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You can reach our Government Affairs Director, Jon Kelly, by email or by phone at 651-201-8293.

Bill Tracker

The Legislative Department provides frequent updates regarding the status of current Veteran related legislation.

2024 Veterans Legislation Session Summary

Congressional Corner

News updates and press releases from Minnesota Congressional Members, in addition to contact information can be found in our Congressional Corner.


Legislative Updates

Legislative Update – February 13, 2023

2/13/2023 12:00:00 PM

After four Veterans related bills were heard last week, 12 were given hearings throughout the legislature this week. More legislation will be heard over the next few weeks until we reach committee deadlines that will reduce the number of viable bills.

The bulk of bills heard last week were taken up in the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee on Monday. In total, the following seven bills were heard:

  • HF1060 (Rep. Demuth – Cold Spring) allows surviving spouses of deceased Veterans who had previously qualified for the disabled Veterans’ homestead market value exclusion and had that exclusion expire prior to 2020 to reapply for the exclusion and receive a refund of a portion of taxes paid in 2020 through 2023. The bill was approved and re-referred to the Tax committee.
  • HF656 (Rep. Pfarr – Le Sueur) expands the eligibility of the post 9/11 Veteran service bonus and removes the requirement that an applicant must have lived in Minnesota when entering military service. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus finance bill.
  • HF1112 (Rep. Bennett – Albert Lea) appropriates more funding to the post 9/11 Veteran service bonus. It was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus finance bill.
  • HF986 (Rep. Hudella – Hastings) creates exemptions from several transportation-related taxes and fees for Veterans with a 100 percent total and permanent service-connected disability rating, including from the registration tax, the motor vehicle sales tax, and fees for driver’s licenses, license plates, and vehicle titles. The bill was approved and re-referred to the Transportation committee.
  • HF985 (Rep. Wiens – Lake Elmo) creates a Civil Air Patrol special license plate. The bill was approved and re-referred to the Transportation committee.
  • HF665 (Rep. Bliss – Pennington) changes an ‘or’ to ‘and’ in a statute that protects Veterans from predatory lending practices that attempt to take away from a Veterans retirement or disability benefits. The committee approved the bill and re-referred it to Commerce.
  • HF731 (Rep. Bennett – Albert Lea) was given an informational hearing and no action was taken. It would exempt Purple Heart recipients from fees on special license plates that honor their award. The bill may be taken up again in committee at a later date.

The House Labor and Industry committee heard HF284, the Helmets to Hard hats appropriation bill authored by Rep. Matt Norris (Blaine). The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in an omnibus finance bill.

The Senate State and Local Government and Veterans committee heard four Veterans related bills.

  • SF1039 (Sen. Klein – Mendota Heights) removes the requirement that Minnesota is the home of record for Veterans when they entered active duty and adds the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal to the post 9/11 Veterans service bonus law. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus finance bill.
  • SF815 (Sen. Anderson – Buffalo) is the companion to HF665. It was approved and re-referred to the Judiciary committee.
  • SF774 (Sen. Mitchell – Woodbury) would appropriate funding to Metro Meals on Wheels to provide home food delivery to metro area Veterans. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion.
  • SF351 (Sen. Hauschild – Hermantown) would provide grant funding to Veterans on the Lake in Ely. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus finance bill.

Each year legislative leadership establishes committee deadlines rather than cutting off when bills can be introduced. They are used to filter bills that won’t continue if they don’t meet criteria established by each deadline. The deadlines are as follows:

  • Friday, March 10 — Committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin.
  • Friday, March 24 — Committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other body.
  • Friday, April 4 — Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.

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