This week, there were 24 Veteran related bills heard in seven committees with the first deadline passing on Friday, March 10. The second deadline is next week so there could be a similar amount of bills being heard.

Monday

Veterans Affairs Division

• HF 1563 (Rosenthal): This bill provides a grant to Equine Innovations to provide equine therapy to Veterans dealing with the effects of trauma and PTSD from their military service. The bill was approved and re-referred to State Government Finance.
• HF 1682 (Bliss): Provides funding for the Veterans’ Voices radio programming. The produced programs will tell the stories of Veterans experiences in the Korean War and Operation Desert Storm. The bill was passed and re-referred to State Government Finance.
• HF 1892 (Howe): This bill extends the current misdemeanor offense of impersonating a military officer to impersonating any member of the military or a veteran. This bill was passed and re-referred to Public Safety and Security.
• HFs 1348 (Maye Quade)/1799 (Rosenthal): These identical bills increase the past military experience tax credit to $1,000 and increase the income level at which the credit begins to phase-out from $30,000 to $50,000 with no credit allowed for incomes of $60,000 or higher.

Property Tax and Local Government

• HF 1059 (Howe): This legislation would eliminate the annual application for recipients of the homestead exclusion. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the tax bill.
• HF 1096 (Maye Quade): This bill would eliminate the eight year limitation of the disabled Veterans homestead exclusion for the spouse after the death of the Veteran. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the tax bill.

Legacy

• HF 232 (Dettmer): This bill would provide money for facility improvement at the Veterans Rest Camp and Camp Legionville. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the Legacy bill.
• HF 647 (Dettmer): This legislation provides money to Twin Cities Public Television to help produce the Vietnam: Minnesota Remembers project. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Legacy bill.
• HF 667 (Daniels): This bill would provide funding to help complete the Veterans memorial in Faribault. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the Legacy bill.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, the House Civil Law committee heard HF 1209 authored by Rep. Tony Cornish. This bill would require businesses to disclose to Veterans that they may be able to receive the same services at no-charge from Veterans Service Organizations. It would also create a $1,000 fine for law violators. It was approved and re-referred to Commerce and Regulatory Reform.

Wednesday

State Government Finance

• HF 965 (Maye Quade): This bill seeks to place a plaque in the Court of Honor on the Capitol grounds to honor all Minnesota Veterans who served both at home and abroad during World War I. The current plaque in the Court of Honor only honors those who served abroad. The bill was approved and re-referred to the Rules and Legislative Administration committee.
• HF 1438 (Bliss): This bill would provide money for Veterans Journey Home. This organization helps low-to-moderate income Veterans and their families find affordable and permanent housing. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the State Government Finance bill.
• HF 1563 (Rosenthal): This is the same bill that was heard on Monday in the Veterans Affairs Division to provide a grant for equine therapy for Veterans dealing with the effects of trauma and PTSD. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the State Government Finance bill.

Thursday

Veterans and Military Affairs

• SF 450 (Abeler): This bill seeks to give military members, disabled Veterans and Purple Heart recipients, along with their dependents free annual state park passes. It was approved and re-referred to the Environment and Natural Resources Finance committee.
• SF 861 (Newton): This bill would extend and increase the credit for the homestead exclusion. It would allow Veterans that have a temporary 100% service connected disability to qualify for the maximum benefit, instead of just total and permanent disabled Veterans. It also increases the maximum benefit to $400,000. It was passed and re-referred to the tax committee.
• SF 1596 (P. Anderson): This is the companion bill to Rep. Bliss’ HF 1682 which was heard on Monday in the Veterans Affairs Division. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the Veterans and Military Affairs budget bill.
• SF 1694 (Ruud): This bill would designate June 29 as General John Vessey Day in Minnesota to honor the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was passed and re-referred to the Senate floor.
• SF 1700 (B. Anderson): This is the companion bill to Rep. Howe’s HF 1892 that was heard on Monday in the Veterans Affairs Division. It was passed and re-referred to the Judiciary and Public Safety committee.
• SF 1703 (Mathews): This bill would designate July 16 as Atomic Veterans Day. It was passed and re-referred to the Senate floor.
• SF 1862 (Fischbach): This bill expands the list of uses of funds from the “Support Our Troops” account to include reimbursing the Department of Veterans Affairs for uncompensated burial costs for eligible dependents for whom the Commissioner waives all or a portion of the State Veterans Cemetery burial fee. It also instructs MDVA to develop a policy, eligibility standards, and application forms for requests to waive or reduce eligible dependent burial fees. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Veterans and Military Affairs budget bill.

Senate State Government Finance and Elections

• SF 106 (Clausen): This is the companion to Rep. Maye Quade’s HF 965 heard on Wednesday in State Government Finance. It was passed and re-referred to the Senate floor.
• SF 1130 (Newton): The bill would establish Veterans Preference in hiring practices at the legislature and state courts. It was passed and re-referred Judiciary and Public Safety.

Friday

Veterans Affairs Division

• HF 2164 (Howe): This is the companion bill to Sen. Fischbach’s SF 1862. It was passed and re-referred to State Government Finance.
• HF 2011 (Lueck): This is the companion bill SF 1694 from Sen. Ruud to establish a General John Vessey day in Minnesota. It was approved and re-referred to the House Floor.
• HF 2276 (Poston): This is the companion to Sen. Mathews SF 1703 which would designate July 16 as Atomic Veterans Day. It was passed and re-referred to the House floor.

Next Week

On Monday, the House Veterans Affairs Division will meet in Room 5 of the State Office Building at 1 p.m.

On Tuesday, the House State Government Finance committee will hear HF 2164 in Room 10 of the State Office Building at 1 p.m.

On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance committee will hear SF 450 in Room 1150 of the Minnesota Senate Building at 10:30am.

On Thursday, the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs committee will meet at 8:30am in Room 1100 of the Minnesota Senate Building. The House Public Safety and Security committee will also meet and hear HF 1892 in Room 10 of the State Office Building at 10:15 a.m.

More Veterans related bills are likely to be added to agendas with the 2nd deadline scheduled for Friday, March 17th.