The first ‘half’ of the legislative session ended this week as legislators head home for the Easter/Passover Break. This half was actually 12 weeks and there will only be eight weeks left before the constitutionally mandated adjournment. Both Veterans committees in the House and the Senate completed their work.

The House Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs committee met on Wednesday. Chair Rob Ecklund of International Falls unveiled the omnibus budget bill for the committee. MDVA and the Department of Military Affairs shared its testimony on the bill. No official action was taken that day. The committee met again on Friday to debate and vote on amendments. After two amendments were adopted, the committee approved the bill unanimously. Its next stop will be the Ways and Means committee.

On Thursday, Chair Andrew Lang of Olivia shared his version of the omnibus budget bill with the Veterans and Military Affairs committee. Both agencies shared their thoughts on this version as well. Members of the committee discussed the bill briefly and then passed it unanimously. The bill was re-referred to the Finance committee.

An update comparing these two bills and the governor’s recommendations will be available on MDVA’s legislative webpage next week. The state bill tracker has been updated to reflect which bills, in some form, were included in the budget bills.