2024 end of session wrap
Religious Liberties Protected
Senate Republicans amended the 2024 Minnesota Human Rights bill with language that reinstates religious liberty protections that were removed by a Minnesota law passed in 2023.
Religious liberty is both a fundamental and a foundational right to every American. This change will ensure Minnesota’s statutory framework with religious exemptions in the Human Rights Act is consistent with the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. It will provide religious organizations clarity in the law to abide by their faiths without facing unexpected and costly discrimination claims.
Stopped Extreme Policies
Lawmakers in St. Paul are consistently pushing their extreme policies forward.
This year, Republicans were able to successfully stop the following radical pushes for bigger government and bad policies for Minnesota.
- Extreme ‘Equal Rights Amendment‘ aimed at restricting religious freedom, threatening the safety of women, and imposing gender ideology in school curricula.
- Unconstitutional ‘Safe Storage‘ Law that would infringe on your Second Amendment Rights.
- Ranked Choice Voting which removes the assurance and transparency we have come to expect from our elections.
After 14 weeks, the 93rd legislative biennium adjourned—and certainly not the way I would have ever thought it would have! I hope you find the following information helpful in better understanding what exactly happened in those final moments on the Senate floor.
One Party Rule Silences Minnesotans
On Sunday evening, in the final hours of the 2024 legislative session, we witnessed an appalling erosion of our institution. Under one party rule, not only has there been a failure to lead, but there has also been a blatant abandonment of the rules that are supposed to govern our legislative body. The voice of nearly 50% of Minnesotans was effectively silenced as Senate and House procedures were ignored to ram through the Democrats’ radical agenda before the deadline.
This disregard for proper legislative process is not only a violation of our representative democracy, but it was also entirely unnecessary. Democrat leaders squandered 11 critical hours on Saturday, caving to the demands of the most radical members of their party, instead of engaging in meaningful debate and seeking bipartisan consensus on issues facing our state.
This session has been marred by several egregious actions. Notably, the Democrats allowed their 34th and deciding vote to be cast by a charged felon, undermining the integrity of our legislative decisions. Furthermore, they continued the use of proxy voting, a practice initially implemented under COVID emergency orders. This practice discards 150 years of legislative tradition and skews the balance of power—granting the Democrats a super-majority-like voting strength that has not been granted to them by the voters of Minnesota.
The events of this session highlight a significant departure from the principles of fair representation and transparent governance, upon which our state was founded. It is now up to us to restore dignity to our institution and work towards delivering bipartisan solutions that truly represent the majority of Minnesotans, rather than a select few. If there had been a genuine effort to find bipartisan agreement, we could have wrapped up our work efficiently and effectively.
Moving forward, it is imperative that we uphold the rules and traditions that have long governed our legislative process. We must ensure that every voice is heard, and that decisions are made through transparent and fair procedures. Only then can we hope to restore the trust of the people we serve and uphold the true essence of our representative democracy.
Bills That Passed in the Senate
The below list of bills were heard on the Senate floor during the last week of session. Because a majority of them were conference committee reports, it means the Senate floor hearing was their final stop in the legislative process before it will be presented to the governor to be signed into law.
Conference Committee Reports:
- SF 4097—Omnibus Commerce policy bill: Signed by governor on 5/21
- HF 3438—Failure to disclose mandatory fees in advertising added as a deceptive trade practice; Signed by governor on 5/20
- HF 4772—Elections; campaign finance provisions policy and technical changes provided, including elections administrations, campaign finance and lobbying, and census and redistricting; Minnesota Voting Rights Act established; deep fake use to influence elections crime modified; and reports required. Signed by governor on 5/17
- SF 3492— Residential housing tenant and landlord provisions: Presented for signing on 5/22
- SF 5335— Omnibus Human Services supplemental appropriations: Presented for signing on 5/22
- HF 5216— Judiciary, public safety, and corrections supplemental budget bill: Presented for signing on 5/22
- HF 5242— Transportation supplemental budget bill: Laid on the table on 5/19
- HF 4757— Cannabis regulations modified: Presented for signing on 5/22
Special Orders:
- HF 5246— Tax-forfeited lands settlement appropriation: Signed by governor on 5/18
- HF 4984— A memorial resolution requesting the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve replacement of the statue of Henry Mower Rice now on display in the National Statuary Hall in the Capital of the United States: Laid on the table on 5/15
- HF 5363— Minnesota Paid Leave Law provisions modifications
- HF 4738— Office of Emergency Medical Services replacement of the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board establishment: Signed by governor on 5/23
- HF 4024— Higher education; policy and technical changes made to higher education provisions including student sexual misconduct, student aid, student supports, and institutional registration and contract provisions; allowable uses for appropriations modified; and reports required: Presented for signing on 5/22
- HF 2609— Gun trafficking investigations and firearm seizures report required by Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Violent Crime Enforcement Teams, trigger activator definition amended, and transferring firearms to persons who are ineligible to possess firearms penalties increased: Included in HF 5247
And last, but not least…
- HF 5247— Omnibus Taxation and state government operations; various provisions modified, and appropriations: Presented for signing on 5/23
Biennium Accomplishments
While the last biennium under full DFL control was highly partisan, there were some good pieces of Republican legislation passed, such as:
Rural EMS Emergency Aid Package
School Resource Officers Returned to Schools
Fixes to Tax Code for Small Businesses & Individuals to Prevent Unnecessary Hikes
$3.5M for Clean Drinking Water Infrastructure in Braham
