Sign up here to receive legislative updates via email.
You can reach our Government Affairs Director, Jon Kelly, by email or by phone at 651-201-8293.
The Legislative Department provides frequent updates regarding the status of current Veteran related legislation.
2024 Veterans Legislation Session Summary
News updates and press releases from Minnesota Congressional Members, in addition to contact information can be found in our Congressional Corner.
1/13/2021 8:00:00 AM
On Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Minnesota legislature began the 92nd biennium when all 201 members in the House of Representatives and the Senate took the oath of office. The session will continue until mid-May.
In the Minnesota House there are 134 members. The DFL has the majority with 70 seats, the GOP has 60 members and the New Republican caucus has four members. There are 23 newly elected members, which includes two members that have previously served in the House.
The Minnesota Senate is comprised of 67 members. The GOP has the majority with 34 seats, the DFL has 31 seats and there are two independents. There are 10 newly elected members, two of them previously served in the House.
The Veterans committee in the House will once again be chaired by Rep. Rob Ecklund of International Falls. The committee is officially known as the Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy committee. This means that there will be bills related to jobs policy along with Veterans and Military Affairs bills. The committee’s vice chair will be Rep. Tou Xiong of Maplewood. There are two GOP minority leads due to the increase in policy areas, Rep. Bob Dettmer of Forest Lake will lead on Veterans and Military Affairs bills and Rep. Joe McDonald of Delano will lead on jobs bills. The committee will meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Minnesota Senate retained the Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy committee. The difference is that Sen. Andrew Lang of Olivia is now the chair of the committee after serving as the vice chair for the previous four years. Former chair Bruce Anderson of Buffalo is now the vice chair. Sen. Jerry Newton of Coon Rapids will once again serve as the DFL lead on the committee. The committee will meet on Thursday mornings at 8:30 until 10.
The Senate Veterans committee met on Thursday and introduced members of the committee. It also heard agency overviews from MDVA and the Department of Military Affairs.
For the time being, all legislative committee hearings will be held remotely. Links to view the meetings are available on the House and Senate websites.
No Veterans bills were introduced this week.
State
Minnesota House
Minnesota Senate
Appropriations and Programming
