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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.
1/16/2023 9:00:00 AM
The first full week of the legislative session for Veterans committees was used to have introductory meetings, but one Veterans related bill was moved.
On Monday, the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee met for the first time. The agenda included member and staff introductions, as well as overviews from MDVA and the Department of Military Affairs.
Finally, the committee heard House File 45 authored by Rep. Sandra Feist (New Brighton). This bill clarifies issues that the judiciary has had with the Veterans Restorative Justice Act which was enacted in 2021. It amends current statute to allow courts to determine whether a Veteran is eligible for deferred prosecution before a guilty judgement has been made. This would allow former service members the opportunity to go through the Veterans court treatment process. The bill was approved by the committee and re-referred to Judiciary and Civil Law.
On Tuesday, the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans committee met. Like the House committee, they heard staff and member introductions. There were also Senate staff overviews on committee jurisdiction and budget areas.
Later in the week, the committee added two new members including former Veterans and Military Affairs committee chair Sen. Andrew Lang (Olivia). The other new member is Sen. Heather Gustafson (Vadnais Heights).
The House Veterans and Military Affairs committee will not meet Monday Jan. 16 due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.
The Senate committee will be holding a field hearing at the Minneapolis Veterans Home on Thursday evening.
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