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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.
1/9/2023 8:30:03 AM
On Tuesday, Jan. 3, the Minnesota Legislature began the 93rd biennium when members in the House of Representatives and the Senate took the oath of office. House terms are two years. Senators were sworn into a 4-year term, matching Governor Walz who took the oath for his second term on Monday.
The Minnesota House has 134 members which includes 47 newly elected members. This more than doubles the previous biennium when 23 new members were elected. This can largely be contributed to newly drawn maps because of redistricting. Three returning members are included in that 47. The DFL holds the majority with 70 members and will be led by Speaker Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park) and Majority Leader Jamie Long (South Minneapolis). The GOP caucus will be led by Minority Leader Lisa Demuth (Cold Spring).
The 67 seat Minnesota Senate has 24 new members, 11 of which previously served in the House. The DFL also holds the majority, albeit slim with 34 members to the GOP’s 33. The Republicans had controlled the Senate since 2017. Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic (Northeast Minneapolis) will lead Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) will lead the GOP caucus.
This session, the House established the Veterans and Military Finance and Policy committee and removed the Labor and Industry portion of the committee that had been in place last session. Rep. Jerry Newton of Coon Rapids will serve as the committee chair, previously he was the DFL minority lead on the Senate Veterans committee but has returned to the House. The GOP lead on the committee will be Rep. Matt Bliss of Pennington. The committee will meet weekly on Mondays from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. in Room 5 of the State Office Building.
The Veterans committee in the Senate is the State and Local Government and Veterans committee. It will be chaired by Sen. Erin Murphy of St. Paul. The GOP lead will be former Veterans committee chair Sen. Bruce Anderson of Buffalo. The Vice Chair of the committee will be Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury. She is the first women Veteran to serve in the state Senate since 2012. The committee will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 – 2:30p.m. in Room 1200 of the Minnesota Senate Building.
The Minnesota Legislature will be in session until the constitutional adjournment date of May 22, 2023.
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