild) – Greater Minnesota housing infrastructure grant program eligible projects modifications, greater Minnesota housing infrastructure program appropriation, and bond issuance authorization.

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

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.