The 2017-18 biennium, Minnesota’s 90th Legislative session since gaining statehood, began on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 with legislators being sworn into office. There are 23 new members in the House of Representatives: 12 Republican and 11 DFL members. In the Senate, there are 21 new members: 12 Republican and 9 DFL members. 

The two main committees which hear Veterans related legislation are the  Veterans Affairs Division in the House, which is chaired by Representative Bob Dettmer (a U.S. Army Veteran), and the Senate’s Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee, chaired by Senator Bruce Anderson (a Veteran of the U.S. Air Force). These committees will meet for the first time next week to hold informational hearings and receive agency overviews from the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs and Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. Most Veterans bills will travel through these committees before being voted on by the full House or Senate.

During the first week of session, six bills of interest to Veterans were introduced. For more information regarding those bills, /mdva/news/legislative-updates/state-bill-tracker/index.jspcheck out our new bill tracker.