The week of the second deadline led to one new law, committees hearing 15 Veterans related bills and a property tax bill with updates to important benefits for disabled Veterans and their families. This will set up this week’s unveiling of omnibus finance bills.

The Senate passed HF45 with a vote of 64-0 on Wednesday after the House passed it last month. The bill seeks to clarify language in the Veterans Restorative Justice Act (VRJA) statute to ensure that courts determine if a Veteran is eligible for deferred prosecution before a finding of guilt by the courts. Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury was the author. The bill will be sent to the Governor’s office where it is expected to be signed into law.

Many of the 15 bills heard last week were for Veterans memorials in Bloomington and Forest Lake, housing projects in Richfield and other parts of the state, and rehabilitation of the Veterans Home campuses in Minneapolis and Hastings. As well as two bills that would amend the post-9/11 Veteran bonus program. Committees that heard these bills include the House Veterans and Military Affairs committee, Senate State and Local Government and Veterans, and the Senate Capital Investment Committee.

The other bills on the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans committee include the following which were all laid over for possible inclusion:

• SF702 (Sen. Lieske – Lonsdale) eliminates the burial fee for Veteran spouses and dependents in state Veterans cemeteries.
• SF1237 (Sen. Utke – Park Rapids) provides funding to Camp Bliss in Walker, MN. The camp provides Veterans retreats.
• SF1509 (Sen. Mitchell – Woodbury) adds spouses of Veterans and currently serving military members to those allowed to receive eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy from the Veterans Resilience Project. This group received funding last biennium, so the bill also continues that funding for the next two years.
• SF2118 (Sen. Lang – Olivia) provides grants to Congressionally Chartered Veterans Service Organizations to ensure their properties comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• SF2181 (Sen. Howe – Rockville) would provide grant funding to the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum to provide direct services to Veterans and their families.
• SF2247 (Sen. Mitchell – Woodbury) is the Governor’s recommended budget for the Departments of Military Affairs and Veterans Affairs.

On Friday, the House Property Tax division unveiled its bill that will eventually be added to the omnibus tax bill. The bill includes the elimination of the two-year window for surviving spouses of 100% permanently disabled Veterans to apply for the Homestead Market Value Exclusion for disabled Veterans. This will help Dependency and Indemnity Compensation cases that take longer than two years for the Federal VA to process, as well as spouses of Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans made eligible by recent changes.

This week, both the House Veterans and Military Affairs and Senate State and Local Government and Veterans committees are expected to unveil their Veterans and Military Affairs omnibus finance bill.