This week the Minnesota Legislature continued its work on bills in both the committee process and on the floor. Committee deadlines were established to help with the workflow of bills moving through the legislative process.

The Senate Veterans and Military Affairs committee met on Thursday and heard three bills supported by MDVA. Senate File 92 is authored by Sen. Bruce Anderson and would make technical corrections to the Minnesota GI Bill. Senate Files 91 and 93 are both authored by Sen. Andrew Lang. They would authorize MDVA to provide dental services at the Minnesota Veterans Homes as well as adult day services. These programs already exist within the agency, this makes it clear that it’s allowed in statute. All three bills were approved by the committee and sent to the Senate floor.

The committee will meet next week on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8:30 a.m. 

The House Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs met twice this week, but did not hear any Veterans legislation. Next Wednesday, Feb. 3 the committee will meet at 3 p.m. and hear House File 88 authored by Rep. Todd Lippert. This is the House companion bill to authorize adult day services. The committee will also hear budget presentations from MDVA and the Department of Military Affairs.

The leadership in the House and the Senate announced when committee deadlines will happen this session. Committee deadlines are used to filter out bills that will not continue if they don’t meet the criteria for each deadline. The deadlines are as follows:

• Friday, March 12 — Committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin.
• Friday, March 19 — Committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other body.
• Friday, April 9 — Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.

Federal Update

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs held a confirmation hearing for Denis McDonough, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. McDonough is from Stillwater, MN and graduated from St. John’s University. He served as President Obama’s White House Chief of Staff from 2013-2017. The committee plans to meet again on Tuesday, Feb. 2 and is expected to recommend confirmation by the whole Senate.