Legislative Update - May 14, 2025

Publish Date

With only five days left of the legislative session, there is no real question of whether a special session will happen, but when and how long one will be. The legislature and governor have yet to agree to global budget targets and therefore the conference committees that are meeting can only adopt non-controversial policy items. If global targets were set today, there would likely not be enough time for chairs to reach an agreement and have the revisor process the conference committee reports before May 19 when session adjourns. Three major budget bills (the Education Finance Bill, the Health and Human Services Bill and the Tax bill) have also not passed both floors yet.  

Outstanding issues being negotiated by the four leaders include unemployment insurance for hourly school workers, modifications to Earned Sick and Safe Time law and the Paid Leave law and MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented Minnesotans. House Republicans strongly oppose new revenue proposals by the Governor and the Senate to help offset the looming deficit.  

The omnibus pension bill is also advancing through committee. Without a budget target and a short timeframe, only cost-neutral and non-controversial items are moving forward. For MAPE, these items include increasing the MSRS General Plan service credit multiplier from 1.7 to 1.9 percent, increasing the post-retirement cost of living adjustment from 1.5 to 1.75 percent and creating an interim taskforce to create an early retirement plan for corrections agents. The bill was voted out of the Senate State and Local Government Finance and Policy committee Tuesday to Finance, where it will stay until global targets are reached. 

Below are the current conference committees: 

  • HF2432/SF1417 Judiciary, public safety, and corrections policy and finance bill. 

  • HF2442/SF2393 Energy, Utilities, Environment & Climate policy and finance 

  • HF2446/SF2458 Agriculture & broadband development policy and finance bill. 

  • SF1832/HF2440 Workforce, labor, & economic development finance bill. 

  • SF2216/HF2443 Commerce & Consumer Protections policy and finance 

  • SF3045/HF2783 State and Local Government &Elections policy and finance 

Other updates 

The U.S. House committee on Energy and Commerce began markup on Tuesday. This particular area will have devasting consequences for Minnesota, as items for consideration have numerous cancellations of climate resiliency standards and grants and significant Medicaid restructures. Proposals on Medicaid cuts include: 

  • Implementing work requirements;  

  • More frequent eligibility checks for both recipients and providers; 

  • Moratorium on rule change for Basic Health Plan, CHIP, and Medicaid enrollment; 

  • Reducing Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by ten percent for states that provide any medical coverage to undocumented individuals; 

  • Cutting retroactive coverage from three months to one; 

  • Requiring co-payments for individuals covered under expanded coverage above the federal poverty level; 

  • Prohibiting Medicaid payments to be paid to nonprofit providers, essential community providers and their affiliates primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive services, or provide abortion services not currently exempted under the Hyde Amendment; 

  • Blocking any state from increasing the provider tax; and 

  • Disqualifying gender care and transition services from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.  

Developments will be posted in our regular legislative updates on the MAPE webpage and in the newsletter.