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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.
4/24/2023 8:30:00 AM
It was a momentous week for Veterans legislation. The House and Senate affirmed their commitment to a standalone Veterans and Military Affairs budget bill through the actions they took in committee and on each chamber’s floors.
On Tuesday morning, the Senate Finance committee approved SF 2247. The Veterans and Military Affairs budget bill authored by Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury. As was the case last week in the House, the committee kept it as a standalone bill and didn’t fold it into the State and Local Government Finance bill. Instead, it was approved by the committee and sent to the Senate floor.
Later that afternoon, the House unanimously passed HF 1937, their version of the Veterans and Military affairs budget bill authored by Rep. Jerry Newton of Coon Rapids. A technical amendment was added, but the substance of the bill, as described in a legislative update, was unchanged.
The Senate brought the Veterans and Military Affairs budget bill up for a vote on Thursday evening. No amendments were offered, and the bill passed with a vote of 66-1.
For both chambers this was the budget bill that has received the most votes, due to the nonpartisan nature of Veterans issues. It is also a testament to the advocacy of Veterans groups uniting behind the need for this bill to move separately from other budget bills for a second consecutive session.
A conference committee will likely be established this week and will be tasked with working out the differences between the two bills no later than May 22. The bill authors Rep. Jerry Newton and Sen. Nicole Mitchell will be the co-chairs and there will either be two or four other members each from the House and Senate. Totaling six or ten members on the committee.
Finally, the language from HF 986 was amended into the House Transportation budget bill, HF 2887. The provision creates exemptions from several transportation-related taxes and fees for Veterans with a 100% 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 types of vehicles that qualify under the vehicle-related exemptions are passenger autos, one-ton pickup trucks, recreational vehicles, and motorcycles.
