As Veterans from Minnesota descended upon the State Capitol for Veterans Day on the Hill on Wednesday, the House and Senate worked on a handful of bills related to Veterans. That will continue into next week as the second committee deadline approaches on March 29.

The following bills were heard throughout committees of the legislature:

• HF 430 provides funding for the Veterans Defense Project to provide services to Veterans involved in the criminal justice system through education, outreach and legal training. Rep. Jay Xiong is the author of the bill and it was heard in State Government Finance. The bill was then sent to the Judiciary and Civil Law committee.
• HF 731 is authored by Rep. Jeff Brand and was heard in the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee. It provides exemptions from various fees and taxes on motor vehicle registration and titling as well as driver’s licenses and Minnesota identification cards, for Veterans that have a total service-connected disability. It was approved and sent to Ways and Means where it should be referred to the committee on Transportation.
• HF 1259 was heard in the Property Tax Division and is authored by Rep. Julie Sandstede. It moves the application deadline for the disabled veterans homestead exclusion from July 1 to December 15. This bill also allows a veteran to apply for a refund of taxes paid in 2017 and 2018 if the veteran met the disability rating requirements in assessment years 2016 and 2017, but did not receive the exclusion in the following taxes payable year.
• Rep. Robert Bierman’s HF 1471 was heard in the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee. This bill allows the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board to install a new memorial plaque, using private donations to be placed in the court of honor on the Capitol grounds, replacing the current plaque, to honor all Minnesota Veterans who served during World War I. The bill was approved and re-referred to State Government Finance.
• HF 1698 is also authored by Rep. Jay Xiong. It was heard in the State Government Finance committee. It would fund the Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations for programming to promote the Veterans’ Voices program. They will use the funds to create programming with an emphasis on Korean War Veterans. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the House State Government Finance bill.
• HF 1773, authored by Rep. Bob Dettmer was given a hearing in the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee. It would give funding for a memorial commemorating Minnesota Medal of Honor recipients. The funding would only be accessible if a certain threshold of private donations are raised. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a Veterans and Military Affairs finance bill.
• SF 2440 is a bill brought forth by MDVA. It allows the agency to use funds to contract with publicity representative vendors. The bill is being carried by Sen. Jerry Newton and was heard in the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs committee. It was laid over for possible inclusion in a Veterans and Military Affairs omnibus bill.

In addition to the second deadline, the House Veterans Affairs committee will meet at its scheduled time on Tuesday afternoon in Room 120 of the Capitol. They will get an introduction from Major General Jon Jensen, The Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard. A presentation from the United Veterans Legislative Council will follow. Finally, the committee will give HF 143 a hearing. The Senate Veterans committee will also meet at its scheduled time on Thursday morning, no agenda has been set.